Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1508769
54 OCT. 7, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED S everal decades later, a "Flint- stones" comic strip still remains in my memory bank. It showed Barney Rubble at a con- struction site, and he was confused about two signs in front of him. One said "stack rocks here," while the other read "pile rocks here." "What's the difference between 'stacked' and 'piled?'" Barney asks Fred Flintstone. Just then, two women are shown pass- ing by the site. One is a carbon copy of the voluptuous Marilyn Monroe, while the other was twice the size of Fred. "You couldn't have asked that ques- tion at a better time," Fred replied. As politically incorrect as that comic strip would be today, it sums up how I feel about the word "depth" when talking about Notre Dame's current team and the progress made in upgrading its talent base. Most of the buzz in Notre Dame's training camp this August was about the program's improved depth. My reply was, "Why are people so excited about depth when the starting unit was 7-6? Notre Dame definitely has better numbers, but how do we know if it has depth?" Every February, each school talks about how it now has better "depth." No kidding! Every school adds about 20 new players to the roster, so you have more numbers. But numbers are differ- ent from depth the same way stacked isn't the same as piled. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate the difference in potential now from four years ago. Back then, Notre Dame's top 15 to 20 football players could pretty much match up with any team in the coun- try. The problem was once you started getting from 21 through 50, the USCs, Texases, LSUs and Ohio States separated themselves significantly from the Irish. Unfortunately, too often the word "depth" is mistaken for "numbers." Just because you have a lot of bodies at a posi- tion doesn't mean you have quality depth. What constitutes "quality depth?" One doesn't really know until a replace- ment is needed. Here are some favorite examples at Notre Dame. 1. Offensive Tackle — In 1966, sophomore George Kunz started at right tackle for the national champs. He was injured early in the year — and replaced by classmate Bob Kuechenberg. Kunz became an eight-time Pro Bowl pick and Kuechenberg made it six times. 2. Quarterback — One week before the 1993 opener, freshman wunderkind quarterback Ron Powlus broke his clavicle in a scrimmage, leaving head coach Lou Holtz crestfallen. Senior Kevin McDougal stepped in and became the all-time pass- efficiency king at Notre Dame while lead- ing the Irish to a debatable No. 2 finish. Two even better stories came in 1968 and 1943. In 1968, senior All-American Terry Hanratty, an eventual second-round pick in the NFL Draft, suffered a sea- son-ending injury — and was replaced by sophomore Joe Theismann, a future Super Bowl champ. In 1943, Notre Dame Heisman Tro- phy-winner Angelo Bertelli had to leave the team in midseason for military train- ing — and was replaced by future Heis- man-winner John Lujack. His first three starts were against No. 3 Army, No. 8 Northwestern and No. 2 Iowa Pre-Flight, a semi-pro unit. The Irish still won all three en route to the national title. 3. Running Back — Similar to USC's embarrassment of riches in recent years, Notre Dame's 1990 backfield in- cluded future Pro Bowler Dorsey Levens at fourth team — behind Ricky Watters, Tony Brooks and flanker Rocket Ismail, who was used as a "finisher" in the fourth quarter (Levens transferred to Georgia Tech). Even freshman fullback Jerome Bettis managed only 15 carries that season while playing behind lead- ing rusher Rodney Culver. The backfield was so deep, sopho- more Reggie Brooks, who rushed for 1,347 yards and eight yards per carry in 1992 (and eclipsed 1,000 yards as an NFL rookie in 1993), was shifted to cor- nerback, where he started a few games. 4. Linebacker — In 1987, Ned Bolcar earned second-team Associated Press All-America honors at linebacker and was selected as a tri-captain for the 1988 national champs. However, Mi- chael Stonebreaker (sidelined in 1987) played ahead of him in 1988 and earned first-team All-America notice, while middle linebacker Wes Pritchett led the team in stops with 112. When injuries hit the corps in the Fiesta Bowl, Donn Grimm (brother of NFL All-Pro Russ Grimm) tied for the team lead in tackles. 5. Defensive Line — During the 1977 national title run, first-round pick Ross Browner and second-round selection Willie Fry were revered as college foot- ball's premier "bookend" tandem. What is forgotten is Fry was slowed by an injury, and future All-American Scott Zettek often was in his place. Zettek fin- ished with 51 tackles, 10 for lost yard- age, while Fry had 47 stops, four for lost yardage. But it was Fry who was accorded second-team All-America notice by the UPI, while Zettek was ignored. 6. Tight End — In 1991, Notre Dame featured first-round pick Derek Brown, who was backed up by first-round pick Irv Smith, who was backed up by Oscar McBride, who also played in the NFL. Second-round pick John Carlson play- ing behind second-round pick Anthony Fasano is also impressive. There hasn't really been a similar story at receiver, but Notre Dame has a chance to change that in 2009. That will help dictate if the Irish are once again stacked or merely piled. ✦ Kevin McDougal proved in 1993 that Notre Dame had depth at quarterback behind Ron Powlus. FILE PHOTO BEST OF THE FIFTH QUARTER ✦ LOU SOMOGYI ✦ OCT. 5, 2009 Piled Equals Numbers, Stacked Equals Depth EDITOR'S NOTE: The late, great Lou Somogyi possessed an unmatched knowledge of Notre Dame football, and it was his mission in life to share it with others. Those of us at Blue & Gold Illustrated would like to continue to provide his wis- dom and unique perspective from his more than 37 years covering the Fighting Irish for this publication.