Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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(one lost fumble) and classmate Cierre Wood's 110 (one lost fumble), Fighting Irish backs had 364 attempts. 5. Five Interceptions Thrown By QB Everett Golson — Consider that the most accurate passer in school history, Jimmy Clausen, tossed 17 picks as a sophomore in 2008. That's one short of the school-record 18 longtime pro Steve Beuerlein had as a sophomore in 1984, and tied the 17 that future NFL MVP Joe Theismann had as a sophomore in 1969. Honorable Mention: Sophomore Kyle Brindza kicked a single-season school-record 23 field goals, and repeatedly came up with clutch makes in the 11th hour, most notably versus Purdue, Stanford and Pitt. Top Surprise: 'Corner' Stones Along with quarterback, the cornerback slots were easily Notre Dame's top question mark entering the 2012 season. The 2011 starters, Robert Blanton and Gary Gray graduated, the blue-chip recruits who originally committed to Notre Dame, Ronald Darby and Tee Shepard, ended up at Florida State and Oklahoma, respectively, and the top returnee with the most experience, junior Lo Wood, suffered a seasonending injury in August. At one corner was junior Bennett Jackson, who was recruited to play wide receiver. He led the secondary in interceptions with four and tied safety Zeke Motta in tackles with 61 — 44 of them solo. He likely would have been selected at least near the top half of the seven-round NFL draft process but opted to follow the path of Manti Te'o and tight end Tyler Eifert and stay in school. "I thought about it, but I don't really want to leave college," he said about not submitting paperwork for an NFL evaluation this winter. "I have a great time with all the guys and my brothers on the team." The No. 1 individual surprise in 2012 was freshman KeiVarae Russell at the field slot opposite Jackson's boundary side. Recruited as a prime slot/ running back, a la senior Theo Riddick, Russell was shifted to corner and, like Jackson, started all 12 games during the regular season. His 50 tackles included 34 solo stops (third most on the team), and he notched interceptions against Michigan and USC. Russell produced the greatest freshman campaign ever by an Irish cornerback in the 40 years that the NCAA has allowed freshman eligibility. The previous standard had been Stacey Toran as a 10-game starter for the 1980 Sugar Bowl team when he recorded 30 tackles and an interception. Luther Bradley (1973) and Bobby Taylor (1992) were freshmen starters at safety, not corner.