Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/102697
Five Most Improved Many can be included, even stalwarts such as Manti Te'o, Tyler Eifert, Stephon Tuitt and Zack Martin, but this quintet manifested the team's rise from nowhere: 1. QB Everett Golson — It's night and day when watching the sophomore quarterback's tape through the first month and then thereafter. His rise coincided with his threat as a runner, going from minus-11 yards through the first four games to 316 (39.5 yards per game) in the next eight. 2. S Matthias Farley — In 2011, he wasn't even in the three-deep as a wideout. Last spring, he was barely in the three-deep at safety. This fall, the sophomore emerged dramatically in the preseason and started the last nine games in place of the injured Jamoris Slaughter, even withstanding arm surgery in the process, to finish with 43 tackles. 3. WR TJ Jones — The junior wideout caught only five more passes (43) than last year, but his yards per catch went from 9.6 to 13.0 and he consistently came up with a clutch grab when most needed. 4. RB Theo Riddick — Seemingly always a step away his first two seasons under Brian Kelly, the senior broke through at his more natural running back slot and became an archetype of what Kelly wants at the hybrid running back/slot position, rushing for a team-high 880 yards and grabbing 35 passes (third most on the team) that averaged 10.4 yards. 5. S Zeke Motta — His growth in confidence and leadership the past four years, combined with his ferocious hitting (61 tackles, second on the team), reminded us of the progress of fellow safety Harrison Smith, a firstround pick last April. photo by Bill Panzica