Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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2015 RECRUITING ISSUE that Notre Dame's offensive line has been a tight unit, a situation that in many ways stemmed from former Irish four-year starter Zack Martin. When the Hoges invited all of the of- fensive linemen to their home for din- ner, Tristen's mother, Cindy, remarked that it was difficult to tell which were seniors and which were freshmen. "That's refreshing for a parent to know he's going to be okay here," she said. "Looking at these guys was like looking at 20 other Tristens. It's easier for a parent to say, 'Okay, you're going to be good here.' " Hoge also bonded with the four other Irish commits — linebackers Josh Barajas and Asmar Bilal, safety Nicco Fertitta and Tillery — that played in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl Jan. 3 in San Antonio. "It was all of us in one room," Hoge said. "We watched the bowl game to- gether, and we were going crazy when [kicker Kyle Brindza] hit that [game- winning] field goal. We ate together. We went to the mall. If two people were going, we all went. On New Year's Eve, we were all together, mi- nus Jerry and Nicco. They fell asleep. It was tough to separate us." Despite coming from a football family — Tristen's uncle is former Pittsburgh Steelers running back and current ESPN analyst Merril Hoge — Tristen loved playing, but never re- ally enjoyed watching football all that much. As Marty explained, that made Hoge's recruiting process a unique one. He had to research schools and come up with a list of programs to visit. Notre Dame made the list and of- fered a different pitch than Penn State, LSU, Stanford and Florida. "This was the realest college I ever visited," Hoge said. "Other than here, coaches are about the hoopla and I never bought into that. Here they told you how it is. You will have to come and work your tail off and show im- provement and be coachable. They told you everything the right way. "Coach Hiestand is the realest guy because you don't have to talk football with him. You can talk about regular things. Same with all of the coaches. They're all real." In many ways, what made Notre Dame stand apart also distinguishes Hoge from a typical recruit. ✦ TRISTEN HOGE CENTER 6-4 · 290 HIGHLAND H.S. POCATELLO, IDAHO RANKINGS STARS NAT. POS. STATE ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 150 1 — ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 131 1 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 110 1 1 ✪ ✪ ✪ ✪ 48 2 1 MEASURABLES • Runs a 4.90 40-yard dash and 4.60 shuttle. • Boasts a 365-pound bench press, 535-pound squat and 29-inch vertical. STATISTICS • Recorded 133 pancake blocks (11.6 per game) and helped Highland average 377.0 yards and 43.1 points per game en route to winning the 5A state championship as a senior.