Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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NOtre dame FiGhtiNG irish depth chart OklahOma preview sept. 25, 2013 BooMer Blake ✦ Game Facts Quarterback Blake Bell gives the sooners offense a lot of options By Dan Murphy B ob Stoops has had two Heisman-winning quarterbacks since taking over as Oklahoma's head coach in 1999. When the second of that duo, Sam Bradford, left three games into his junior year for season-ending shoulder surgery, Landry Jones replaced him. Jones would go on to throw for the second-most yards in NCAA history during his college career. Still, Stoops has never quite had a starting quarterback like Blake Bell. The 6-6, 252-pound Bell ran for a teamhigh 11 touchdowns a year ago as the team's goal-line sledgehammer. His ability to run provides a new wrinkle to the Sooners offense that never existed with Jones and Bradford in the backfield. Oklahoma took its first crack at the zone read to start the 2013 campaign with redshirt freshman Trevor Knight taking the snaps. Knight rushed for 145 yards on 20 carries in the first two games, but a knee injury sidelined him for the Sooners' 51-20 win over Tulsa Sept. 14 and gave Bell a chance to take over the offense. Bell dispelled any concerns about his ability to throw the ball accurately with four touchdown passes and 413 yards through the air. Bell's performance jump-started an of- Bell seized the sooners' starting quarterback job by completing 27 of 37 passes for 413 yards with four touchdowns — all career highs — against tulsa sept. 14. Date: Sept. 28, 2013. Site: Notre Dame Stadium (80,795). Kickoff: 3:42 p.m. ET. Television: NBC. Radio: This broadcast can be heard on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). Series Facts: This is the 11th meeting between Notre Dame and Oklahoma. The Irish hold a 9-1 advantage over the Sooners. Coaches: Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (31-12, fourth season). Oklahoma — Bob Stoops (152-37, 15th season). Noting Oklahoma: The second road game and first loss of Stoops' head coaching career came in South Bend with a 34-30 Irish win in 1999, and Saturday will be his first time coaching at Notre Dame since then … Notre Dame's win a year ago in Norman, Okla., marked the second time in 2012 that the Irish beat a top-10 team by more than two scores (No. 8 Michigan State 20-3); prior to 2012, they had not accomplished that feat since a 38-10 win over No. 5 USC in 1995 … Notre Dame ended Oklahoma's legendary 47-game winning streak by beating the Sooners 7-0 in 1957. photo courtesy oklahoma fense that had been slightly stagnant under Knight. "So much for your controversy right now," Stoops said after the game while naming Bell his starter moving forward. "It didn't last long. You can't deny what he just went out and did. I'm proud of him and excited for him. "It also speaks to his character. Here's a guy that was ready for it — never got down, never changed his attitude. He got his chance and he took great advantage of it." The combination of Bell's size and his proven accuracy give the Sooners what they need to take a step forward in running Pos. No. WR 7 88 WR 10 87 LT 70 57 LG 66 75 C 72 77 RG 74 65 RT 78 79 TE 85 18 WR 2 17 QB 11 12 RB 4 or 3 or 33 or 1 or 25 OFFeNSe Name Ht. TJ Jones 5-11¼ Corey Robinson 6-4¼ DaVaris Daniels 6-1½ Daniel Smith 6-4 Zack Martin 6-4 Hunter Bivin 6-5½ Chris Watt 6-3 Mark Harrell 6-4 Nick Martin 6-4½ Matt Hegarty 6-4½ Christian Lombard 6-5 Conor Hanratty 6-4½ Ronnie Stanley 6-5½ Steve Elmer 6-5½ Troy Niklas 6-6½ Ben Koyack 6-5 Chris Brown 6-1½ James Onwualu 6-1 Tommy Rees 6-1½ Andrew Hendrix 6-1½ George Atkinson III 6-1¼ Amir Carlisle 5-9¾ Cam McDaniel 5-10 Greg Bryant 5-10 Tarean Folston 5-9¼ Pos. No. PK 27 or 40 P 27 or 98 LS 61 H 14 Name Kyle Brindza Nick Tausch Kyle Brindza Alex Wulfeck Scott Daly Luke Massa the option while not ignoring the bevy of talent they have at the wide receiver position. Along with his four touchdown passes, the junior also ran the zone read play 11 times. In total, he carried 10 times for 24 yards. A year ago, Jones andBy lou soMogyi Oklahoma finished fifth nationally in rUN theoffense… passing Ball The "Stat Of The Game" in Notre Dame's 30-13 victory as an 11-point underdog at Oklahoma last year was it outrushed the Sooners 215-15. It was football at its elementary core: Run the ball on offense and stop the run on defense. This year, the dynamics have changed some. A vital element to the Fighting Irish ground attack last year in Norman was Irish sophomore quarterback Everett Golson rushing for 64 yards on 11 carries. Such a threat this year is absent with Golson ineligible. During its 12-0 regular season last year, Notre Dame averaged 202.5 rushing yards per game and 5.0 yards per carry. After four games this season, it's at much more modest 114.2 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry. Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops and his brother Mike, the team's defensive coordinator, scrapped their four-man front this year and have almost exclusively run a 3-3-5 defensive formation to get more athletes on the field against the spread offenses faced in the Big 12. That alignment should give Notre Dame a better chance to establish its absent running game — although Bob Stoops indicated earlier this week that a four-man line might provide a better matchup against Notre Dame. Oklahoma has used a four-man front for the great majority of Stoops' 15 years at the school. "There's a good chance," Stoops said this week about using a four-man front. "But I'm not going to give you any percentages on it." Other than the final series at Purdue Sept. 14, Notre Dame's running game has been mainly a rumor with rushing efforts of 91, 91 and 82 yards the past three weeks against Big Ten foes. It marked the first time DeFeNSe Name Ht. Sheldon Day 6-2 Isaac Rochell 6-3 Louis Nix III 6-2½ Kona Schwenke 6-3½ Stephon Tuitt 6-6¼ Jarron Jones 6-5½ Prince Shembo 6-1½ Ishaq Williams 6-5¼ Jarrett Grace 6-2½ Dan Fox 6-2¾ Carlo Calabrese 6-0¾ Kendall Moore 6-1 Jaylon Smith 6-2¼ Ben Councell 6-4½ KeiVarae Russell 5-11 Lo Wood 5-10½ Austin Collinsworth 6-0½ Matthias Farley 5-10½ Elijah Shumate 6-0 Max Redfield 6-1 Bennett Jackson 6-0 Cole Luke 5-11 Wt. Yr. 290 So. 280 Fr. 357 Sr. 303 Sr. 322 Jr. 305 So 258 Sr. 261 Jr. 253 Jr. 245 5th-Sr. 250 5th-Sr. 251 Sr. 230 Fr. 254 Jr. 190 So. 194 Sr. 205 Sr. 204 Jr 213 So. 194 Fr. 195 Sr. 184 Fr. Name Ht. Wt. Kyle Brindza 6-0¾ 236 TJ Jones 5-11¼ 195 Amir Carlisle 5-9¾ 190 George Atkinson III 6-1¼ 220 Cam McDaniel 5-10 207 Yr. Jr. Sr. Jr. Jr. Jr. Pos. No. WR 11 6 LT 71 72 LG 74 77 C 64 56 RG 68 54 RT 79 72 TE 82 89 WR 8 17 WR 3 12 QB 10 9 FB 33 48 RB 24 or 26 OFFeNSe Name LaColtan Bester Dannon Cavil Tyrus Thompson Derek Farniok Adam Shead Dionte Savage Gabe Ikard Ty Darlington Bronson Irwin Nila Kasitati Daryl Williams Derek Farniok Brannon Green Connor Knight Jalen Saunders Trey Metoyer Sterling Shepard Derrick Woods Blake Bell Trevor Knight Trey Millard Aaron Ripkowski Brennan Clay Damien Williams Pos. No. Name KO 39 Nick Hodgson H 84 Grant Bothun 89 Connor Knight LS 50 Austin Woods 89 Connor Knight Ht. 6-3 6-5 6-5 6-9 6-4 6-5 6-3 6-3 6-5 6-4 6-6 6-9 6-2 6-4 5-9 6-1 5-10 6-1 6-6 6-1 6-2 6-1 5-11 5-11 Wt. 195 214 320 325 316 339 298 288 314 312 321 325 256 226 157 185 193 188 252 201 253 254 201 211 Yr. Pos. No. Sr. RE 85 Fr. 99 R-Jr. NT 80 R-So. 95 R-Jr. DT 98 Jr. 93 5th-Sr. LE 91 So. 90 Sr. OLB 7 R-So. 25 R-Jr. MLB 20 R-So. 19 Sr. NICK 2 R-Fr. 23 Sr. RCB 15 So. 22 So. SS 10 R-Fr. 13 R-Jr. FS 9 R-Fr. 32 or 4 Sr. Jr. LCB 14 27 Sr. or 6 Sr. SPeCIALISTS Ht. Wt. Yr. Pos. No. 6-2 193 Jr. KR 24 22 5-11 188 So. 6-4 226 R-Fr. PR 8 3 6-4 311 Sr. 6-4 226 R-Fr. P 44 DeFeNSe Name Geneo Grissom Chaz Nelson Jordan Phillips Quincy Russell Chuka Ndulue Jordan Wade Charles Tapper Matt Dimon Corey Nelson Aaron Franklin Frank Shannon Eric Striker Julian Wilson Kass Everett Zack Sanchez Cortez Johnson Quentin Hayes Ahmad Thomas Gabe Lynn Trey Franks Hatari Byrd Aaron Colvin Dakota Austin Stanvon Taylor Ht. 6-4 6-2 6-2 6-4 6-3 6-4 6-4 6-2 6-1 6-1 6-1 6-0 6-2 5-10 5-11 6-2 6-0 6-1 6-0 5-10 6-1 6-0 5-11 5-11 Name Brennan Clay Roy Finch Jalen Saunders Sterling Shepard Jed Barnett Ht. Wt. 5-11 201 5-7 167 5-9 157 5-10 193 6-2 227 Wt. 263 237 309 315 274 299 261 268 226 222 229 219 199 189 176 201 193 215 204 200 198 192 151 173 Yr. R-Jr. 5th-Sr. Sr. Jr. R-Jr. Sr. So. Fr. Sr. R-Jr. R-So. So. R-Jr. Sr. R-Fr. R-So. Jr. Fr. 5th-Sr. R-Jr. Fr. Sr. Fr. Fr. Yr. Sr. Sr. Sr. So. Jr. 1st and goal Cierre Wo ascend od, Irish following to No. 1 38 of Wake -0 rout Forest Manti Te' o, No clinch a . 1 Notre Dame spot national champion in the with 22 -13 victor ship game y at US C Decembe volume r 2012 • $3.5 32 www.blue • issue 12 •0est. andGold.c 1981 om l ast men nov. 26, volume 2012 • $3.50 32 www.blue • issue 11 • est. 1981 andGold.c om No tre Dame sur vives standinG 17-13 def ensive battle aga inst Mic higan State waNt e-mail NOtiFicatiON OF New editiONs OF BlUe & GOld repOrt? cONtact Us at 1-800-421-7751 Or GevaNs@cOmaNpUB.cOm ✦ News & NOtes Makes a terrific gift for your Notre Dame Fan! Only $52.95 for one year Ht. 6-0¾ 6-0 6-0¾ 5-7 6-1½ 6-4 Wt. Yr. Pos. No. 195 Sr. DE 91 205 Fr. 90 203 Jr. NG 1 213 Sr. 96 308 5th-Sr. DE 7 291 Fr. 94 321 5th-Sr. OLB 55 305 So. 11 295 Jr. ILB 59 300 Jr. or 48 315 Sr. ILB 44 309 Jr. 8 318 So. OLB 9 317 Fr. 30 270 Jr. CB 6 261 Jr. 23 191 So. S 28 215 Fr. or 41 215 Sr. S 22 226 Sr. 10 220 Jr. CB 2 190 Jr. 36 207 Jr. 204 Fr. 207 Fr. SPeCIALISTS Wt. Yr. Pos. No. 236 Jr. KO 27 195 5th-Sr. PR 7 236 Jr. 3 154 5th-Sr. KR 4 248 So. 33 237 Sr. OklahOma sOONers depth chart bacK on to P Want to stay up-to-date with all the Irish news? Like Us On Facebook! Follow Us On Twitter! ✦ page 18 volume sept. 30, 33 • issu 2013 • $3.5 e 0 www.blue 4 • est. 1981 andGold.c om Junior George atkinson iii and the irish have struggled to run the ball this year, averaging only 114.2 yards per game and 3.7 yards per carry after three subpar performances against Big ten competition (91 yards against michigan, 91 against purdue and 82 against michigan state). photo By Bill panzica since the end of the 2008 campaign that the Irish had three straight games with less than 100 yards rushing: 41 yards in a 24-23 loss to Syracuse, 50 in a 38-3 shellacking at USC, and 65 in a 49-21 rout of Hawaii in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl to finish 7-6. The last time Notre Dame had four straight games with less than 100 yards rushing was during the 3-9 train wreck in 2007 … and you don't want to go there. "The last three weeks have been a real challenge for us in the running game," Kelly said. "We certainly have to run the ball better. We know that. I think ev- erybody here in this room and America knows that." In addition to Golson, also gone from last season are running backs Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood, who rushed for 74 yards apiece at Norman last year, highlighted by Wood's 62-yard touchdown. ✦ page 12 Sample pages of Blue & Gold Report Send to: Blue & Gold Illustrated — Circulation Dept., P.O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702 Please send the following subscriPtions: q One-year subscription for me at $52.95, regular delivery. q First-class delivery during football season – $78.95 q First-class delivery for every issue – $93.95 q One year gift subscription for the recipient listed to the right. 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