Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Dayne Crist started the season as Notre Dame's No. 1 quarterback, but lost the job to sophomore Tommy Rees after just 30 minutes on the field against South Florida. Crist graduated from Notre Dame in December and will play for Charlie Weis at Kansas next year. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND second in tackles (84). An NFL career definitely is in his future, especially with his range and impact on tackles. Similar to Fleming in that the bar was perhaps a little too high in 2011, but he remained a reliable anchor. 7. QB DAYNE CRIST In 2010, he was far and away our No. 1 pick, but in 2011 the feeling was if his senior year didn't work out, there were other options in ex- perienced sophomore Tommy Rees or change-ups with Andrew Hendrix or Everett Golson. Never would we have anticipated that his senior year would see him lose his starting position by half- time of the opener, when the Irish fell behind 16-0 to South Florida. The chemistry between Crist and Kelly never seemed to develop, and it spoke volumes when he received such a quick hook in the opener. When the opportunity to re- emerge came versus USC, a fum- bled snap at the Trojan 1-yard line 20 FEBRUARY 2012 resulted in a touchdown return by USC. One of the all-time hard luck sto- ries in Notre Dame football history — at least on the field, including ma- jor knee surgeries in 2009 and 2010 — the former five-star quarterback will have one more opportunity next season at Kansas to take advantage of a fifth season of eligibility. 8. DE ETHAN JOHNSON AND 9. DE KAPRON LEWIS-MOORE The two senior defensive ends al- most seemed overshadowed in the preseason by the dynamic freshman tandem of Lynch and Stephon Tuitt, but the veterans' presence was going to need to be significant if the defense was to continue its excellence from the final four games of 2010. Unfortu- nately, both had injury setbacks. Lewis-Moore was the team's most consistent lineman (32 tackles) be- fore his season-ending knee injury against USC on Oct. 22. Johnson (14 tackles) played the first month of the season, but an ankle injury hobbled and shelved him all of October and still seemed to limit him in Novem- ber. These two injuries would have devastated the Irish much more in the last 15 years or so, but this season they did not implode, a testament to the upgraded recruiting along the line. Lewis-Moore is projected to return for a fifth year in 2012, while John- son, who had 97 career tackles (12.5 sacks), will attempt to make an NFL roster. 10. C BRAXSTON CAVE After undergoing growing pains in 2010 as the starting center, the pow- erhouse Cave became much more consistent and effective this season before seeing his campaign end Nov. 5 at Wake Forest with a foot injury that required surgery. His absence became conspicuous in both the power running game and pass protection (eight sacks in last three weeks after just five in the first BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED