Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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12 NOV. 28, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Kevin Stepherson Rising In Receiving Ranks Head coach Brian Kelly has had his share of standout receivers in seven sea- sons at Notre Dame, but none have produced better freshman numbers than Kevin Stepherson this year. Through the first 10 games, Stepherson's 405 receiving yards and four touch- downs already were the most under Kelly by a freshman. Meanwhile, his 21 catches were second to TJ Jones' 23 in 2010, but Stepherson still had at least two games to play. Unlike past top freshman wideout prospects such as DaVaris Daniels in 2011 (redshirted), Chris Brown in 2012 (two catches, including a huge 50-yarder in a win at Oklahoma), Will Fuller (six catches for 160 yards and a touchdown) and Corey Robinson (nine catches for 157 yards and a touchdown) in 2013, or Equanimeous St. Brown (one catch) and C.J. Sanders (one catch) last year, Stepherson has had instant opportunity as a freshman. And to his credit, he has seized it. First, Notre Dame lost four of its top five receivers from last season — Fuller, Robinson, Brown and Amir Carlisle — for various reasons. Second, as an early entrant in January, the Jacksonville, Fla., native was able to assimilate into the offense this spring ahead of pace. His forte was catching the ball over the middle without breaking stride, and also displaying some home run skills downfield. "I don't know that we have a player on our team like K.J. Stepherson that can catch the ball at full speed as he cuts across the field — a very unique trait of his," Kelly said after the spring game in which the rookie nabbed four passes for 70 yards. "He still has to work on catching the ball vertically down the field. "But he catches the ball out of his break at full speed, and it is a unique trait that I have not seen since I've been at Notre Dame." In recent weeks, his snap count has continued to grow as has his downfield skills. He had a 53-yard catch-and-run in the win over Miami, a then-career- high four catches the next week against Navy and then five more grabs (70 yards) against Army, highlighted by a 37-yard touchdown. "He continues to mature as a player in the understanding of where he needs to be and getting on the same page with DeShone [Kizer]," Kelly said. "They've got to know where each one of them is going to be, and I think that that's probably the biggest change in Kevin in terms of over the past five, six weeks. "… There were other guys there that certainly could have secured down that position, but he won the job. We didn't give it to him." — Lou Somogyi ON GUARD AT NOSE GUARD The nose guard position has been a center of attention at Notre Dame this past month. First, fifth-year senior Jarron Jones saw only 13 and 20 snaps, respectively, against triple- option teams Navy and Army, because with his 6-5½, 315-pound frame he was an easy target to cut block, especially because he said his flex- ibility is not the same as it was two years ago. "It's not my style of game," said Jones, who was looking to return to dominant form in the final two games, versus Virginia Tech and USC. "There are shorter guys who are flexible and play lower than I do." Notre Dame used 6-3 junior Jonathan Bon- ner, who made his first career start and played 39 snaps versus Army. Also, 6-3 sophomore Eli- jah Taylor played a career-high 14 snaps versus Army, while 6-3 junior Jay Hayes combined for 30 snaps versus the two academies. Meanwhile, junior nose guard Daniel Cage, who suffered a concussion during the Oct. 29 win against Miami was unable to suit up against Navy and Army. Cage was examined Nov. 11 by Dr. Jeffrey Kutcher, a renowned specialist who is the National Director of The Sports Neurology Clinic at The CORE Institute in Brighton, Mich. "We don't feel like there's anything that we're missing," Kelly said of the response to the evaluation on Cage. "We'll monitor his progress from a day-to-day standpoint and see how he continues to feel. … I think he feels much better that there's nothing more there than him just feeling better each day." With Jones gone next year, junior Pete Mok- wuah and sophomore Brandon Tiassum will be counted on to continue their development. "Their time is really close," Kelly said. — Lou Somogyi Stepherson, a freshman, had 405 receiving yards and four touchdowns through 10 games this season. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Junior Pete Mokwuah is among the players who will be counted on to produce at the nose guard position in 2017. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND