Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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8 NOV. 13, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Though Notre Dame recruits nationally, its loca- tion in northern Indiana allows the Midwest to serve as the base recruiting region for the Irish. In the 2018 class, Notre Dame held commit- ments from five players in the Midwest entering November: Gurnee (Ill.) Warren Township wide receiver Micah Jones, Indianapolis Cathedral run- ning back Markese Stepp, Farmington Hills (Mich.) Harrison linebacker Ovie Oghoufo, Maria Stein (Ohio) Marion Local offensive lineman John Dirk- sen and Mishawaka (Ind.) Penn safety Paul Moala. Rivals Midwest analyst Josh Helmholdt shed some light on the Irish class from the region. BGI: Which current committed Midwest player do you feel could make the earliest impact? Helmholdt: "Micah Jones is a guy who can im- pact early. Number one, because he is closest to his potential. And number two, he plays a posi- tion in wide receiver where a lot of guys tend to see the field. Physically he's not going to have any problems adjusting to the college game. "The question will be can he create separation on a consistent enough basis to see the field. That could possibly be addressed about how you use him. If you use him in the slot, that could possibly create some mismatches. Of course, he's going to be a very valuable red zone aspect." BGI: Which prospect do you feel could outperform his ranking ? Helmholdt: " The two guys that have the best chance of moving higher are going to be Moala and Dirksen because going into this eval- uation we just didn't have a whole lot to go on. … Their senior sea- son evaluations are going to weigh heavier than they would for a Micah Jones or Markese Stepp. "But Markese missed most of his junior year. … We have two more evaluations left. From where they are rated right now, those guys are the ones because their senior season evalua- tions haven't been factored in." BGI: Is there a guy out of the five that you hold a stronger opinion on compared to the other national analysts who weigh in on the rankings? Helmholdt: "We're probably mostly on the same page. Nobody's really seen Dirksen. Moala is on that same boat. He didn't really emerge until just recently. "With those two guys, there isn't a strong feel one way or the other. Everyone has seen Micah, and we all are pretty consistent in our evaluation of him as a Rivals250-caliber guy." BGI: How do you feel Notre Dame's season so far in 2017 could impact their efforts in their base region? Helmholdt: "The biggest asset to a good season is enhancing coach- ing stability. Whether or not it has been the talk around South Bend, it's been the talk around college foot- ball going into this season that Brian Kelly may have been on the hot seat. That plays into how prospects look at programs. "When you have solidified your position as a good season will, coaching stability becomes an asset rather than a detriment. Players want to know who they're going to play for three or four years down the road." BGI: Does a good season seem to impact the current senior class more or the junior class? Helmholdt: "For a long time, the impact of a positive season has been felt more strongly in the junior class. The senior class if they're not already committed — which about two-thirds of the top 250 are going into the season — at least have formed their initial opinions on schools. "The biggest impact it has is the junior class." — Corey Bodden Five Questions With … RIVALS MIDWEST NATIONAL RECRUITING ANALYST JOSH HELMHOLDT The Rushing Numbers Have Been Beyond Belief By Lou Somogyi From 1999-2016, Notre Dame finished with a rushing average of more than 200 yards in a season only once when including bowl games (207.6 in 2015). This season, out of nowhere, the Irish were averaging 317.9 through eight games. To me, that's like a 15-year Major League Base- ball player who has had a .260 career batting average hitting .400 going into August while starting every day. Not even Lou Holtz's run-oriented power at- tacks from 1986-96 averaged more than 287.7 rushing yards per game in a season! Not since the 1973 national champs posted a school-re- cord 350.2 mark has any Fighting Irish team been at the 300 figure. From 2004-16, Notre Dame surpassed 300 rushing yards in a game only twice. It did in six of the first eight in 2017. New defensive coordinator Mike Elko has been a godsend, and I figured if he could have Wake Forest rank in the top 25 nationally in most categories (including scoring defense), he would do the same at Notre Dame with far more material. However, first-year offensive coordinator and play caller Chip Long's Memphis offense last year averaged 304 passing yards and 160 rush- ing yards — right about where Brian Kelly was most of his first seven seasons at Notre Dame (162.4 yards rushing per game). Long said this spring that the running game would be the emphasis, but we've heard that so many times for nearly two decades that we were skepti- cal. The Irish have truly and finally transformed from finesse to physical, and here's hoping it remains the prime identity moving forward. Defense Has Performed Way Beyond Expectations By Bryan Driskell Acting as if I predicted Notre Dame would rush for more than 300 yards per game this season would be disingenuous, but I did believe Josh Adams would break the single- season school rushing record and that Notre Dame's line would be one of the nation's best. So what the Irish have done on the ground has been a surprise to a certain degree, but it's simply out-performing what was expected to be the backbone of the team. Coming into the season, the major concern was the defense, which had been abysmal in the three years during Brian VanGorder's tenure as the coordinator. Notre Dame gave up between 24.1 and 29.2 points per game during his time in South Bend. It was expected that Mike Elko would get things turned around, but the talented young defensive coordinator has expedited the process. Through eight games, the Irish ranked 10th in the country while holding opponents to just 16.1 points per game. Notre Dame's first six opponents weren't that strong on offense, outside of Georgia, so leading up to the USC game I'm not sure we really knew how good this defense had become. USC and North Carolina State were a different animals, with the Trojans entering their matchup against Notre Dame averaging 34.4 points per game and the Wolfpack scoring at a clip of 35.4 points per game. Holding those two opponents to 21 combined offensive points was truly amazing, and something I did not see coming on even my most optimistic of days during the summer. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHAT WAS MORE SURPRISING WITH THE 7-1 START: 317.9 RUSHING YARDS PER GAME ON OFFENSE OR 16.1 POINTS ALLOWED PER GAME ON DEFENSE? CHIP LONG MIKE ELKO HELMHOLDT