Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/377020
UNDER THE DOME run. When it's film study, the offensive players want to keep him in because he generally has that move that makes somebody miss. That's his style. "Greg has a different style, Cam's got a different style. … They all three had solid games but Tarean did what we wanted him to. He's an elusive runner and he can turn it on and eat up yards quickly." "I heard I made a couple of nice cuts," Folston said. "That's just me in my zone, playing hard. It's kind of funny hearing these guys talk about it, but I try not to get too big headed. It's just another day, another dollar. I just go out and work hard every day. I try to make those cuts in practice so when game time comes around I make it in the game also." Enhancing the attack is the running threat at quarterback with both senior Everett Golson and sophomore Malik Zaire, both of whom can freeze de- fenses with the zone-read play. Chances are there will be times this year when one back will be called on with greater frequency, a la McDaniel in the hard-fought 23-13 win versus BYU last year in which he carried the ball 24 times for 117 yards, or his 18 carries for 97 yards in the win versus USC. Against Navy, Folston carried 18 times for 140 yards and could not be taken off the field during the fourth quarter in the back-and-forth 38-34 Notre Dame win. He's preparing for that kind of game(s) again this year when he will be called on more frequently. "I just go out every day and play hard," the 5-9½, 209-pound Folston said. "As far as the rotation [against Rice], it was cool. We all got in and played a lot. Our legs felt good after the game. It was fine." This committee is expecting to have plenty of legs to stand on. ✦ Pat Eilers Pinch Hits For Irish Staff Pat Eilers was an achiever supreme during his days at Notre Dame from 1987-89, after transferring from Yale University. He had a double major in biology and mechanical engineering, played safety and flanker before a six- year NFL career, and also played baseball. This August, Eilers took a sabbatical from his position as managing director of Madison Dearborn Part- ners (MDP), LLC, a Chicago-based private equity firm, to help the Irish again. Eilers joined the Notre Dame coaching staff as a defensive quality control assistant to supplement the coaching from graduate assistant Kyle McCarthy while McCarthy undergoes chemotherapy treatments. "Kyle still wants to be on the field as he goes through his treatments," Kelly said. "We didn't want to pull him off the field and Pat said, 'Hey, if we can make this work, I'll be happy to stay off the field and when Kyle can't go, I'll fill in for him.' "It was just a great gesture on his part to make the situation work and allow Kyle to stay on the field when he can." Notre Dame needed an NCAA exemption for the arrangement so as not to exceed staffing limits. Eilers and his wife, Jana, have four children: Elizabeth, Katherine, Clare and Patrick. Elizabeth is a senior at Notre Dame, while Katherine is a sophomore and member of the Irish women's lacrosse team.