Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/577039
BY LOU SOMOGYI T he transfer prior to last spring of incumbent starting center Matt Hegarty to the Univer‑ sity of Oregon for his fifth sea‑ son of eligibility might have seemed like a head scratcher at the time. Why depart when you have 13 starts under your belt and would have been among all five returning linemen from the impressive 31‑28 victory versus LSU in the Music City Bowl? As it turns out, "Q" was part of the answer. "Q" is sophomore left guard Quen‑ ton Nelson, Notre Dame's lone five‑ star recruit in the 2014 recruiting class — and the last three classes combined, so far — who was redshirted as a freshman. Because the staff planned to move a healthier Nick Martin back to cen‑ ter from guard in 2015, the left guard position was open, with Hegarty as the favorite. But it was evident that Nelson was a player the Fighting Irish coaching staff was eager to get on to the field. "We just said, 'It's wide open. You guys go compete for it. Let the best guy win,'" head coach Brian Kelly said of the competition among Hegarty, Nelson and sophomore Alex Bars at left guard. "We didn't have any pre‑ conceived notions. We knew they were all good players." Hegarty is still good enough to start for what has been one of the nation's top five programs for the past decade, and he has legitimate NFL aspira‑ tions. However, the ceiling on Nelson is higher. "He can bench press a truck," said Kelly, noting that Nelson is about 340 pounds. "The things that stand out with him are he's big, he's strong, he's physical, he's got toughness — and he moves his feet really well … He runs exceedingly well for his size." The offensive line was classified as potentially Notre Dame's No. 1 strength this season for two reasons. One was the veteran leadership of Martin, projected first‑round pick Ronnie Stanley at left tackle and junior right guard Steve Elmer. The other was a different kind of demeanor brought by the two "new‑ THE BRAWLER Massive sophomore Quenton Nelson's aggressive, physical style of play earned him the starting spot at left guard