Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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8 NOV. 28, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Jon Gallagher, born in Dundalk, Ireland, joined the Notre Dame program in 2014 and made an im- pact early, earning a spot on the ACC All-Freshman team. He received All-ACC third-team honors as a sophomore and first-team recognition this season. His 31 total points (12 goals and seven as- sists) through 19 games this fall led him to being named the 2016 ACC Offensive Player of the Year. BGI: What were your initial reactions when you heard you won ACC Offensive Player of the Year? Gallagher: "I was obviously pretty happy. It's a very big award in terms of the level of players that have had the chance to win it. The talent in the ACC is phenomenal. You see it week in and week out. "I felt like my hard work paid off, but at the same time there's still so much to be achieved this season. I was happy for a couple minutes, but I had to switch over and focus on what we want to accomplish as a team, which is more important." BGI: You were the leading scorer overall and top goal scorer through the ACC Tournament. How were you able to be consistent in scoring goals and setting your teammates up with assists? Gallagher: "I don't score on my own. My team- mates had the assists and made me look good. "This year, I wanted to have a few more assists than I've had in the past. Being calm in front of the goal, being confident and knowing I could put the ball away — that confidence comes from the hard work I've done in the offseason and the preparation." BGI: What is your approach to handling the pressure and expectations that come with win- ning that award? Gallagher: "I don't mind pressure. I think pres- sure gives me excitement and gives me more incentive to work hard and achieve something. "If you don't have pressure or you don't have expectations of what you want to live up to, then there's no point in being in the sport. You want to be competitive, you want to have pressure put on you, you want to have expectations and you want to try to exceed expectations. Pressure motivates me." BGI: What will it take for you to keep up this consistency especially heading into next year when teams will likely focus on shutting down your impact? Gallagher: "Just continuing to work hard, stick- ing to the game plan which is our team goals, sticking true to how we play. It's a great chance to become an even better player. "In the spring especially, I'll have to crack down and work hard like I did last year. I won't be changing much." BGI: What were your goals when you arrived at Notre Dame? Gallagher: "I just wanted to have goals and keep building upon those goals. When I first came here as a freshman I wanted to play, and I set that as a goal. Once I achieved that I kept building and building upon each goal. "After that it was being a starter and gaining more minutes and then making the All-ACC team." — Corey Bodden Five Questions With … MEN'S SOCCER JUNIOR FORWARD JON GALLAGHER Isaac Rochell Can't Be Undervalued By Lou Somogyi Prior to the 2013 season, we did a point-counterpoint feature on which Notre Dame player should be "the face of the program" — the gregarious, dominant nose guard Louis Nix III, a vital cog to the defense-led 12-1 campaign the year prior, or offensive tackle Zack Martin, the steady, reliable, understated linchpin on and off the field. I chose Martin because of what he represented in con- sistency, performance, durability and leadership. For those same reasons, Rochell is my choice on who Notre Dame will miss most in 2017. His numbers weren't flashy, he wasn't "color- ful" in the interview room, but he provided an authentic reliability — on the practice field and on game day — unmatched by anyone the past three years, other than maybe cornerback Cole Luke. He's answered the bell in 37 consecutive starts, quite rare for a defensive lineman (even going an unheard of 80 or 90 snaps in certain games), and is a quality student and an excellent representative in the community. He embodied everything you want in a Notre Dame student-athlete, and he is talented enough to play in the NFL, too. No, he might not develop into an All-Pro like Martin, but Rochell displayed an example to emulate, but not easy to replicate: putting on your hard hat every day, not whining when situations go awry or when there is a tempest with the coordinator, and playing wherever his skills were needed, be it in the interior or on the edge. This is the type of foot soldier — or captain — every coach wants and needs. Jarron Jones Will Be Hard To Replace By Bryan Driskell Consistency won't ever be a word used to describe the play of nose guard Jarron Jones during his Notre Dame career. An overall lack of consistency was one of the more frustrating aspects of Jones' play over the last several seasons. What cannot be disputed is that when he was on his game, Jones was incredibly dominant. In 2014, Jones owned the Florida State offensive line, posting six tackles and three tackles for loss. On Oct. 15 of this season, Jones was equally ef- fective against Stanford, and two weeks later he had without question the best game of his career. Jones obliterated the Miami offensive line dur- ing Notre Dame's 30-27 victory, registering six tackles for loss, a sack and one pass broken up. He was a primary factor in Notre Dame holding Miami to just 18 rushing yards in the game. While Rochell has certainly been a steady player for Notre Dame, he has never been an overly dominant player like Jones or Sheldon Day (2012-15). Replacing his steady hand will be easier with a roster that is set to return talented ends Jay Hayes, Jonathan Bonner and Khalid Kareem. Notre Dame does not return the same kind of talent at nose guard, where Jones will be difficult to replace. That leaves Notre Dame looking to oft-injured junior Daniel Cage, a roster of unproven players like junior Pete Mokwuah, sophomores Brandon Tiassum and Micah Dew-Treadway, and incoming freshman Darnell Ewell to replace Jones up the middle. That is quite a tall task. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHICH SENIOR OUT OF ELIGIBILITY WILL BE MOST MISSED IN 2017? ISAAC ROCHELL JARRON JONES Gallagher scored 12 goals and had seven assists in Notre Dame's first 19 games this season. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS