2008 Notre Dame Fighting Irish Preview

Surely it’s a misprint. A case of mistaken identity. Perhaps the numbers were inadvertently reversed. Three wins, nine losses. At Notre Dame?!? Believe it. In fact, the Irish were 1–9 until closing the season with victories over Duke and Stanford. For most of the ’07 season, the Irish played worse than their record.

Two Minute Drill

A Quick Look at the Irish

Doubling the victory total after a 3–9 season usually is a reasonable goal for most programs, but that won’t cut it at Notre Dame. Despite the titanic struggle in ’07, there are ample reasons to believe that the Irish can reach seven or eight wins in ’08. Depth and production along both lines will be critical. A softened schedule, coupled with what should be fairly rapid development among the younger classes, could get the Irish turned around fairly quickly. But there’s no denying that the Irish were a very poor football team in ’07, which makes a quick turnaround as much a psychological challenge as a physical metamorphosis. “We felt the team didn’t have much confidence as we went through last year for a number of reasons,” says coach Charlie Weis. “Confidence was one of the goals of this spring … confidence and swagger.” Weis provides plenty of both, and his players should quickly follow suit, particularly on the defensive side of the ball where the heavy-handed Jon Tenuta will provide plenty of influence. Jimmy Clausen’s improved health and maturity will make the Irish a more potent offense. And with two of the top-rated recruiting classes now occupying roster spots in the freshman and sophomore classes, it’s a matter of just how quickly that talent matures.

A one-year mirage?

Charlie Weis is relatively certain of it, although last year’s collapse was a humbling experience. A schedule that replaces Georgia Tech, Penn State, UCLA and Air Force with San Diego State, North Carolina, Washington and Syracuse should help. So will a healthier, stronger and more experienced Jimmy Clausen at quarterback, and talented freshman and sophomore classes.

Notre Dame likely won’t be ready for a run at a BCS bid until 2009 or 2010. But the days of three-victory seasons should be a thing of the past.

“The players are definitely going to feel a greater sense of urgency, similar to the first year that I got here,” says Weis, who led Notre Dame to back-to-back BCS bids before last year’s collapse.

Pushing the envelope along with Weis, offensive coordinator Mike Haywood and defensive coordinator Corwin Brown is new linebackers coach Jon Tenuta, the renowned defensive mastermind from Georgia Tech, who found himself out of a job at the end of the ’07 season when the Yellow Jackets fired head coach Chan Gailey.

Tenuta, an ornery, no-nonsense coach himself, lit a fire under the Irish defense in the spring, incorporating an attacking, “downhill” defensive approach while combining forces with Brown, who is in only his second year as a coordinator.

“It’s not, ‘My idea is better than yours,’ or ‘Your idea is better than mine,’” Tenuta says. “It’s, ‘This is good, so how can we get our players to do that?’”

The other notable change occurred in February when Weis, who landed the Notre Dame job based greatly on his offensive play-calling prowess with the New England Patriots, handed the play-calling duties over to Haywood, who paid his dues at LSU, Texas and under Weis for three years.

Quarterbacks

In the spring of ’07, the quarterback job was up for grabs among junior Evan Sharpley, sophomores Demetrius Jones and Zach Frazer, and freshman Jimmy Clausen. A year later, the competition was never in doubt. Frazer transferred after the spring of ’07. So did Jones after losing his starting job to Clausen following the first game of the ’07 season. Clausen started six straight games before giving in to injury. Sharpley started two games, lost both, and the job once again belonged to Clausen, who threw six touchdown passes in the final three games and led the Irish to victory in two of them. As Sharpley chased his baseball dream in the spring of ’08, there was no doubt that Clausen was the No. 1 man. “I look at myself as a leader,” Clausen says. “That’s just my nature. That’s just part of my personality.” Clausen will get plenty of competition from freshman Dayne Crist, considered one of the top prep quarterbacks in the country last year. But barring another injury, the job likely belongs to Clausen through the 2010 season, or as long as he chooses to stay at Notre Dame.

Running backs

The Irish boast depth, talent and diversity at halfback. Junior James Aldridge (463 yards, 3.8 per carry) and sophomores Armando Allen (348, 4.0) and Robert Hughes (294, 5.5) will contend for the starting role, but all likely will contribute, perhaps with Aldridge and/or Hughes playing some fullback. Hughes rushed for 110 yards against Duke and 136 versus Stanford. “James had spurts, Robert had spurts, and Armando had spurts,” Weis says. “But I don’t think any of them established himself as being the guy. They’re pushing each other. They all want to be the guy, and that’s really turned into a very healthy situation for us at that position.”

Receivers

Notre Dame’s chemistry in the passing game figures to improve now that the Irish have settled on a quarterback. Balance over superstars seems to be the direction the Irish are heading with their wideouts, although 6'5" sophomore Duval Kamara (32 catches, 4 TDs) “has a chance to be pretty special,” according to Weis. Veteran David Grimes (27 receptions) and 6'3" junior Robby Parris (29) join Kamara at the head of the pack, while small but speedy George West (21) and Golden Tate (21.8 yards per his six catches) are in the mix. Freshmen could contribute significantly with highly touted Michael Floyd and Deion Walker joining the unit. Notre Dame’s leading pass-catcher in ’07 — tight end John Carlson — is gone, but hard-nosed Mike Ragone should be a weapon for Clausen from the outset. Junior Will Yeatman, suspended in the spring, is the top blocking tight end.

Offensive linemen

By far the most maligned group of ’07, the offensive line allowed a mind-boggling 58 sacks and 112 tackles for lost yardage — both ranking last among 119 Division I-A schools. Yet there is reason for optimism, though reserved until the unit proves itself. Gone is center John Sullivan, a three-year starter. But four starters return, along with a couple of others who gained ample experience and came to Notre Dame with plenty of accolades. The headliner is junior right tackle Sam Young, who is now a gargantuan 6'8", 330 pounds. He played some left tackle last year when an injured right wrist hindered him from playing on the right side. He’ll likely be joined at right guard by junior Chris Stewart, who is 6'5", 340 pounds. Young has started all 25 games he’s been in a Notre Dame uniform while Stewart was impressive at tackle and guard last fall. Taking over at center is junior Dan Wenger, who started five games at center and guard last season. Wenger’s game is all about positioning and leverage. He should be an upgrade over Sullivan over the long haul. Battling it out at left guard will be senior incumbent Mike Turkovich and junior Eric Olsen, who manned the starting spot in the spring while Turkovich recovered from offseason appendectomy surgery. Olsen started six games in 2007. He could move into the right guard slot if Turkovich wins the battle on the left side. The key to Notre Dame’s success along the offensive line hinges on senior left tackle Paul Duncan, who is responsible for protecting Clausen’s blind side.

Defensive linemen

No position on the team enters the ’08 season with greater depth concerns than this unit, which lost one of the most productive players in Irish history — end Trevor Laws — who led all defensive linemen nationally in tackles with 112. Also missing from the spring was senior nose tackle Pat Kuntz (9 PBUs), who was an academic casualty but is expected to return for the fall and could move to end. Ian Williams, a 306-pounder, was incredibly productive in his rookie year as a backup to Kuntz. He finished sixth on the team in tackles with 45. Fifth-year senior Justin Brown, an on-again, off-again performer, is key to the ’08 defense. The rest of the depth chart is a guessing game. Junior John Ryan started at outside linebacker last year, but now moves to defensive end, as does undersized junior Morrice Richardson. Sophomore Emeka Nwankwo could push Brown for a starting spot. A talented corps of freshmen, led by Ethan Johnson, could contribute early.

Linebackers

Maurice Crum Jr., returns for his fourth year as a starter. Though undersized, he is the leader of the Irish defense and a two-time captain. Junior Toryan Smith, a hard-hitting, prototype middle linebacker, replaces heady but physically limited Joe Brockington. Sophomores Kerry Neal and Brian Smith — two bright lights as rookies — are the projected outside linebackers. Senior Scott Smith should be a key contributor off the bench while physically impressive Kallen Wade, a converted defensive end, needs to step forward. Freshmen could also help fill out the depth chart, led by outside linebacker/end Darius Fleming and inside linebacker Anthony McDonald.

Defensive backs

This is perhaps the deepest and most talented unit on the squad, particularly at safety, where the Irish may have as many as six or seven who are capable of contributing. The star-in-the-making appears to be senior free safety David Bruton, who has the size and range to play on the next level. He’ll be joined by senior Kyle McCarthy, who shows the savvy and tackling skills to capably replace Tom Zbikowski. Also showing star quality in pass coverage is junior cornerback Darrin Walls, who has worked diligently to improve his strength and run support. He’ll be joined at cornerback by fifth-year senior Terrail Lambert, who’ll need a bounce-back effort to hold off talented junior Raeshon McNeil and sophomore Gary Gray. Fighting for playing time at safety will be senior Ray Herring, juniors Sergio Brown, Jashaad Gaines and Leonard Gordon, and sophomore Harrison Smith, who got a peek at linebacker in pass coverage situations in the spring.

Specialists

Although strong-legged punter Geoff Price (41.9-yard average) is gone, junior Eric Maust, who averaged 42.1 yards on 21 punts, appears to be a more-than-capable replacement. Questions remain at kicker, where sophomore Brandon Walker (6-of-12 field goals) is on the spot. Weis said he’d turn to the soccer team for candidates if he didn’t enter fall camp with faith in his kickers. Allen is a breakaway threat on kick returns, while Grimes is a reliable punt returner.

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