Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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No. 1 vs. No. 2: The Final Verdict Notre Dame's 23-man class in 2008 was considered second only to Alabama's I By Lou Somogyi n 2007, first-year Alabama head coach Nick Saban witnessed his Crimson Tide lose its last four regular-season games to drop to 6-6. Most notable was a stunning 21-14 loss at home to Louisiana-Monroe. That same season, Notre Dame — under third-year head coach Charlie Weis — suffered its most defeats in one season, finishing 3-9 with back-to-back losses at home to Navy and Air Force dropping it to 1-9 at one point. Amidst the rubble of the once venerated football superheavyweights, a ray of light emerged on National Signing Day in February 2008. Alabama signed the consensus No. 1 class, according to Tom Lemming, SuperPrep, Rivals.com and Scout.com. Those same services all had Notre Dame as the consensus No. 2 haul. The 23-man Notre Dame harvest was labeled the best since 1990, a No. 1-ranked group that featured five future first-round NFL Draft picks — running back Jerome Bettis, offensive lineman Aaron Taylor, defensive lineman Bryant Young, and defensive backs Tom Carter and Jeff Burris — among others. Offensively, the headline attractions in the 2008 class were three five-star prospects: quarterback Dayne Crist, wide receiver Mi- Michael Floyd left Notre Dame as the greatest wide receiver, statistically, in school history, holding the Irish career records for catches (271), receiving yards (3,686) and touchdown receptions (37). photo by bill panzica chael Floyd and tight end Kyle Rudolph. Maybe even more encouraging was the defense, which had repeatedly come up short in recent years. This time the Irish signed five linemen, four linebackers and three defensive backs. A national-record 15 recruits from Notre Dame would be invited to play in the U.S. Army All-American Bowl in San Antonio, and three others suited up in the Under Armour All-American Game in Orlando, Fla. All but three of the 23 Notre Dame incoming freshmen were considered four-star prospects or better by at least one of the recruiting services. It appeared Alabama and Notre Dame, for all the misery they experienced in 2007, were on a collision course to meet for the 148 ✦ Blue & Gold Illustrated 2013 Football Preview 148-153.Class of 2008.indd 148 6/25/13 1:04 PM