Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/608448
those Revolutionary War scenes where they keep marching forward. "And they just have never com‑ plained about anything. They just keep going, and they keep moving for‑ ward. And that's the mentality of this group. They don't get fazed by much, and they really appreciate each other. They enjoy being around each other." Overcoming for the most part the slew of injuries or other key personnel losses that have ravaged the team this season has been a testament to the op‑ eration's recruiting and overall player development. Prior to the season, Kelly indicated the 2015 team would be his most tal‑ ented — across the board — in terms of quality depth. That didn't mean it would have as good a record as the 12‑1 outfit in 2012 that lost in the BCS National Champi‑ onship Game to Alabama, but that it could withstand more setbacks per‑ sonnel wise. The 2012 team saw the entire defen‑ sive lineup pretty much intact over the final 11 games, while the No. 1 offense had only two injury setbacks: quar‑ terback Everett Golson missing one game with an injury and wide receiver DaVaris Daniels sidelined for the final two regular‑season games because of a broken collarbone. Injuries are an indigenous part of football, but what has separated 2015 is it occurring at such prominent posi‑ tions. • Since 1972, the only other seasons in which Notre Dame had a season‑ ending injury to its starting quarter‑ back like this year with junior Malik Zaire (who had only two starts) for more than two games were 1987 (Terry Andrysiak), 2000 (Arnaz Battle) and 2010 (Dayne Crist). • The Irish lost their top rusher, Tar‑ ean Folston, seven plays into the sea‑ son, after already losing their second‑ leading rusher from 2014, Greg Bryant, to academics/transfer. • In a rebuilding year at tight end, almost always an Irish strength, its clear‑cut starter, junior Durham Smythe, was lost for at least the final 10 regular‑season games with shoul‑ der and knee injuries. • The anchor in the middle of the defense, senior Jarron Jones, was lost for at least the regular season back in August, as was projected starting nickel and freshman Shaun Crawford, both to knee injuries. Sophomore safety Drue Tranquill and sophomore guard Alex Bars have also been lost for the season, though there is an outside chance Smythe and Jones could return in the postseason. Senior cornerback KeiVarae Russell is possibly out for the season as well, while senior running back C.J. Prosise missed most of November with differ‑ ent injuries. Sophomore nose guard Daniel Cage (concussion), junior line‑ backer James Onwualu (grade two MCL injury) and sophomore tight end Nic Weishar (concussion) all missed time as well. "It's been the same response," said Kelly, referring to the team reacting to late‑season injuries compared to early ones. "They feel for the guys that go down, whether it was Malik or whether it was Tranquill or Alex Bars. It's every guy that goes down. KeiVarae this week.