Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/259072
passing and 15 scores, and paced the team in rushing with 536 yards and six more touchdowns. 7. LOUISVILLE (12-1) Winter News: Louisville's Prodigal Son, Bobby Petrino, who coached the Cardinals from 2003-06, has humbly returned to replace Charlie Strong, who accepted the head coaching po- sition at Texas … Quarterback Teddy Bridgewater and safety Calvin Pryor opted to turn pro. Notable: Petrino is 83-30 as a college head coach. His 2004 Louisville team finished 11-1 and No. 7 in the country, his 2006 crew was 12-1 and placed No. 6, and his 2011 Arkansas team was 11-2 with a No. 5 finish. Summary: The receiving corps is deep and running back includes Dominique Brown (825 rushing yards and 5.1 yards per carry) and Auburn transfer Michael Dyer. Five starters return for a defense that finished No. 1 nationally in total defense (251.5 yards allowed per game) and rushing defense (80.7 yards surrendered per contest) and No. 2 in scoring defense (12.2 points yielded per outing). 8. VS. NAVY (9-4) Winter News: The Notre Dame- Navy ties continued in January when it was announced Under Armour would be the official outfitter of both teams. Notable: Dynamic sophomore quar- terback Keenan Reynolds (1,346 rush- ing yards and 1,057 passing yards in 2013) set a single-season Football Bowl Subdivision record for a quarterback last year with 31 rushing touchdowns. Summary: In the 11 seasons from 2003-13, Navy went 92-49 and won a minimum of eight games 10 times. With Reynolds at the throttle and all five starters on the offensive line back, the Midshipmen are capable of taking the Irish to the brink again, or beyond, as they did in last year's 38-34 loss. 9. NORTHWESTERN (5-7) Winter News: The team made na- tional headlines Jan. 28 when its play- ers began attempts to form a labor union for college athletes … Standout running back/return man Venric Mark was granted a fifth season of eligibility after playing only three games last sea- son … Mark's 4,271 all-purpose yards are 1,000 away from the school record … Mark posted 1,366 rushing yards in 2012 and earned All-America status as a punt returner. Notable: After a 4-0 start, the Wild- Quarterback Keenan Reynolds, who rushed for three touchdowns and passed for another, and Navy nearly upset Notre Dame in 2013 before fall- ing 38-34. PHOTO COURTESY NAVY