Blue and Gold Illustrated

IN THE TRENCHES ANDREW OWENS gia's Nick Chubb, although the lat- ter suffered a possible season-ending knee injury Oct. 10. "My confidence is high, and I think I definitely think I can run the football on anybody," he said. "I'm able to see the holes and run behind the offensive line, and can also help in the passing game." Prosise consistently requires multi- ple defenders to bring him down, and sometimes even that approach will fail to get him to the turf. An example of that was his 11-yard score in the third quarter versus Navy, when he willed his way into the end zone. "I don't ever want one guy to tackle me," Prosise said. "I hate it when one guy tackles me. I always want to make three or four players at a time try to make the tackle." Even with his 2015 surge, he and head coach Brian Kelly both empha- size that the new running back has plenty to learn. "He's still evolving within that role," Kelly said. "He missed a couple protections today. But what I like the most about him is he is in that learning curve, and he's excited about working towards being a better running back every single day. Here's a guy that's a veteran player that is embracing his position like a freshman and learning about his position every single day." Had junior running back Tarean Folston not suffered a season-ending knee injury just seven snaps into the season opener, Notre Dame might not have realized Prosise's potential stardom in this offense. That's not to say the offense is better off without Folston, but Prosise's impact is felt much more significantly now that he can play 50 to 60 snaps per contest instead of 20 to 30. While Folston was due to break out as one of the nation's top backs, he had a skill set that is different from Pro- sise's. The senior's ability to score on any play stands out on a weekly basis. "I didn't think that was possible, but at this point I've got to keep it moving," Prosise said of his statistical accomplishments. The running back affects games in so many different ways, and he might be the most important player to a pos- sible Irish run to the College Football Playoff if they can win out after losing at Clemson Oct. 3. As long as the of- fensive line does its job — and it didn't for long enough against the Tigers — Prosise is the type of player that could define college football's second half. "It's a huge win because you know Navy is a good team coming in here, and they definitely thought they could beat us. There's no light preparation for them either," Prosise said. "The of- fense has to be keyed in." Now the challenge will be to key in each and every week, because Notre Dame removed any margin for error from the equation when it lost to begin the month. With a sophomore quarter- back (DeShone Kizer) likely pegged for some week-to-week fluctuation in his play, Prosise can be the reliable figure in an explosive Irish offense. ✦ Andrew Owens has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2013. He can be reached at aowens@blueandgold.com

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