Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Daniels had a solid sophomore regular season in 2012 — his first year of action — with 25 catches for 375 yards (no scores) before breaking his collarbone during the 10th game, at Boston College. Yet it was amidst the rubble of the 42-14 drubbing from Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game that Daniels' talents tookcenter stage. Back in action for the first time since the injury, his six catches for 115 yards — the only time a Notre Dame receiver eclipsed the century mark last season — against the nation's most vaunted defense validated what the coaching staff already believed about the 6-1½, 203-pound Daniels. "Daniels will be a legitimate BCS wide receiver," head coach Brian Kelly said after the Aug. 9 practice. "He will be a guy that you'll have to pay attention to. He's doing a great job of running vertically. Getting the football to him will be important, especially vertically." The performance against the Crimson Tide made Daniels recognize his own capabilities that he can be more than just a complementary figure. "Third downs, [the defense] knows where the ball is going to, you're getting double-teamed … you're expected to go up and make a play," reflected Daniels on the role he hopes to expand to in 2013. "Some kind of way you get it done, and if you can, I think that's what separates complementary players from primary guys. "It's just a mentality. Last year I was just a young guy trying to fit in, whereas this year I'm another guy trying to help this team be great." Minus Daniels' classmate and good friend Everett Golson at quarterback, popular opinion holds that with senior Tommy Rees the Irish will have to be a more methodical offense, and not as vertical. Ten-, 12- and 14-play drives also carry a larger margin of error, thereby necessitating a balanced mixture of "chunk" plays. Daniels believes his chemistry with Rees will continue to thrive. The two hail from the same Illinois county and have been roommates during the August camp, ever since returning Aug. 9 from Shiloh Park in Marion, Ind. "There's no reason our chemistry shouldn't be as good, maybe even better than mine and Everett's was," Daniels said. — Lou Somogyi how the big plays usually were the product of achieving the consistent smaller plays. "Sometimes when you think they're just getting four yards, they're getting vertical and breaking for 60," Atkinson said. "… It's just become natural to me, just to run a certain way when contact is around and bodies are around." Listed at 220 pounds, with most of his strength in the lower body, Atkinson also happens to be the biggest back in the Irish attack, and the extra armor has made him more confident in becoming a "contact runner." At least three backs are expected to be part of the rotation again this sea- son, if not more. "Even NFL teams now are using three running backs in a game, realizing that it's a physically demanding position and they take a lot of hits," Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chuck Martin said. "To have a guy fresh in the fourth quarter is a pretty good thing. "You don't have a guy at this stage who was as versatile as Theo was, so all the jobs that need to be done, some of the kids are better at some of them than other ones, so you use them that way." The Irish believe it can pay off in the long run — and in the shorter ones, too. ✦