Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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The ultra-intense Rudnick started all 11 games at corner for the 1973 national champs in a secondary that included defensive captain/free safety Mike Townsend, freshman phenom and strong safety Lu- ther Bradley, and future Academic All-American Reggie Barnett at the other corner position. Rudnick's 10 passes broken up that year were second to Bradley's 11, he tied for second in interceptions with three (behind Bradley's six), and his 47 tackles were seventh on the team. After Notre Dame ended USC's 23-game unbeaten streak in 1973 with a 23-14 victory, USC All-Amer- ican tailback Anthony Davis singled out Rudnick as the player who engaged in non-stop, unpleasant chatter with him all game. The Chicago native was selected in the 11th-round of the 1974 NFL Draft and played one season for the Baltimore Colts before embarking on a lucrative career at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Board of Trade. LES TRAVER: 1940-2014 Former Notre Dame end Les Traver, a standout on the 1959-61 Notre Dame teams coached by Joe Kuharich, died Aug. 21 in Greensboro, N.C. He was 73. Traver backed up senior All-American Monty Stickles at end during his sophomore year but led the Irish in receiving in each of his last two seasons. Traver's 39 career receptions averaged 18.4 yards per catch and included three touchdowns. He also racked up 135 career tackles, finishing third on the team in 1960 with 67, behind future NFL Pro Bowl players Myron Pottios (74) and Nick Buoniconti (71). UNDER THE DOME A TIME OUT TO EXPLAIN Few things draw the ire more of football fans, or media, then what appear to be wasted timeouts — especially early in a game or half, or before a series. It has a feel of disorganization. So when Notre Dame had to call a timeout on the first play of the game against Michigan, and another shortly after that (12:37 mark of the first quarter), murmurs of discontent were palpable. "The first timeout, [senior quarterback Everett Golson] wasn't aware the 25-second clock had started," head coach Brian Kelly explained a few days after the game. "He thought it was on the snap. He kind of walked out there after we broke and he looked around and he was kind of taking it all in. "I don't know if the moment was too big — he just wasn't aware of that particular situation." Golson also was not aware of the clock during the lead-up to the second timeout. The third timeout was used with 2:27 still left in the first quarter after a 12-yard completion to junior Amir Carlisle gave the Irish a first down at the Michigan 12-yard line. The head coach blamed himself due to a mix-up with the play-calling sheets. "We had a particular play called down in the red zone, and on my game sheet I have a box for my pass concepts — and it wasn't on the pass concepts," he said. "It was in the red zone [sheet]." Using the timeouts early didn't come back to haunt them. When Notre Dame took possession for the final time in the first half at its 44 with only 1:24 left it still tallied a touchdown with no timeouts needed to make it 21-0 at halftime — with 34 seconds left to spare. "If you need to use a timeout in the first half to settle in and communicate effectively, I'm okay with that," Kelly said. "… In the second half, you should have it sorted out. If you're getting delay of game pen- alties in the second half and you have communication issues, you probably have larger issues going on."