Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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defensive backs Redistribution Of Wealth The cornerbacks now a step ahead of the safeties By Wes Morgan he goal heading into 2012 was to piece together a defensive backfield that could merely survive a full season. The end result was surprisingly effective, and the experience bodes well for this fall. The cornerback position entered 2012 with zero career starts, plus projected starter Lo Wood suffered an Achilles injury in the preseason and missed all of his junior year. Then junior Bennett Jackson and freshman KeiVarae Russell, who arrived in South Bend as a running back, ended up starting all 13 games on a unit that finished No. 2 in scoring defense. The overall defensive plan was simplified to help protect the position, which worked until Alabama picked it apart in the BCS National Championship Game to the tune of 264 yards and four touchdowns. At safety, Notre Dame lost captain Harrison Smith, who was selected in the first round of the 2012 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings and went on to have an exceptional rookie year. The Fighting Irish went without Austin Collinsworth, whose junior campaign was wiped out with shoulder and back surgeries, and also lost fifth-year senior Jamoris Slaughter after three games due to an Achilles rupture. T "What we've gained in veteran players on the perimeter we've lost in veteran play at the safety positions. So we're going to be restarting at safety in the fall of 2013. As that season wears on and we work into '14 and '15, we'll have a bunch of guys that have been around here doing it for a long time. That will be exciting, but we won't be there in '13." Defensive coordinator Bob Diaco Cornerback KeiVarae Russell earned Freshman All-America accolades in 2012, after starting all 13 games, making 58 tackles and intercepting two passes. photo courtesy notre dame media relations Notre Dame relied on senior Zeke Motta, who was named the team's 2012 Defensive MVP (linebacker Manti Te'o was the Team MVP) before getting drafted in the seventh round by the Atlanta Falcons; newbie Matthias Farley, who was a wide receiver as a freshman in 2011; and former walk-on Chris Salvi, who graduated this spring. This season the junior Farley, who started the final 10 games in place of Slaughter and finished with 11 total starts and 49 tackles, anchors the back line at the boundary position. The return of Collinsworth, a senior, bolsters that spot along with junior Eilar Hardy and freshman Max Redfield. Hardy was in line to start on special teams in 2011, but was lost for the year because of a knee injury in fall camp. He didn't see the field last season. Sophomores Elijah Shumate, who lined up at nickel back in 2012, and Nick Baratti will battle for the starting spot at field safety, though both are expected to play, perhaps in a co-starting assignment. Shumate notched nine tackles and three passes broken up as a freshman, and Baratti had eight tackles and an interception in his debut season. Another pair of sophomores in John Turner and Chris Badger will back them up. Turner did not play in 2012, and Badger spent the year getting re-acclimated to football life after spending two years on a Mormon mission to Ecuador. Farley is the undeniable leader of the group. "He's a self-made man," Notre Dame second-year safeties coach Bob Elliott said. "He spent extra time every day. It was important to him to not be the reason we lose. He wanted to contribute to wins. 100 ✦ Blue & Gold Illustrated 2013 Football Preview 100-106.DBs.indd 100 6/25/13 2:33 PM