Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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154 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2018 FOOTBALL PREVIEW BY DAVID MCKINNEY A fter finishing 2016 with a 4-8 re- cord, Notre Dame had a bounce- back season on the field in 2017. The Irish finished with a 10-3 mark that was capped by a dramatic 21-17 victory over LSU in the Citrus Bowl Jan. 1. That success didn't come without its re- wards on the recruiting trail — Notre Dame put together a class that was ranked No. 9 nationally by ESPN, No. 10 by 247Sports and No. 11 by Rivals. Overall, the Fighting Irish signed 27 play- ers, including seven in the secondary, four wide receivers, four linebackers and four of- fensive linemen. Of those 27, nine took part in postseason All-American games and nine participated in Nike Football's The Opening Finals in Beaverton, Ore. Notre Dame entered National Signing Day on Feb. 7, 2018, with 22 commitments and added five players before the day ended. Zebulon (Ga.) Pike County three-star run- ning back C'Borius Flemister announced his commitment to the Irish, followed by ES- PN's No. 150 overall player in wide receiver Lawrence Keys of New Orleans McDonogh 35, Washington (D.C.) St. John's College High three-star cornerback DJ Brown and offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson of Mis- sion Viejo (Calif.) High, the nation's No. 214 player according to 247Sports. The surprise came near the end of the day when Rivals250 cornerback and one-time Maryland commit Noah Boykin of Wash- ington (D.C.) H.D. Woodson announced his commitment to Notre Dame over Florida, Virginia and others. The No. 11 ranking from Rivals marks the seventh time the Irish have finished in the top 15 under head coach Brian Kelly. The 27-man haul brought in signees from CLASS OF 2018 OVERVIEW The Irish signed its biggest class under Brian Kelly and the largest at Notre Dame since 2006 All-American quarterback Phil Jurkovec was the first commit in Notre Dame's 2018 class, giving his pledge to the Irish on May 16, 2016. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM