Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1133608
BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 147 2. Drue Tranquill, Linebacker/Safety Devastating knee injuries limited Tranquill to just four starts in his first two seasons, but he was able to stay healthy in his final three campaigns and ended up with 41 career starts. A safety early in his career, Tranquill flourished when Mike Elko arrived in 2017 and switched him to rover. He moved inside to Buck linebacker as a fifth-year senior, and in his final two seasons he racked up 171 tackles, 19.5 tackles for loss, five sacks and seven pass breakups. Tranquill was a captain in each of his final two seasons and in 2018 won the Wuerffel Trophy, which goes to a player nationally who best combines community service work with success on the field and in the classroom. 3. DeShone Kizer, Quarterback Kizer was one of the most productive players in this class, and his emergence in 2015 helped lead the Irish to 10 wins and a trip to the Fiesta Bowl. In just two seasons, he passed for 5,809 yards and 47 touchdowns, numbers that rank eighth and fifth all time at Notre Dame, respectively. Kizer also rushed for 992 yards and 18 touchdowns, which rank second all time for an Irish quarterback. His 10 rushing touchdowns in 2015 checked in second among signal-callers in one season. However, Kizer's poor late-game performances in 2016 played a key role in Notre Dame's 4-8 record. He left for the NFL following that season with two years of eligibility remaining. 4. Alex Bars, Offensive Line If not for a knee injury that ended his 2018 season after just five games, Bars could easily have moved up this list. A captain in 2018, he was off to a great start that year and playing like an All-American. The injury ended a streak of 30 straight starts for Bars, who was an instrumental figure in Notre Dame's Joe Moore Award-winning line in 2017. Bars started 12 games at right tackle in 2016, 13 games at right guard in 2017 and seven contests at left guard over two seasons (2015, 2018). He earned captain honors as a fifth-year senior, and his leadership was lauded even more after his injury than it was before he went down. 5. Nyles Morgan, Linebacker Injuries to others forced Morgan into the starting lineup as a true freshman in 2014, and he earned him a spot on the Sporting News and Football Writers Association of America Freshman All-America teams. Morgan didn't get back into the starting lineup until 2016, when he led the Irish defense with 90 tackles. He finished his Notre Dame career with 246 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss and six sacks. As a senior in 2017, Morgan was named a captain. Top Five Players 1. QUENTON NELSON, OFFENSIVE LINE Nelson, the No. 29 overall player in the 2014 recruiting class, was a dominant force up front for three seasons. An integral force on the vaunted 2015 and 2017 lines, Nelson finished his career by earning unanimous All-America honors and was a key cog on an Irish front that was named the nation's best. A dominant run blocker throughout his career, Nelson improved as a pass blocker each season, and his 2017 season was one of the greatest ever at Notre Dame. Nelson was taken sixth overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, the highest a college guard had been picked since 1975. Five-Year Record Overall: 44-20 ACC: 18-8 Bowl Games: 2-2 Versus USC: 3-2 Versus Stanford: 2-3 Versus Navy: 4-1 Top-20 Finishes: 3 By the time his career was over, guard Quenton Nelson developed into one of the best offensive linemen in Notre Dame history. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL