Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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SEASON KICKOFF: RUNNING BACKS Senior Cierre Wood enters 2012 with 1,705 career rushing yards, 12 touchdowns and an average of 5.1 yards per carry. The supremely self-confident player benefited from departed Jonas Gray's surprising season in 2011 and looks to pair up with another tailback for a one-two punch this fall. Notre Dame's crowded backfield will need to share reps and roles this season COMPANY THREE'S W BY DAN MURPHY ing to figure out how and when he would get a break as the only proven rusher on the roster. Notre Dame eventually found a second option at running back with senior Jonas Gray, but Wood still had more than twice as many touches as any other offensive player. He delivered Notre Dame's first 1,000-yard rushing sea- son in five years with a total of 1,102 yards on the ground. hat a difference a year makes. Heading into last season's debut against South Florida, Irish running back Cierre Wood was try- www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA Despite his success, he'll be fighting harder this year to get the ball in his hands. Gray graduated this spring, but Notre Dame's depth at run- ning back ballooned after the Irish staff decided to combine forces with its versatile group of slot receivers. There are at least a half-dozen players with a legitimate chance to contrib- ute out of the backfield this season. Three — Wood, senior Theo Riddick and sophomore George Atkinson III — stand out as weapons that are too good to not be used on a regular basis. If that trio can learn to share the wealth and complement one another, Notre Dame's running game could be ready for another quantum leap like the one it took a year ago. The Irish jumped 38 spots in the national rankings for rushing yards per game in 2011, from No. 92 to No. 54. They averaged 160.4 yards per outing, which is the most they've had since Bob Davie's final season a decade earlier. The focus on running backs came as a bit of a surprise under head coach Brian Kelly, who was known mostly for his wide-open passing offenses at previous stops. Whether the ball comes by land or by air this season, Kelly is count- ing on his group of running backs to be among the team's biggest contributors. PRESEASON 2012 43