Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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also included spending time at cor- nerback and on kickoffs, left him out of breath. In his place came sopho- more running back Greg Bryant, who returned three punts for a total of 31 yards, below Riggs's rate but still well ahead of last season's average of 7.1 yards per return. That average does not include any of the many fair catches the Irish made in 2013. Riggs and Bryant combined for zero fair catches against the Owls, somewhat to Kelly's chagrin. "Cody Riggs was gassed, and we had to take him out. He had not played that much football at Florida in a couple years," Kelly said. In addition to the personnel changes at punt returner, Kelly credited the newly installed FieldTurf for provid- ing better footing, even after a brief but strong rainfall. "You could see us make some defini- tive cuts out there, especially on punt return and our special teams game. Cody Riggs was able to stick his foot in the ground and go north-south. Greg Bryant was able to do that." TEN FRESHMEN MAKE DEBUTS The Irish called on 10 freshmen versus Rice, with a handful receiving specific praise. Safety Drue Tranquill made three tackles, and Notre Dame's dearth of depth in the defensive mid- dle forced him into the action through- out the afternoon. "He's just a highly conditioned athlete and physically strong that he can com- pete," Kelly said. "His is just a learning curve of the game and the speed of the game. We'll get him ready, and he'll continue to play more football." Linemen Daniel Cage and Grant OFFENSE QB: EVERETT GOLSON, Malik Zaire RB: CAM MCDANIEL , TAREAN FOLSTON, GREG BRYANT WR: CHRIS BROWN, Corey Robin - son, Justin Brent WR: C.J. PROSISE, Amir Carlisle WR: WILL FULLER, Corey Holmes TE: BEN KOYACK, Durham Smythe, Tyler Luatua LT: RONNIE STANLEY, Mike Mc - Glinchey LG: CONOR HANRATTY, Colin Mc- Govern C: NICK MARTIN, Mark Harrell RG: CHRISTIAN LOMBARD, Matt Hegarty RT: STEVE ELMER, Hunter Bivin DEFENSE DE: ROMEO OKWARA, Andrew Trumbetti DT: JARRON JONES, Daniel Cage, Ja - cob Matuska DT: SHELDON DAY, Justin Utupo, Chase Hounshell DE: ISAAC ROCHELL, Anthony Ra - basa, Grant Blankenship Will: JAYLON SMITH, Greer Martini MLB: JOE SCHMIDT, Nyles Morgan Sam: JAMES ONWUALU, John Turner, Ben Councell CB: CODY RIGGS, Matthias Farley (nickel), Nick Watkins S: ELIJAH SHUMATE, Nicky Baratti S: MAX REDFIELD, Drue Tranquill (dime) CB: COLE LUKE, Devin Butler SPECIAL TEAMS Kick Return: Amir Carlisle, Cam Mc- Daniel, Tyler Luatua, Justin Utupo, Cody Riggs, James Onwualu, John Turner, Devin Butler, Greer Martini, Connor Cavalaris, Durham Smythe and Ben Councell Kickoff Coverage: Kyle Brindza, Elijah Shumate, C.J. Prosise, Drue Tranquill, James Onwualu, Greg Bry - ant, Matthias Farley, Amir Carlisle, Cam McDaniel, Devin Butler and Cole Luke Punt Returner: Cody Riggs and Greg Bryant Punter: Kyle Brindza Placekicker: Kyle Brindza Holder: Hunter Smith Long Snapper: Scott Daly Short Snapper: Scott Daly Others: Eric Lee PARTICIPATION CHART