Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/651219
BY ANDREW OWENS S enior cornerback Cole Luke is entering his third season as a starter. Quiet and dependable, Notre Dame knows what it is getting out of the Chandler, Ariz., native on a week-to-week basis. The Irish, however, must fill a void on the opposite side of the field with the boisterous personality of KeiV- arae Russell off to the NFL. Head coach Brian Kelly and his staff got a taste of life without Russell in the fi- nal two games of the 2015 campaign after the cornerback suffered a frac- tured tibia late in the 19-16 win over Boston College Nov. 21. F i r s t , t h e n - j u n i o r D e v i n B u t - ler stepped in for Russell. Outside of a missed tackle that went for a Stanford touchdown, he was not an area of significant vulnerability in the 38-36 loss to the Cardinal. Af- ter Butler suffered an injury during the week leading up to the Fiesta Bowl against Ohio State Jan. 1, Notre Dame threw then-sophomore Nick Watkins into the lineup for his first career start. The Irish defense struggled — as it did during much of the 2015 sea- son — to contain Ohio State's play- makers, but Kelly regarded Watkins' performance — three tackles and one pass broken up — against the Buck- eyes as a plus. "I thought Nick competed well," Kelly said. "We knew he was going to be a target. But here is what we asked him to do: 'They're going to throw it out there, make the tackle.' He was holding on for dear life most of the time. "I love the fact that he was out there and he was not afraid of the moment." Kelly expressed confidence in his sophomore cornerback leading up to the contest. Watkins admitted that it was difficult at times to wait for his moment while mostly sitting on the bench during his first two seasons in South Bend. "It h as b een frustratin g," th e DeSoto, Texas, native said. "It's had TURNING THE CORNER Notre Dame expects big things out of junior cornerback Nick Watkins in 2016