Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Turning The Page Why wait until August? Here is a list of the top preseason storylines for all 12 of Notre Dame's games next season. Sept. 1 Navy (2011 record as of Dec. 28: 5-7) The Midshipmen will have to replace the backfield combination of quar- terback Kriss Proctor and fullback Alexander Teich, their top two rushers in 2011. Next in line at quarterback is Trey Miller, who has thrown 29 career pass attempts. Will Notre Dame be able to overcome the distractions of the Emerald Isle and a bit of jet lag to hand Navy a big loss to start the year? Sept. 8 Purdue (7-6) Purdue head coach Danny Hope likely held on to his job for another year thanks to a win over Indiana in the season finale and a bowl victory over Western Michigan. How well the Boilermakers start next season will depend a lot on how quickly leading rusher Ralph Bolden can recover from his second major ACL injury. The Irish have won three of their last four home openers, including a 23-12 win over Purdue to start the Kelly era. Sept. 15 at Michigan State (10-3) The Spartans lost in the inaugural Big Ten championship game and return a lot of talent, led by All-American defensive tackle Jerel Worthy if he doesn't turn pro. Fifth-year quarterback Kirk Cousins will need to be replaced during a tougher than normal start to the year. The Spartans begin 2012 with an Aug. 31 game against Boise State before playing Notre Dame and Ohio State in September. Sept. 22 Michigan (10-2) The Irish get one last shot at Denard Robinson. The Michigan quarterback has totaled 948 yards of offense in two dramatic wins against Notre Dame. If head coach Brady Hoke can get his team to take another big jump forward in his second year, the Wolverines might be one of the toughest tests on next year's schedule. Hoke will get a little preview of the Irish offense when playing UMass and its new head coach, Charley Molnar, the week before. Oct. 6 Miami (6-6) The Hurricanes finished their season with a loss to Boston College to slip to .500. The future doesn't look bright due to the recent NCAA violations. The Irish will have a week off to prepare for Al Golden's team at Soldier Field. The biggest question heading into this game might be about the uniform styles that each team will bust out in the newest edition of the Shamrock Series. Oct. 13 Stanford (11-1) Stanford is another team that will be losing a veteran quarterback in An- drew Luck. David Shaw was named a Coach of the Year finalist in his debut season. He'll have high expectations in 2012 while trying to replace 11 graduating starters from what he called the most successful senior class in Cardinal history. Notre Dame could pick up a lot of momentum for a tough second half of the schedule with a win at home. Oct. 20 BYU (9-3) The Cougars won eight of their last nine games in 2011 to finish with the best record of an independent team in the country. Junior Riley Nelson, who replaced former five- star recruit Jake Heaps as the starting quarterback, helped engineer the turnaround for an offense that averaged 410 yards per game. Oct. 27 at Oklahoma (9-3) The addition of the Sooners makes Notre Dame's schedule more treacherous. Oklahoma had the fourth-best offense in the country in 2011 and should be tough to stop again de- spite the loss of star wide receiver Ryan Broyles and possibly starting quarterback Landry Jones. www.BLUEANDGOLD.com Sept. 1 Sept. 8 Oct. 13 Pitt junior running back Ray Graham was second in the country in rushing before a severe knee injury in the final week of October sidelined him the remainder of the year. PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH Nov. 3 Pittsburgh (6-6) Pitt will be playing under its third head coach (Paul Chryst, former Wis- consin offensive coordinator) in as many years. The Panthers were a middle of the road Big East team after losing running back Ray Graham to injury in October. With an early bye week and a tough stretch next October, Notre Dame could be primed to look past a team like Pitt. Nov. 10 at Boston College (4-8) Eagles head coach Frank Spaziani barely held on to his job by winning two of his last three games in 2011. He could be on the hot seat again by next November if the Eagles can't find a way to put more points on the board. The question will be whether or not Notre Dame can solve a defense that has given it many troubles in the past. F2012 NOTRE DAME Date vs. Navy* Purdue Sept. 15 at Michigan State Sept. 22 Michigan Oct. 6 vs. Miami^ Stanford Oct. 20 BYU Oct. 27 Nov. 3 at Oklahoma Pittsburgh Nov. 10 at Boston College Nov. 17 Wake Forest Nov. 24 at USC * at Dublin, Ireland; ^ at Soldier Field in Chicago OOTBALL SCHEDULE Opponent Nov. 17 Wake Forest (6-6) Wake Forest ended a promising season in a rough patch by losing four of five. Next year the Demon Deacons return almost all of their top playmakers on offense, including quarterback Tanner Price, running back Josh Harris and receiver Chris Givens, and could be a team worth watching in the ACC. Nov. 24 at USC (10-2) The Irish try to make it two in a row in the Los Angeles Coliseum. USC will be loaded again with talent, especially since junior quarterback Matt Barkley decided to stick around for another year with top targets Robert Woods and Marqise Lee. What will be interesting to see is if im- pending scholarship sanctions have any effect on the Tro- jans' depth. — Dan Murphy FEBRUARY 2012 25