Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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perceived as a non-threat to execute the read option in the college spread, Rees still would be the safest bet to run a two-minute offense in the clutch. He did just that in the fourth quarter at USC in 2010, and at Michigan and Pitt in 2011, although it was the Irish defense that couldn't close out the victory in the remain- ing final 30 seconds at Ann Arbor. Rees' greatest impediment this season might be the poor judgment made in early May at an off-campus party when he al- legedly struck a police officer and resisted arrest. His has yet to learn what punishment he'll receive from the school or team, which might go a long ways in dictating whether he will remain Notre Dame's starting quar- terback or be a well-seasoned insurance policy at the position. most so far, the top four players in the class — from a future NFL perspective — might be nose guard Louis Nix III, Cat linebacker Prince Shembo, cornerback Bennett Jack- son and offensive tackle/guard Christian Lombard. • Nix and graduated senior running back Although Rees and Jones have played the PRIME-TIME FIGURES Nose guard Louis Nix III was deemed Notre Dame's most improved defensive player in 2011 after leading an impressive group of defensive lineman with 45 tackles. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Jonas Gray were the two most improved players for the Irish in 2011. Nix shed more than 40 unwanted pounds from his fresh- man year in 2010 and paced the Irish defen- sive linemen in tackles last season (45) while playing for the first time. The gregarious 326-pound Nix admitted this spring that he shared the emotional ebbs and flows of former teammate/line- man and fellow Floridian Aaron Lynch, who transferred to the University of South Florida following the spring semester. Classmate Kona Schwenke (who recorded two tackles his first two seasons) actually moved ahead of Nix during the spring, al- though both will play extensively at the demanding nose guard slot where double- team blocking is common. "Still at ND … blah," posted Nix on his Twitter account during this spring. Thus, he had to diffuse talk about leaving the pro- gram. "Once I go home, people always tell me to stay in school," Nix said of his upbring- ing in a rough Jacksonville neighborhood. "I'm the one that made it out, they say. It's AUGUST 2012 34