Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Ronald Darby and Tee Shepard. But Darby, a five-star prospect from Maryland, switched to Florida State in January and Shepard, an early enrollee who chose the Irish over USC, returned to California prior to spring practice. Talk about getting painted into a corner. Graduated corners Gary Gray and Robert Blanton had started 33 and 26 games, respectively, and no one was remotely close to their ex- perience. The one corner who clearly sep- arated himself beyond "Level 1" during the 15 spring practices, ac- cording to cornerbacks coach Kerry Cooks, was junior Bennett Jackson. Cooks defined Level 1 as, "He's still learning how to line up, proper stance, proper eye progression in all our defenses, and from there play all the receivers flying at him. "Bennett is at Level 2 for sure — pushing Level 3," said Cooks, who noted that athletically Jackson is as talented as any corner he's coached in his eight-year career. "Bennett knows what we're asking to get done, he's being competitive at do- ing those jobs, and now he's trying to take his game to that next level." Opposite Jackson at the field cor- Lo Wood played about a dozen snaps per game as a sophomore in 2011, highlighted by his 57-yard interception return for a touch- down against Maryland. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND AUGUST 2012 41 ner is fellow junior Lo Wood, whose work ethic has been praised from his first day on campus. He played about a dozen snaps per game in 2011, highlighted by his 57-yard in- terception return for a touchdown to extend the Irish lead to 38-7 ver-