Notre dame season thread.....

[dabears54]

Good to see aaron lynch is the real deal!

The Fighting Irish conclude early preparations for 2011 on a soggy day in South Bend. Dave Miller

Notre Dame held its 82nd Blue-Gold game on Saturday afternoon in South Bend, with the Blue falling to the Gold 17-14. Of course, not a lot can be taken away from this game because of a variety of factors — notably many of the team’s best skill-position players receiving limited action against a defense not offering the same looks it will give to opponents in the fall. But there were some intriguing storylines playing out in front of 27,863 fans at soggy Notre Dame Stadium.

This defense really can make a difference

There’s a reason why everyone associated with the Notre Dame program was petrified at the thought of losing top recruit Aaron Lynch to Florida during the last recruiting cycle. The guy can flat-out defend. The pass-rushing specialist was the star of the spring showcase, leading the way with seven tackles — including 1.5 for loss — and consistently pressuring the quarterback. Andrew Hendrix certainly knows how much of an impact Lynch can have, as the young signal caller seemingly couldn’t escape him all day.
The most impressive thing was that the 6-6, 260-pound 18-year-old defensive end did a lot of the damage against the first-team offensive line, including Trevor Robinson and Taylor Dever. Along with linebacker Manti Te’o, massive tackle Louis Nix and end Kapron Lewis-Moore, Lynch could make this Notre Dame defense one of the best it has had in years.

The outside linebackers also had a nice day. True freshman Ishaq Williams made five tackles while spending time at Darius Fleming’s ‘Cat’ position, while Danny Spond and Prince Shembo continued to fight for the starting ‘Dog’ spot. The two combined for 13 tackles. Steve Filer also had a handful of quarterback pressures. It will be interesting to see how coordinator Bob Diaco uses all his pieces on this unit, especially with his rush packages. It was a good day for Diaco to see how deep his line is with the production it gave despite Ethan Johnson and Lewis-Moore seeing limited action.

Running the football will be a priority
Walk-on Patrick Coughlin was the star running back in the game, which shows that Kelly did not want to take a chance on Cierre Wood or Jonas Gray getting hurt. Wood had a very good spring and will enter fall camp as the starter after impressing Kelly with his confidence and decisiveness running the ball, not to mention his immense talent. Wood had seven carries for 39 yards on Saturday.

The Irish will also see production on the ground from their quarterbacks, no matter who is under center. Hendrix gained 42 yards on five carries and scored two touchdowns, while Everett Golson recorded a game-high 74 yards on 11 carries, including a 23-yard rush. Both quarterbacks were live, unlike Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees, so the staff was able to see how both performed in the spread-option.

Both need to make improvements throwing the football, but Hendrix led a nice two-minute drill at the end of the first half and Golson showed flashes, especially for an early-enrollee. Plus, the playing conditions weren't great, as it was a wet and windy day.

The battle for the starting job under center

Meanwhile, Crist and Rees were unimpressive in their short time on the field. Crist was 5 of 10 for 34 yards while Rees was 7 of 14 for 64 yards with an interception. The rising sophomore did, however, have a touchdown pass dropped on the first series among a few mishandled footballs by the receivers. Kelly stated that he thought Rees was the more accurate of the two signal callers. However, Crist did lead his squad to two scoring drives — a 36-yarder that set up a 22-yard Nick Tausch field goal and an 11-play, 52-yard drive that concluded with a 45-yard Tausch field goal.

After the game, Kelly said that he will cut down on the number of quarterbacks taking reps during fall practice. With the spring game concluded, he has compiled even more data as he works toward naming a starter.

For highlights of the Blue-Gold game, check out this video courtesy of NBC Sports.

[dabears54]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22825103...26011#42626011

[dabears54]

Notre Dame's Floyd said to seek plea on OWI charge

By Brian Hamilton Tribune reporter



Nothing eventful occurred as Notre Dame wideout Michael Floyd entered the legal phase of repercussions from his March arrest for operating a vehicle under the influence.

Floyd pleaded not guilty to the misdemeanor drunken driving charge at his first court appearance Monday morning, but his attorney is seeking a plea agreement to avoid trial.
According to the South Bend Tribune's Mary Kate Malone, Floyd's attorney stated: "We want to dispose of this as quickly as possible."

Floyd, who could own every Notre Dame receiving record by the end of the 2011 season, was arrested early March 20 in South Bend, Ind., for operating a vehicle under the influence after prosecutors said he registered a .19 blood-alcohol level -- more than twice Indiana's legal limit.

He remains indefinitely suspended from all football activities but has passed through the university's discipline system without a severe punishment such as a semester suspension.

Floyd reportedly did not appear for his court appearance Monday -- nor was he required to appear. His next court date is June 7. His misdemeanor charge carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail.

[dabears54]

Freshman that can make a difference:

DE Aaron Lynch, Notre Dame
Head coach Brian Kelly put together an impressive Class of 2011 for the Fighting Irish, one headlined by early enrollee defensive end Aaron Lynch. If Notre Dame expects to contend on the national level, Bob Diaco’s defense must continue to improve. Based off of his performance in the team’s spring game, Lynch will be an integral part of the unit in 2011. The pass-rushing specialist was the star of the spring showcase, leading the way with seven tackles — including 1.5 for loss — and consistently pressuring the quarterback. The most impressive thing was that the 6-6, 260-pounder did a lot of the damage against the first-team offensive line. Along with linebacker Manti Te’o, massive tackle Louis Nix and end Kapron Lewis-Moore, Lynch could help make this defense one of the best in South Bend in years.

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/...-freshmen.html

[Dagan81]

For Notre Dame to win, they must build a solid foundation. They haven't had that in nearly fifteen years, since Lou Holtz coached his last game against USC with the Trojans winning it late (1996). Is the academic standard at Notre Dame so oppressive that athletes don't want to go there to play football anymore? Brian Kelly might definitely be the best coach the Irish have had since Lou Holtz. He had better build upon last season's successes and win bigger this year, including beating Michigan and USC. I don't expect Notre Dame to beat Michigan State this season; the Spartans might be their toughest challenge this season. Hopefully, Notre Dame doesn't fall against Navy again like they've done two or three times in the past four or five years.

(By the way, I'm a Tennessee and Ohio State football fan, but like you, I'm interested in all football.)

[dabears54]

For Notre Dame to win, they must build a solid foundation. They haven't had that in nearly fifteen years, since Lou Holtz coached his last game against USC with the Trojans winning it late (1996). Is the academic standard at Notre Dame so oppressive that athletes don't want to go there to play football anymore? Brian Kelly might definitely be the best coach the Irish have had since Lou Holtz. He had better build upon last season's successes and win bigger this year, including beating Michigan and USC. I don't expect Notre Dame to beat Michigan State this season; the Spartans might be their toughest challenge this season. Hopefully, Notre Dame doesn't fall against Navy again like they've done two or three times in the past four or five years.

(By the way, I'm a Tennessee and Ohio State football fan, but like you, I'm interested in all football.)

think kelly had turned the program around, really like how rebounded after some tough loses last year dagan.. if the "D" cn take another step forward in 2011, they will be a top 20 program again and if floyd comes back top 10

[dabears54]

The Golden Dome report

Checking in with Coach Kelly and the Fighting Irish. Greg Gabriel

Let's take a look at what's happening around the Notre Dame football program in South Bend.

Recruiting
The spring semester has been over for a few weeks, but things are very busy in the Notre Dame football office. The Fighting Irish entertained highly thought of running back Chris Mangus from Raleigh, N.C., yesterday and today 4-star safety Jarrod Wilson from Akron, OH, is in. Wilson has Notre Dame, Penn State and Michigan as his top three schools. Over the next two and a half weeks, 17 other prospects will visit South Bend, including 5-star offensive tackle Andrus Peat and 4-star prospects running back William Mahone and defensive end Carlos Watkins.

The Irish already have 10 commitments for next February’s recruiting class. The exact number of scholarships available should be between 20 and 25 depending on how many 5th-year seniors Brian Kelly decides to bring back. Notre Dame will go hard after defensive backs, running backs and wide receivers in this cycle. They have commitments from four defensive backs already, including Ron Darby from Maryland and Tee Shepard form California. Those two are the No. 1 and 3-rated corners in the country by Scout.com. The other defensive backs to commit are Nick Baratti from Texas and C.J. Prosise from Virginia.

Athlete David Perkins from South Bend Washington committed earlier this week and he will play either outside linebacker or running back. Notre Dame has received commitments form two receivers, Justin Ferguson from Florida and Deontay Greenberry from California. Both are big receivers with speed. Greenberry measures 6-3 and Ferguson 6-2.

This will be Kelly’s second full recruiting class since getting the Notre Dame coaching job. In that short period, he has already been recognized as a strong recruiter. Unlike some of the Irish coaches in the past, Kelly goes after a large number of recruits, especially in areas of need. Last year, Notre Dame offered around 125 high school players. It’s only June and the Irish have already offered more than 150 players, including 29 receivers, 15 running backs and 25 defensive backs.

As a final recruiting note, last fall the Irish received a commitment from offensive tackle Jordan Prestwood from Plant City, FL. Later in the fall, Prestwood changed his commitment to Florida State and enrolled there in January. Around national signing day in February, word was out that Prestwood was unhappy at Florida State and wanted to transfer. He finally did, getting his release from FSU last week and he’ll be enrolling at Notre Dame this summer. Prestwood will not be able to play in games this fall but will be able to practice and will still have four years of eligibility left. This adds another fine offensive lineman to last February’s class.

Position Switches
One thing that Kelly has done is recruit players who are capable of playing multiple positions in college. In the incoming freshman class there have already been at least three position switches. Offensive lineman Brad Carrico was originally recruited as a defensive end. He enrolled in January and a few days into spring practice was switched to offensive line and played well. Athlete George Atkinson III was originally going to play wide receiver but will now play running back, which was his primary position in high school. Athlete Matthias Farley was going to play corner but now will play receiver. Once camp opens in August, look for a few players who were recruited as defensive linemen to be switched over to the offensive line, in particular Tony Springmann and Troy Niklas. Both of those players had experience on offense and defense in high school.

Three players from last year’s class made position switches prior to spring practice. Both Austin Collinsworth and Bennett Jackson played receiver in 2010 and are now defensive backs. Collinsworth is a safety and Jackson is at corner. Both players should get a lot of playing time this season at their new positions. Defensive lineman Bruce Heggie has been moved over to the offensive line.

Final Thought
Last fall freshman nose tackle Louis Nix was redshirted mainly because he was overweight and out of shape. He has spent a good part of the last year restructuring his body so to speak. While he was close to 375 when he reported a year ago, he is now playing at around 340. The loss of weight has increased his stamina and he had a strong spring practice period. He has the tools to be a dominant nose tackle over the next few years.

[Dagan81]

One thing I have noticed about Notre Dame in recent years is that they will recruit very well, but then they flub in the regular season. Brian Kelly seems to know how to mold talent better than Charlie Weis and Tyrone Willingham, thankfully. You all actually had one former Knoxville Catholic High School football player who was Mr. Football in the state of Tennessee back several years ago - Harrison Smith? I think he was a flanker for KCHS because they ran a flexbone offense when they would play my dad's alma mater Fulton High School in both the regular season and in the playoffs.