Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Nickname: "Jay. Nobody here calls me that, but my family does." Residence: "Irish Row." Major: "Finance." Favorite Food: "Alfredo. I eat it almost every other day." Favorite Movie: "'Remember the Titans' or 'The Green Mile.'" Favorite TV show: "'Friday Night Lights.' I watched it in high school when I was doing the recruiting thing." Favorite Music: "Billy Presley. He's a DJ, he's pretty sick. He's up and coming, but I listen to a bunch of his stuff." Best Player You've Faced: "[Former Notre Dame tight end] Ben Koy- ack was a good challenge. Just because my first year playing defense, he didn't take it easy on me." Favorite Part About Playing For Notre Dame: "Game day. No question. I have people that I love there, the fans, my best friends all around. Playing for the people that I love." Getting To Know … JUNIOR LINEBACKER JAMES ONWUALU SEASON-ENDING INJURIES PILE UP FOR IRISH When several media outlets projected Notre Dame as a potential College Football Playoff team in 2015, injuries were not taken into account. Unfortu- nately for the program, few teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision rivaled the Fighting Irish injury list among starters (five) after just the first two games, when all were declared out for the remainder of 2015: • On Aug. 14, senior nose guard Jarron Jones suffered a torn right MCL, but he is expected to return for a fifth season in 2016. • Five days later, freshman Shaun Crawford, who had moved ahead of fifth-year senior captain Matthias Farley at nickel back, tore an ACL in prac- tice. • After taking only seven snaps in the opener versus Texas, top running back and junior Tarean Folston tore his right ACL. • At Virginia, the Irish lost quarterback Malik Zaire to a fractured right ankle in the third quarter, and then junior tight end Durham Smythe was shelved for the season in the closing seconds with a torn MCL in his right knee, plus a right shoulder injury. The litany of misfortune has prompted questions about everything from the strength and conditioning program, to being cursed, to the pros and cons of FieldTurf versus natural grass. Head coach Brian Kelly said he, his staff and the school study every possible factor that led to an injury. Sometimes, it can just be unexplainable randomness.