Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/413403
FAN FORUM stating that Notre Dame was so grate- ful that the United States Navy uti- lized the V-12 program at the Notre Dame campus during the critical time of World War II. Now that we have entered into the ACC scheduling requirements and have been forced to terminate or cur- tail several series — Michigan, Michi- gan State, Purdue, etc. — I feel that it is time to revisit the annual game commitment versus Navy. Both schools have benefited greatly from this relationship, but due to our requirements to play ACC teams — and the frequent occurrence of injuries due to legal cut blocks, Joe Schmidt and others being the latest — I feel that the administration should re-evaluate this annual commitment and propose a path forward that will accommodate our new realities and avoid some leg injuries as well. Dan Kearney '69 Knoxville, Tenn. Mr. Kearney, head coach Brian Kelly did indicate to us that he did not blame the injury to Joe Schmidt on a cut block, or to anyone else this year. He had not been shy in the past about stating if a player injury was because of a cut block. FROM THE WEBSITE A popular opinion prior to the 2014 college football season was that a relatively young Notre Dame team that had incurred some significant attrition was "a year away" from becoming a bona fide championship frontrunner. While the defense will lose only one starter in corner Cody Riggs — who could be replaced by 26-game starter KeiVarae Russell, who is cur- rently in academic exile — one regular on BlueandGold.com indicated the potential on offense is even more exciting with the return of quarterback Everett Golson and a youth-laden receiving and running backs corps. These were his thoughts prior to the Arizona State game Nov. 8: Rbeevers: I was scanning through some stats and noticed an interesting point of comparison: 2009 Notre Dame Offense: No. 8 in the country, 458.1 yards per game (6.39 yards per play) 2014 Notre Dame Offense: No. 36 in the country, 458.3 yards per game (6.17 yards per play) It is not so surprising that offenses have become more prolific during that period, but it is interesting to see the magnitude of the change in such a short time. It was more interesting to note that Brian Kelly's offense this year is statistically better than an offense that had Jimmy Clausen throwing to Michael Floyd and Golden Tate, especially given the early struggles this year with the offensive line. It is no surprise that the 2009 version passed the ball for 50 more yards per game. It is equally not a surprise that this year's squad averages 50 more yards per game on the ground. Somewhat surprising, given Notre Dame's struggles in the red zone under Kelly, is the significant differ- ence in points scored per game — 30.1 in 2009 (No. 32 rank) compared to 35.4 this year (No. 29 rank). That difference largely stems from red-zone touchdown efficiency of 56.0 percent in 2009 compared to 71.8 percent this year. 2015 has the potential to be a spectacular year for Notre Dame football. Hopefully the team can close out 2014 in a manner that foreshadows that potential.