Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/907039
16 DECEMBER 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY BRYAN DRISKELL N otre Dame w i l l h e a d into the offsea- son facing an in- teresting — and very tight — scholarship situation. The Irish ended the season with two open scholarships and just seven players with exhausted eligibility. Heading into the final weekend of the regular season, the scholarship breakdown looked like this: • 15 seniors with one year of eli- gibility remaining, including former walk-on Austin Webster and gradu- ate transfer Freddy Canteen • 19 juniors, including former walk-on Chris Finke • 21 sophomores • 21 freshmen Through Nov. 21, Notre Dame had 19 players committed in the 2018 re- cruiting class. Including all the seniors with eligi- bility remaining, that takes the count to 95 scholarships. The NCAA allows 85 scholarship football players, and the Notre Dame staff is continuing to recruit more student-athletes from the 2018 class in hopes of expanding its current recruiting haul. Having more than 90 scholarship players isn't abnormal for this time of the year, but this situation is unique for Notre Dame in that a number of the fifth-year candidates are either starters or important rotation players. Notre Dame will undoubtedly go through some attrition over the next several months, but there will have to be some tough decisions made by current Irish players and the coach- ing staff. ON THE WAY OUT Current senior defenders Andrew Trumbetti, Nyles Morgan and Greer Martini are all out of eligibility, mak- ing them the three remaining mem- bers from the 2014 class that have exhausted it. Left guard Quenton Nelson has a year of eligibility remaining, but af- ter a truly dominant senior season it is expected that he will head to the NFL, where he is projected as a first- round draft pick. Defensive tackle Jonathan Bonner announced the week prior to Notre Dame's 24-17 victory over Navy that he would not be returning for his fifth season of eligibility. Nose tackle Daniel Cage did not play his senior season while trying to recover from concussion issues. When the announcement was made that Cage wouldn't return for the 2017 campaign a door was left open for a potential return, but that is highly unlikely to happen at this point. SET TO RETURN A pair of starting offensive linemen are poised to return for a fifth season. Center Sam Mustipher has been one of Notre Dame's most improved — and most effective — players on of- fense this season. He announced in November that he plans to return for a fifth season, and Notre Dame will count on him to anchor the offensive line. Right guard Alex Bars has yet to announce his intentions, but all indi- cations are he will return for his fifth season (which would be his third as a full-time starter). Mustipher and Bars would give the Irish a pair of veteran players that will be tasked with becoming the foundation of the offense with both their play and their leadership. Notre Dame has a number of young linemen set to step into the starting lineup to replace Nelson and stand- out left tackle Mike McGlinchey, but having the veteran presence of Tough Decisions AheAD Notre Dame's staff and players will have difficult fifth-year decisions to make The decision of senior center Sam Mustipher to return for a fifth season provides the Irish offensive line with an anchor up the middle. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA