50 yards. He posted a 44.0-yard aver-
age on his punts during the regular
season and 20 of his 49 attempts were
downed inside the 20.
Finally, freshman CJ Sanders became
the fifth Notre Dame player ever to
return a kickoff and a punt for a touch-
down in the same season.
Furthermore, the Irish also executed
a touchdown off a fake field goal and
on a blocked punt that helped make a
difference in hard-fought wins against
Virginia and USC, respectively.
On offense, the line and the quarter-
back positions are the strongest and
deepest they've been in years; running
back saw its fourth or fifth option in
August, freshman Josh Adams, rush
for 757 yards and 7.3 yards per carry;
and the recruiting has been strong at
Junior defensive end Isaac Rochell will be asked to help anchor a front seven that likely will lose its top
two players to the NFL.
PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA
