Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI or No. 2 in head coach Charlie Weis' second season. And, of course, the 2012 outfit also was supposed to be "a year away" because it was breaking in a green sophomore quarterback (Everett Gol- son), lost two first-round picks in wide receiver Michael Floyd and safety Harrison Smith, saw stud pass rusher Aaron Lynch transfer, and would in- evitably lose road games at Michigan State, Oklahoma and USC, for starters. Instead, the 2012 regular season ended 12-0 — and the "year away" in 2013 produced an 8-4 regular season with a berth to the Pinstripe Bowl. Never put off for a year away what might be accomplished the season prior. Therefore, it might be encouraging that the 2014 Fighting Irish edition, likewise and understandably, will be classified in most circles as a year away from legitimate College Football Playoffs discussion. The top class on the team is the current 22-man sopho- more group that ranked among the nation's top five in February 2013. Neither quarterback took a snap last season, most of the top skills players on offense are sophomores, and only one lineman (Christian Lombard) will be out of eligibility in 2015. Defensively, new coordinator Brian VanGorder's initial assessment of his troops was "young, young, young." Other than end Ishaq Williams, who has one career start, none of the main figures along the front seven two-deep will be out of eligibility in 2015. The same pretty much holds true in the secondary, the expected strength in 2014. The main concern there is whether cornerback KeiVarae Russell will be good enough to turn pro after his junior campaign this season, espe- cially on a defense that is expected to utilize much more press coverage. Combining the 2014 youth move- ment on both sides of the ball with the schedule, another 9-3 projection will be in the cards for head coach Brian Kelly's fifth season, which will make 2012 seem like the once-in-a-genera- tion outlier campaign. The Oct. 18 visit to Florida State will be deemed an automatic "L" by nearly everyone in college football. Splitting the November road games at Arizona State and USC — only Lou Holtz wins three in a row at the Los Angeles Coliseum — might be a best- case scenario, and the inevitable upset special (at Pitt in 2013, South Florida in 2011, Navy and Tulsa in 2010, UConn in 2009, Syracuse in 2008 …) is lurking somewhere, never mind the idea that Michigan and Stanford have Notre Dame's number, each winning four times in the last five meetings. The tea leaves point to 2015 as the year to make it happen with Texas and Southern Cal at home, Stanford pos- sibly on a decline by then, and the po- tential of at least nine of the 11 starters returning on both offense and defense. Maybe the best news of all for the 2014 Irish is they might be considered "a year away." ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com