Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Like Us On Facebook! Follow Us On Twitter! want e-mail notification of new editions of blue & Gold report? contact us at 1-800-421-7751 or Gevans@comanpub.com OFFeNSe Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 7 TJ Jones 5-11¼ 195 Sr. 88 Corey Robinson 6-4¼ 205 Fr. WR 10 DaVaris Daniels 6-1½ 203 Jr. 87 Daniel Smith 6-4 213 Sr. LT 70 Zack Martin 6-4 308 5th-Sr. 57 Hunter Bivin 6-5½ 291 Fr. LG 66 Chris Watt 6-3 321 5th-Sr. 75 Mark Harrell 6-4 305 So. C 72 Nick Martin 6-4½ 295 Jr. 77 Matt Hegarty 6-4½ 300 Jr. RG 74 Christian Lombard 6-5 315 Sr. 65 Conor Hanratty 6-4½ 309 Jr. RT 78 Ronnie Stanley 6-5½ 318 So. 79 Steve Elmer 6-5½ 317 Fr. TE 85 Troy Niklas 6-6½ 270 Jr. 18 Ben Koyack 6-5 261 Jr. WR 2 Chris Brown 6-1½ 191 So. 17 James Onwualu 6-1 215 Fr. QB 11 Tommy Rees 6-1½ 215 Sr. 12 Andrew Hendrix 6-1½ 226 Sr. RB 4 George Atkinson III 6-1¼ 220 Jr. or 3 Amir Carlisle 5-9¾ 190 Jr. or 33 Cam McDaniel 5-10 207 Jr. or 1 Greg Bryant 5-10 204 Fr. or 25 Tarean Folston 5-9¼ 207 Fr. DeFeNSe Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 91 Sheldon Day 6-2 290 So. 90 Isaac Rochell 6-3 280 Fr. NG 1 Louis Nix III 6-2½ 357 Sr. 96 Kona Schwenke 6-3½ 303 Sr. DE 7 Stephon Tuitt 6-6¼ 322 Jr. 94 Jarron Jones 6-5½ 305 So OLB 55 Prince Shembo 6-1½ 258 Sr. 11 Ishaq Williams 6-5¼ 261 Jr. ILB 59 Jarrett Grace 6-2½ 253 Jr. or 48 Dan Fox 6-2¾ 245 5th-Sr. ILB 44 Carlo Calabrese 6-0¾ 250 5th-Sr. 8 Kendall Moore 6-1 251 Sr. OLB 9 Jaylon Smith 6-2¼ 230 Fr. 30 Ben Councell 6-4½ 254 Jr. CB 6 KeiVarae Russell 5-11 190 So. 23 Lo Wood 5-10½ 194 Sr. S 28 Austin Collinsworth 6-0½ 205 Sr. or 41 Matthias Farley 5-10½ 204 Jr S 22 Elijah Shumate 6-0 213 So. 10 Max Redfield 6-1 194 Fr. CB 2 Bennett Jackson 6-0 195 Sr. 36 Cole Luke 5-11 184 Fr. notre dame fiGhtinG irish depth chart Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 27 Kyle Brindza 6-0¾ 236 Jr. or 40 Nick Tausch 6-0 195 5th-Sr. P 27 Kyle Brindza 6-0¾ 236 Jr. or 98 Alex Wulfeck 5-7 154 5th-Sr. LS 61 Scott Daly 6-1½ 248 So. H 14 Luke Massa 6-4 237 Sr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 27 Kyle Brindza 6-0¾ 236 Jr. PR 7 TJ Jones 5-11¼ 195 Sr. 3 Amir Carlisle 5-9¾ 190 Jr. KR 4 George Atkinson III 6-1¼ 220 Jr. 33 Cam McDaniel 5-10 207 Jr. SPeCIALISTS OFFeNSe Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 11 LaColtan Bester 6-3 195 Sr. 6 Dannon Cavil 6-5 214 Fr. LT 71 Tyrus Thompson 6-5 320 R-Jr. 72 Derek Farniok 6-9 325 R-So. LG 74 Adam Shead 6-4 316 R-Jr. 77 Dionte Savage 6-5 339 Jr. C 64 Gabe Ikard 6-3 298 5th-Sr. 56 Ty Darlington 6-3 288 So. RG 68 Bronson Irwin 6-5 314 Sr. 54 Nila Kasitati 6-4 312 R-So. RT 79 Daryl Williams 6-6 321 R-Jr. 72 Derek Farniok 6-9 325 R-So. TE 82 Brannon Green 6-2 256 Sr. 89 Connor Knight 6-4 226 R-Fr. WR 8 Jalen Saunders 5-9 157 Sr. 17 Trey Metoyer 6-1 185 So. WR 3 Sterling Shepard 5-10 193 So. 12 Derrick Woods 6-1 188 R-Fr. QB 10 Blake Bell 6-6 252 R-Jr. 9 Trevor Knight 6-1 201 R-Fr. FB 33 Trey Millard 6-2 253 Sr. 48 Aaron Ripkowski 6-1 254 Jr. RB 24 Brennan Clay 5-11 201 Sr. or 26 Damien Williams 5-11 211 Sr. DeFeNSe Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. RE 85 Geneo Grissom 6-4 263 R-Jr. 99 Chaz Nelson 6-2 237 5th-Sr. NT 80 Jordan Phillips 6-2 309 Sr. 95 Quincy Russell 6-4 315 Jr. DT 98 Chuka Ndulue 6-3 274 R-Jr. 93 Jordan Wade 6-4 299 Sr. LE 91 Charles Tapper 6-4 261 So. 90 Matt Dimon 6-2 268 Fr. OLB 7 Corey Nelson 6-1 226 Sr. 25 Aaron Franklin 6-1 222 R-Jr. MLB 20 Frank Shannon 6-1 229 R-So. 19 Eric Striker 6-0 219 So. NICK 2 Julian Wilson 6-2 199 R-Jr. 23 Kass Everett 5-10 189 Sr. RCB 15 Zack Sanchez 5-11 176 R-Fr. 22 Cortez Johnson 6-2 201 R-So. SS 10 Quentin Hayes 6-0 193 Jr. 13 Ahmad Thomas 6-1 215 Fr. FS 9 Gabe Lynn 6-0 204 5th-Sr. 32 Trey Franks 5-10 200 R-Jr. or 4 Hatari Byrd 6-1 198 Fr. LCB 14 Aaron Colvin 6-0 192 Sr. 27 Dakota Austin 5-11 151 Fr. or 6 Stanvon Taylor 5-11 173 Fr. oklahoma sooners depth chart Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 39 Nick Hodgson 6-2 193 Jr. H 84 Grant Bothun 5-11 188 So. 89 Connor Knight 6-4 226 R-Fr. LS 50 Austin Woods 6-4 311 Sr. 89 Connor Knight 6-4 226 R-Fr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KR 24 Brennan Clay 5-11 201 Sr. 22 Roy Finch 5-7 167 Sr. PR 8 Jalen Saunders 5-9 157 Sr. 3 Sterling Shepard 5-10 193 So. P 44 Jed Barnett 6-2 227 Jr. SPeCIALISTS ✦ pAGe 12 BY lOu sOmOGYI run the ball … The "Stat Of The Game" in Notre Dame's 30-13 victory as an 11-point un- derdog at Oklahoma last year was it out- rushed 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 Gol- son rushing for 64 yards on 11 carries. Such a threat this year is absent with Gol- son 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 co- ordinator, scrapped their four-man front this year and have almost exclusively run a 3-3-5 defensive formation to get more ath- letes on the field against the spread offenses faced in the Big 12. That alignment should give Notre Dame a better chance to estab- lish 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 per- centages 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 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 Rid- dick and Cierre Wood, who rushed for 74 yards apiece at Norman last year, high- lighted by Wood's 62-yard touchdown. ✦ news & notes 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 perfor- mances against big ten competition (91 yards against michigan, 91 against purdue and 82 against michigan state). photo By Bill panzica BY DAn muRphY t he door seemed to be wide-open for a No. 5-ranked Stanford team to march on to its second consecutive Rose Bowl, if not better, this season. The Cardinal knocked off No. 2 Oregon in a battle for control of the Pac-12 North in early No- vember, a game many perceived to be a playoff for a ticket to the conference championship game. Stanford physically punished the Ducks, running 66 times for 274 yards on the way to a decisive win that reinforced its brand as a team that pounds its opponents into submission. The Cardinal (9-2) has found success by wearing opposing teams down on offense and defense. This year, an unre- lenting Pac-12 schedule gave the Cardinal a taste of its own medicine. An early, unexpected loss to Utah left head coach David Shaw's team on the outside looking in at the national title pic- ture. A week after jumping back into the conversation by beating Oregon, Stanford lost 20-17 to a streaking USC team, giving the Cardinal two losses and likely ending its hopes for a BCS bowl bid. Kevin Gemmell, who covers the Pac-12 for ESPN.com, said there's no fatal flaw keeping a sound and deep Stanford pro- gram from taking the final jump from pe- rennial BCS contender to a national cham- pionship game. It's just a matter of trying to survive. "I don't think it's anything in particular schematically. I think it's just the fact that the Pac-12 is tough. People don't appreci- ate the nine-game conference schedule," he said. "It is a grind. They don't get Idaho in the middle of November, and they don't get Chattanooga in the middle of Novem- ber. They don't get any of those get-well games. I think it's just the wear and tear." Stanford doles out its fair share of the West Coast wear and tear, particularly with a nasty defense that ranks in the top 10 nationally in team sacks (tied for stanford preview nov. 27, 2013 fifth-year senior outside linebacker trent murphy leads the nation in sacks (13) and is ranked fourth in tackles for loss (19). photo courtesy stanford ✦ Game facts Date: Nov. 30, 2013. Site: Stanford Stadium (50,000). Kickoff: 7 p.m. EST. Television: FOX. Radio: This broadcast can be heard on SIRIUS Satellite Radio (channel 129). Series Facts: This is the 27th meeting between Notre Dame and Stanford. The Irish hold an 18-9 advantage over the Cardinal, and won the last meet- ing 20-13 in overtime at South Bend in 2012. Coaches: Notre Dame — Brian Kelly (36-14, fourth season); Stanford — Da- vid Shaw (32-6, third season). Noting Stanford: Notre Dame clinched its first national championship in its first win over Stanford, a 27-10 decision on Jan. 1, 1925, in the Rose Bowl … The coaching matchup in that first game was Knute Rockne versus Pop Warner …The winner of the series has received the Legends Trophy — an Irish crystal bowl on top of California Redwood mounting — each season since 1989 … Stanford head coach David Shaw was a sopho- more wide receiver for the 1992 Cardi- nal team that upset No. 6 Notre Dame for its only loss of the season … Shaw also played basketball and ran track while he was a student at Stanford. the GRInD a long and tough pac-12 schedule beat the cardinal at its own game Makes a terrific gift for your Notre Dame Fan! 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