Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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running backs Youth Movement Elijah Hood, who will enroll at Notre Dame in 2014, provides a future power dimension to the running game. photo by Alyson Boyer Rode If Brian Kelly's long-term plans for Notre Dame include pressing the offense into a more up-tempo, pass-heavy operation like the one he had at previous stops, he certainly isn't recruiting like it. Running backs and offensive linemen were two positions of strength in the 2013 freshman class and they are shaping up to be focal points of the new group of Irish commits as well. Five new freshmen on the offensive line arrived this summer in hopes of eventually paving the way for five-star running back Greg Bryant and four-star ball carrier Tarean Folston. Seven months before the upcoming National Signing Day, the Irish had verbal commitments from four more offensive linemen for the 2014 class and standout running back Elijah Hood from Charlotte, N.C. "I think they're going back to their glory days of [offensive line coach] Joe Moore in the late-80s when Notre Dame dominated at offensive line," veteran recruiting guru Tom Lemming said. "They haven't been back there in 20-some years." Hood, rated as the sixth-best athlete in the country in the 247Sports Composite (a combination of all the major recruiting services), brings the type of run-you-over attitude that has been largely absent from Notre Dame's backfield in recent years. Along with Bryant and Folston, he'll be another player that will be hard to keep off the field as a freshman. That will give Notre Dame seven capable backs on their 2014 roster barring any transfers or injuries, and there is still plenty of time to add one more if the right prospect comes along. It appears the Irish are stockpiling a lot of youthful talent capable of turning future teams into power running outfits. "Last year, Theo Riddick was able to do it a little bit, but for the most part the backs they've brought in recently usually kind of crumble when they play really talented teams," Lemming said. "They have trouble breaking tackles and breaking any long runs. I think Elijah Hood is the guy that can break out for that long run." Hood and Bryant are both big and physical backs for high school students. Bryant is a compact 200 pounds and Hood is 6-0, 222 pounds with room to add another 10 or 20 pounds before he is ready to come to college. The latter ran for 3,309 yards as a junior while averaging 11.9 yards per carry. Hood isn't much a liability to leave Notre Dame at the doorstep like other high-profile recruits have in the past two seasons. This June he kicked up a little media attention by sharing a video of himself flushing a letter from Alabama head coach Nick Saban down the toilet in a sign of loyalty to his pledge to Notre Dame. Hood has also been one of Notre Dame's most active recruiters on social media since he announced his plans to come to South Bend. While 2013 may come with a few question marks in the Notre Dame backfield, the future looks as bright as it has in a long time for those who like to see a blue-collar Irish rushing attack. — Dan Murphy Paul Longo and the crew. I'm proud of the work he's put in, too. He just has to keep doing it." Kelly reported that Atkinson nearly quadrupled his bench press numbers from the last time he was tested about a year and a half ago. He went from five reps of 225 pounds to 19 in a team combine held a week before spring practice started. The extra bulk should help Notre Dame's new leader in the backfield transition into becoming more of a workhorse moving forward. The Impact Of A Healthy Amir Carlisle Snatching transfer Amir Carlisle from rival USC after a promising freshman season was a noteworthy pickup for Notre Dame. The Irish recruited the Santa Clara, Calif., star out of high school but needed to wait a year before they could actually get him to South Bend. Unfortunately for Alford and the rest of the Irish offense, they've only had a few brief glimpses at what Carlisle can do when he is 100 percent healthy. Shortly after he arrived last spring, before he even had a chance to try out his gold helmet, Carlisle broke his ankle. Complications and nerve damage from that injury pushed back his recovery well into 5 80.6 214.5 By The Numbers Rushing plays in 2012 that went for more than 50 yards for Notre Dame. Only nine teams in the country had more big-play runs than the Irish. Percent of last year's rushing total that came from Theo Riddick, Cierre Wood and Everett Golson. All three will not be on the field for Notre Dame in 2013. Rushing yards per game gained by Notre Dame during the month of November in 2012. That's 74.25 yards more per game than the 140.25 they averaged during four games in the month of September. October, and by that time the Irish coaching staff decided not to burn a year of his eligibility on a team that already had enough talent at the running back position. Carlisle was fully healthy for the first week of the spring in 2013 and immediately drew the attention of Kelly, his teammates and the rest of his coaches. "I think the guy of all the injured guys that stands out to me is Amir Carlisle," Kelly said after the first spring practice in March. "He's got a gear. He's got a high level where he's really going to be able to help us." Three days later, when Notre Dame strapped on its pads for its first full-contact practice, Carlisle broke his collarbone at the end of a two-on-two tackling drill. He was healthy enough to practice without his shoulder pads by the end of the spring practice, but Kelly decided to hold him out of the Blue-Gold Game for precautionary reasons. Carlisle might be the best bet to replace Riddick's role as one who can line up in the slot receiver position as well as the backfield. "He's got really good hands," Alford said. "He catches the ball very softly in his hands. He did a lot of that and made some nice catches. I'm interested to see how physical he is going to be in close quarters." If Carlisle can keep himself on the field, he could be the answer to a lot of questions for the Irish offense this season. Cam McDaniel's Status Junior Cam McDaniel elevated himself to fan favorite status last season. The blue-collar, undersized Texan was willing to flip between running back and cornerback, depending on where he was needed on any given week. He rarely played outside of mop-up duty, but he also never gave any indication that he couldn't handle more. McDaniel's success, especially in the Miami game where he carried 11 consecutives times for 55 yards late in the contest, inspired 50 ✦ Blue & Gold Illustrated 2013 Football Preview 48-53.RBs.indd 50 6/25/13 11:21 AM