Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/123805
Under the Dome Charting The Irish Will Offensive Attrition Cause Notre Dame To Suffer? Tyler Eifert, Theo Riddick and the rest of their professional-bound teammates are leaving South Bend and taking with them 3,178 of the 5,358 yards the Irish gained last year. That chunk (59.3 percent) is far and away the largest one-year offensive exodus at Notre Dame in the past five seasons. The next closest percentage of loss occurred after the 2011 season, when players responsible for 36.9 percent of the team's yardage left town. The 2012 Notre Dame offense relied on its outgoing group of players for more touchdowns (51.4 percent of the team total), rushing attempts (60.9 percent) and receptions (53.9 percent) than any team in the program's recent history. The bright side for Irish fans is that during that time a changing of the guard on offense hasn't led to a step backward for the team's overall success. In fact, the effect has been the opposite. Notre Dame lost only 7.9 percent of its offense after the 2008 season and its regular-season record remained the same at 6-6 in 2009. The following year 35.3 percent of the offensive production moved on and the team's record jumped to 8-5. Percentage Of Total Offense Lost 2012: 59.3 2011: 36.9 2010: 30.1 2009: 35.3 2008: 7.9 Percentage Of Rushing Lost 2012: 68.5 2011: 37.8 2010: 51.0 2009: 7.3 2008: 1.2 Percentage Of Scoring Lost 2012: 51.4 2011: 47.8 2010: 25.6 2009: 48.8 2008: 8.3 Percentage Of Receiving Lost 2012: 51.5 2011: 36.4 2010: 19 2009: 46.3 2008: 10.8 Anniversaries In Notre Dame Athletics History: May 45 Years Ago: May 11, 1968 The spring football finale, formerly known as the Old-Timers Game, takes on a new Blue-Gold Game format under fifth-year head coach Ara Parseghian. From 1929-67, former Notre Dame football greats would scrimmage against the current varsity team. Wrote Sports Illustrated after the 1967 game: "[The oldtimers] have usually become good-timers with mid-riff bulge … they try to keep out of harm's way. The professional players who show up are those of modest achievement; if they were not, the pro team would not let them risk injury." To provide a more competitive atmosphere, Parseghian eliminates the Old-Timers tradition and makes it the starting unit