Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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the game against USC Oct. 19 and for the matchup against BYU Nov. 23. The two trips were enough for Barnett to realize where he wanted to spend his college years. Ranked as the No. 107 overall player in the country, the No. 4 pro-style quarterback in the nation and the No. 13 prospect in California by 247Sports, Barnett was recently invited to partici- pate in Nike's "The Opening" and the Elite 11 quarterback competition in Beaverton, Ore., this coming summer. Pocatello, Idaho, center Tristen Hoge, a 6-5, 287-pound prospect, com- mitted to Notre Dame Dec. 7 and gave the Irish their second elite offensive lineman in this class. 247Sports ranks Hoge as the No. 66 overall player in the land, the No. 1 prospect in Idaho and the No. 1 center in the country. Like Barnett, Hoge made the trip to South Bend for the game against USC Oct. 19 and then returned for a sec- ond trip Dec. 6. That second visit was strictly a business trip, during which Hoge wanted to commit to head coach Brian Kelly in person. Notre Dame's early success in the 2015 class is expected to draw positive national attention throughout the up- coming spring and summer. All three commitments are outgoing and talk- ative, and all plan to recruit actively for the Irish during the camp circuit starting in March. PREVIEWING THE CLASS Notre Dame's class of 2014 consisted of 23 recruits, two of which are already enrolled. The Irish brought in nine players on offense, 13 on defense and one on special teams. Notre Dame has 84 players on schol- arship (39 on offense and 42 on de- fense, plus three on special teams), including five fifth-year seniors (safety Austin Collinsworth, offensive line- man Christian Lombard, wide receiver Luke Massa, inside linebacker Kendall Moore and defensive lineman Justin Utupo). During his National Signing Day press conference, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly confirmed that all five players will return this fall. There are 15 seniors eligible for a fifth year in 2015. Of the group, top candidates to return are running back Amir Carlisle, receiver DaVaris Dan- iels, safeties Matthias Farley and Eilar Hardy, quarterback Everett Golson, inside linebacker Jarrett Grace, offen- sive linemen Conor Hanratty, Matt Hegarty and Nick Martin, and defen- sive linemen Tony Springmann and Chase Hounshell. The numbers game for now suggests that the 2015 class might be under 20, leaving 14-16 more spots with three juniors already committed. Here is a position-by-position break- down of the projected needs and a featured junior target at each position. QUARTERBACK 2014 QBs: 3 Projected Take: 1 Notre Dame returns Golson, sophomore Malik Zaire and just signed true freshman DeShone Kizer. The Irish would like to add one signal-caller in the 2015 class. Target: Blake Barnett, 6-4, 195, Corona, Calif. (San- tiago) — Notre Dame locked up his commitment Nov. 24 and is likely done at the position for 2015. Barnett also held offers from Duke, Michigan, UCLA, West Virginia and others, before pledging to the