Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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which struggled for too much of 2014. Behind that improved play against a physical SEC opponent in LSU was the leadership of junior left tackle Ronnie Stanley. "With two tight ends in the game and a will up front that started with Ronnie Stanley," Kelly said when asked how Notre Dame had success running the ball. "Ronnie was ex- tremely vocal and lit a fire under ev- erybody today. "He was more vocal than he's ever been, and he charged up everybody. It just seemed to elevate everybody's play on the offensive line. They were certainly a big part of our success to- day." "More than he's ever been," junior defensive lineman Sheldon Day added in regards to Stanley's vocal leader- ship. The offensive line's effort Included sophomore Mike McGlinchey making his first career start at right tackle in place of injured fifth-year senior Chris- tian Lombard. "Anytime you rush for 263 yards against a very good SEC defense, you're generally going to say that's a pretty good job," Kelly said. "Obvi- ously our quarterback was protected very well. On third-down situations when they had their speed package in, we did not have any guys coming off the edge." NO DECISIONS YET FOR POSSIBLE NFL-BOUND PLAYERS At the end of the regular season, four Irish players requested evalua- tions of their play from the NFL Draft Notre Dame rushed for 263 yards, including 73 on 21 carries by sophomore running back Tarean Folston (25), and possessed the ball for 37 minutes and 19 seconds against a tough LSU defense. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA