Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/87622
R point award show. Notre Dame has posted plenty of notable per- formances through its first six games. Here are some of the best moments and players from the first half of the season. We'll skip over the team MVP for now, just in case there are overage fees on writing Manti Te'o's name. We still have six weeks to go after all. oll out the red carpet, it's time for the first annual Middies, our own halfway along Notre Dame's talented de- fensive line is still a true fresh- man. But he hasn't played like it in his first two months of college football. Day recorded 11 tack- les and two sacks in his first five games. His sack and pass deflec- tion on consecutive plays against Michigan State brought one of the Spartans' most promising drives to a halt. His leap in the air af- ter the second play also puts him in the running for best big-man hang time on the team, which brings us to … Rookie Of The Year: Sheldon Day Yes, the 290-pound regular back shows emotion about as of- ten as a two-by-four, so seeing him toss the ball aside and scream after scoring the lone touchdown in Notre Dame's 13-6 over Michigan was a mo- ment worth remembering. There was six months worth of steam building up Best Celebration: Tommy Rees The embattled junior quarter- The Middies MURPHY'S LAW DAN MURPHY Sophomore defensive lineman Stephon Tuitt's 77-yard touchdown return of a fumble versus Navy was a memo- rable combination of speed and power. PHOTO BY MIKE BENNETT/LIGHTHOUSE IMAGING for that celebration. Sophomore George Atkinson III earns a runner-up nod here for his "just stopping by" scoot into and out of the end zone after a first quarter score in Dublin.