Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com APRIL 2020 11 CHARTING THE IRISH COMBINE FORCES There were nine former Notre Dame players at the 2020 NFL Scouting Combine: Alohi Gilman, Chase Claypool, Chris Finke, Cole Kmet, Julian Okwara, Jalen Elliott, Khalid Kareem, Tony Jones and Troy Pride Jr. Based on this metric, Notre Dame is in a healthy place. Over the last two seasons, the Fighting Irish have had their best two-year stretch in terms of NFL Combine invitees since the 2013 and 2014 seasons with a total of 17 players invited. However, LSU did have 16 players invited in 2020 alone, with Michigan and Ohio State the next highest at 11 invitees. The nine Notre Dame players invited in 2020 are tied for the third most dating back to 1999. Nine players were also invited in 2014. Notre Dame has had 10 players invited to the same NFL Combine twice: 2002 and 2016. The group in 2016 was particularly impressive because it included two players drafted in each of the first three rounds and a single fourth-round pick in defensive tackle Sheldon Day. The worst two-year stretch came in 2008 (one player in- vited) and 2009 (four players invited). During that time, the Fighting Irish went 10-15. Under head coach Brian Kelly, a total of 64 former Notre Dame players have been invited to the NFL Combine, which comes out to about 6.5 invitees per year. UNDER THE DOME ✦ GIMME FIVE Throughout the 1980s, Notre Dame's de- fense allowed an average of more than 20.0 points per game only once. That occurred in 1985 (21.3) following the 58-7 debacle in the season finale at Miami. By the 1990s, scoring started to become more prominent in football while rule changes continued to favor the offense, and by 2014 the Fighting Irish allowed a school-record 29.2 points per game, followed by marks of 24.1 in 2015 and 27.8 in 2016. In the last two years with Clark Lea as the defensive coordinator, Notre Dame has posted back-to-back seasons of permitting less than 20 points per contest for the first time since 2001-02. Since the end of the Lou Holtz era in 1996, al- lowing less than 20 points per contest — when including bowl games, which didn't begin until 2002 — has occurred in only five seasons. Here are the five lowest scoring averages by Notre Dame's defense since 1997: Rk. Year (Record) Average 1. 2012 (12-1) 12.8 2. 2002 (10-3) 16.7 3. 2019 (11-2) 17.9 4. 2001 (5-6) 19.5 5. 2018 (12-1) 19.8 NOTRE DAME NFL COMBINE INVITEES IN BRIAN KELLY ERA 2020 — Nine 2019 — Eight 2018 — Five 2017 — Three 2016 — 10 2015 — Three 2014 — Nine 2013 — Eight 2012 — Six 2011 — Three * Figures courtesy of UND.com