Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 JANUARY 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED who also started out at wide receiver as a freshman before moving to de- fense, don't be surprised if Onwualu latches on in the NFL next year. MOST IMPROVED OFFENSE: Sophomore Wide Receiver Equanimeous St. Brown Only two sophomores in Notre Dame annals totaled more receiving yards than St. Brown's 961 this year: Will Fuller in 2014 (1,094) and Golden Tate in 2008 (1,080), and that was with both playing a 13th game in a bowl. Like Fuller and Tate, St. Brown made a meteoric ascent from his freshman to sophomore season. Both Fuller and Tate caught six passes apiece as fresh- men before detonating as sophomores. St. Brown had only one catch in 2015 and then was sidelined the final four games because of shoulder sur- gery. His 58 catches this season aver- aged 16.6 yards, and he tallied the most touchdowns on the team (nine) while displaying a confident flair. MOST IMPROVED DEFENSE: Junior Middle Linebacker Nyles Morgan After taking only 41 snaps on de- fense last year behind Joe Schmidt, Morgan had 727 this year and paced the unit in tackles (94) and sacks (four). Nobody on the defense was more consistent at making plays on a week-to-week basis than Morgan, mainly because of a comfort level he was developing, especially after the unit became more streamlined. He's far from a finished product, but the 2017 captain has set himself up for a quality senior year. MOST UNDERRATED OFFENSE: Sophomore Running Back Josh Adams C.J. Prosise was the 1,000-yard rusher last year, Tarean Folston re- turned as the veteran figure this season, and even Adams' classmate, Dexter Williams, was singled out by Kelly after the Duke game Sept. 24 as the lone player on the team who performed with passion. Yet Adams' team-high 933 rush- ing yards were nearly more than the 1,006 produced by the next three Irish players combined: Kizer (472), Folston (334) and Williams (200). When he enters his junior cam- paign in 2017, Adams' 1,768 career rushing yards trail only Allen Pinkett (2,005), Darius Walker (1,982) and current Irish running backs coach Au- In August, we listed Notre Dame's 10 potential difference makers in 2016. That didn't neces- sarily mean the 10 best players, but rather how much might be on their shoulders. Here's how they fared in the regular season. 1. DeShone Kizer, Jr., QB Stats: Completed 212 of 361 passes for 2,925 yards and 26 touchdowns with nine intercep- tions … Rushed for 472 yards and eight scores. Season: Beat out senior Malik Zaire for the starting quarterback position and put up good numbers while starting all 12 games … Finished the regular season tied for 18th nationally with 26 touchdowns … Was second on the team in rushing yards, while leading the team with eight touchdowns on the ground. 2. Mike McGlinchey, Sr., LT Stats: Started all 12 games this season. Season: Never quite lived up to his preseason hype, struggling to block with the dominance he showed in 2015 … Was called for a team-leading nine false starts after moving from right to left tackle. 3. Cole Luke, Sr. CB Stats: Registered 48 total stops and two tackles for loss … Led the team with two interceptions and eight passes defended. Season: Got off to a rough start, getting burned often in the first four games, and spent much of the final eight games playing the nickel position … Once that move occurred, settled down and played good football, finishing the season as Notre Dame's most productive defensive back. 4. Nyles Morgan, Jr., LB Stats: Posted a team-leading 94 tackles and four sacks, while adding six tackles for loss and three passes broken up. Season: Was Notre Dame's most consistent and productive defensive player … Led the team in tackles five times during the season and was Notre Dame's best run defender. 5. Quenton Nelson, Jr., G Stats: Started all 12 games this season. Season: Was Notre Dame's most dominant player this season, earning Sports Illustrated second-team All-America honors. 6. Jarron Jones, 5th-Sr., NG Stats: Racked up 45 total stops, 11 tackles for loss, two sacks, an interception and a pair of blocked kicks. Season: Had an up-and-down season, but when he was on his game there was no one bet- ter … Had dominant performances against Stan- ford (sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery) and Miami, (six tackles for loss and one sack). 7. Torii Hunter Jr., Sr., WR Stats: Finished second on the team with 38 receptions for 521 yards in just nine games … Hauled in three receiving touchdowns. Season: When healthy, was a key cog in the Notre Dame offense … Set career highs with eight catches for 104 yards in a loss to Navy … Missed three games outright and played very little in the season-ending loss to USC. 8. Isaac Rochell, Sr., DE Stats: Made 55 tackles, seven stops for loss and a pair of sacks to go along with a team- leading 10 quarterback hurries. Season: Continued his steady play, but he did not improve from previous seasons in terms of production … After finishing with 7.5 tackles for loss as a sophomore and a junior, ended this season with seven and had just one sack. 9. C.J. Sanders, So., WR/KR/PR Stats: Caught 24 passes for 293 yards and a pair of scores … Finished 25th nationally with a kick return average of 25.0 yards and second with two kick returns for touchdowns. Season: Was a difficult matchup for defenses in the first five games, hauling in 17 passes for 254 yards in that stretch … Inexplicably, he saw his reps diminish over the final seven games … Was explosive in the return game as well, return- ing a kick 93 yards for a score against Army and another 92 yards for a score against Syracuse. 10. Shaun Crawford, So., CB Stats: Made six tackles and had an interception in just two games. Season: Was poised for a breakout season before tearing his Achilles in the home opener against Nevada. — Bryan Driskell Fifth-year senior nose guard Jarron Jones was dominant at times this season, and finished his final campaign with 45 tackles, 11 stops behind the line of scrimmage, two sacks and an interception. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Difference Makers Revisited