Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/542018
BY LOU SOMOGYI A year ago at this time, Notre Dame junior cornerback KeiV- arae Russell was projected to be a top NFL pick after a stellar sophomore season. Alas, an academic investigation and subsequent suspension kept Russell from competing with the Fighting Irish last season. Yet in his place at right cornerback, a new sophomore, Cole Luke, responded with an even more impressive campaign than what Rus- sell produced a year earlier. One of only three defensemen to start all 13 games — along with class- mates Jaylon Smith at linebacker and Isaac Rochell along the defensive line — Luke's 15 passes defended were the most by a Fighting Irish player since second-round pick Dave Waymer had the same amount in 1978. Luke's 11 passes broken up were the third best single-season mark in school history, and his four interceptions tied senior nickel Matthias Farley for the team lead. Raw numbers don't tell the full story. Luke was often matched up against the best receivers in the land, five of whom were picked in the first four rounds of the 2015 NFL Draft. • Stanford's Ty Montgomery (third- round pick) caught four passes for a paltry 12 yards against Luke, who re- corded two interceptions, broke up a pass, forced a fumble and recorded a sack in the 17-14 win. • Against Arizona State's Jaelen Strong (third-round pick), Luke had three passes broken up and limited him to 58 yards after Strong had picked up 136 the year prior versus the Irish. • Although Northwestern opted to attack the Irish safeties instead of Luke, he still recorded an interception that set up a Notre Dame touchdown to tem- porarily provide a 40-29 lead. • Louisville's DeVante Parker, the No. 14 overall pick in the NFL Draft last spring, was held to three catches for 44 yards (and his touchdown came when a miscommunication inadver- tently resulted in Luke not covering him). Three times the 6-3, 209-pound Parker went deep on Luke, and on two of them Luke knocked the pass away, while the third fell incomplete. The three previous games Parker had 490 PRIME COVERAGE Cole Luke's rise could give Notre Dame one of nation's top corner duos