The Top 12
Of 2012
A dozen of Notre Dame's best
players and the roles they played
during an undefeated regular season
N
By Dan Murphy
otre Dame's coaches and players point to their team chemistry and a top-to-bottom effort to explain the unbeaten
regular season that blindsided
the college football world. That may be
so, but in any fairytale season, heroes
emerge.
The Irish had no shortage of players reach beyond expectations this fall,
elevating their own games and those of
the teammates around them in order
to pull Notre Dame back to its first national championship game in 24 years.
With a 12-0 regular season record in
2012, we thought it fitting to stretch our
list of the top performers of the year to
an even dozen.
1. LB Manti Te'o
There is no obstacle in modern sports
like hype. Hype has a tendency to
drown anyone in its path. To meet the
hype is as exciting as watching a man
tread water. Only once in a while does
an athlete exceed hype, and that hap-
Senior linebacker Manti Te'o was as productive
as any defender in the nation this past season,
making 103 tackles and intercepting seven passes
while providing inspirational leadership.
photo by bill panzica