Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2020 29 2020 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE formances against Michigan State and USC. Because Hanratty and Joe Theis- mann were both on the roster in 1968, O'Brien shifted to a starting running back role and accounted for 599 total yards and eight touchdowns as a se- nior, including a touchdown pass to Theismann in a 21-21 tie with No. 2 USC. Samuel also was a high school quarterback, and was part of head coach Ara Parseghian's best recruit- ing class in 1971 that would help pro- pel the march to the 1973 title. From the same town and in the same graduating class as 1973-74 starting fullback Wayne Bullock, Samuel finished second to Bullock in rushing as a senior with 525 yards and 5.5 yards per carry, and tied for second in receiving with 14 catches. 4. C.J. Prosise (Petersburg, 2012-15) Signed as a relatively unheralded safety, Prosise shifted to receiver, and in his junior year he began to blossom with 29 catches that aver- aged 17.8 yards. In the 2014 Music City Bowl win over LSU, he took a jet sweep for a 50-yard touchdown. With the running back position rav- aged by attrition the next season, he was moved there and became a third- round NFL pick — the highest by a Notre Dame running back since an- other Virginian in Julius Jones in 2004 — after rushing for 1,029 yards, 6.6 yards per carry and 11 touchdowns, plus catching 26 passes for 308 yards and another score for a 10-3 team. 3. Julius Jones (Big Stone Gap, 1999-2001, 2003) After a roller-coaster first three seasons, and then an academic in- eligibility in 2002, Jones exploded in 2003 with 1,268 rushing yards, 5.5 yards per carry and 10 touchdowns to become a second-round pick in the NFL Draft. His 3,018 career rushing yards rank No. 6 on the all-time Irish chart, and his 262 rushing yards in a 20-14 vic- tory at No. 15 Pitt in 2003 remain a single-game Irish record. 2. Wayne "The Train" Bullock (Newport News, 1972-74) Before Notre Dame rode "The Bus" with Jerome Bettis, it took "The Train" at fullback with Bullock. During Parseghian's 11-year reign (1964-74), Bullock rushed for the most yardage (1,892) and touch- downs (24). Including two bowl game wins over No. 1 Alabama, Bullock paced the 1973 national champs in rushing (831 yards and 11 touchdowns) and also the No. 4 team (UPI poll) in 1974 (938 yards and 13 scores). 1. Allen Pinkett (Sterling, 1982-85) Including bowl games (which were excluded in the 1980s), nobody in school history has scored more touchdowns (56) than Pinkett, a re- markable model of consistency, reli- ability and durability. His 76-yard touchdown run as a freshman helped propel the upset of No. 1 Pitt. A week later he returned a kickoff for a touchdown in the 24-14 loss to eventual national champ Penn State. Listed at practically the same dimen- sions (5-9, around 180) as Tyree, Pinkett eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards each of his last three seasons and is No. 2 on the Irish all-time rushing chart (4,378, including his two bowl games). Pinkett also was a productive pass receiver with 74 catches for an aver- age of 10.6 yards per reception and four touchdowns. ✦ Beginning with the Rivals era in 2002, only six other running backs enrolled with a higher ranking than Chris Tyree's No. 78 placement nationally. 1. Greg Bryant (2013) — No. 19 An ailing knee limited him to three carries as a freshman before he had 54 carries for 289 yards and three scores in 2015. Declared ineligible prior to his junior campaign in 2015, he transferred to UAB. On May 8, 2016, Bry- ant was killed by gun shots in West Palm Beach, Fla. 2. James Aldridge (2006) — No. 27 The five-star Indiana native suffered a damaged knee his senior year of high school. His best season came as a sophomore when his 463 rushing yards paced the 3-9 Irish in 2007. Aldridge moved to fullback as a senior and carried six times for 17 yards in the six games he appeared. 3. Armando Allen (2007) — No. 52 Like Tyree, Allen was one of the nation's fastest players. Unfortunately, like Aldridge, Allen incurred a severe injury — fractured fibula — during the preseason of his high school senior year. The nation's No. 2-ranked all-purpose back never quite fully displayed his explosiveness, but he battled through numerous health setbacks to post 4,337 all-purpose yards (2,144 rushing at 4.6 yards per carry) at Notre Dame. His 119 career catches (7.0 average per reception) also are the most ever by a Fighting Irish running back. 4. Jonas Gray (2008) — No. 72 His first three years combined he totaled 75 carries for 309 yards (4.1 yards per attempt), no touchdowns, and also developed a reputation as a fumbler. As a senior and after another crucial lost fumble in the opener, he blossomed with 114 attempts for 791 yards (6.9 yards per carry) and 12 touchdowns before suffering a torn ACL in the home finale. 5. Cierre Wood (2009) — No. 76 Another tragic story beyond the playing field when he and his girlfriend were charged last year with first- degree homicide and child abuse. Redshirted as a freshman, he was the leading rusher the first two years of the Brian Kelly era, with 1,102 as a junior in 2011, and for the 12-1 Irish in 2012 he averaged 6.5 yards per carry for 742 yards while splitting time with classmate and lead- ing rusher Theo Riddick (ranked No. 242 that same recruiting year in 2009 by Rivals). 6. Robert Hughes (2007) — No. 77 Arrived with Allen in 2007. He finished his fresh- man season with 100-yard-plus rushing efforts in wins against Duke and Stanford. For his career, Hughes finished with 1,392 rushing yards, 4.3 yards per carry, 15 touchdowns and 43 receptions, closing strong during Notre Dame's 4-0 finish in Kelly's first season. — Lou Somogyi Greg Bryant, at No. 19 in the 2013 Rivals100, was the highest-rated high school running back to sign with the Irish in the past two decades, but struggled on and off the field before trans- ferring to UAB during his junior year. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM Highest Rated Running Back Recruits Since 2002