2014 Notre Dame Football Preview

2014 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ISSUE SENIOR EDITOR Lou Somogyi ASSISTANT EDITOR Dan Murphy STAFF WRITER Andrew Owens RECRUITING REPORTER Tom Loy MANAGING EDITOR Steve Downey CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Chris Riffer CONTRIBUTING WRITER Ryan Tice PHOTOGRAPHY Bill Panzica • Joe Raymond COVER PHOTO Lon Horwedel DESIGN Cory Lavalette • Jeanette Blankenship ✦ ✦ ✦ PUBLISHER Stu Coman BUSINESS MANAGER Linda Autry CIRCULATION MANAGER Gail Evans MARKETING/MERCHANDISE MANAGER Beverly Taylor CUSTOMER SERVICE MANAGER Laura Kendall ADVERTISING SALES Michelle DeLee-Hamilton • Dave Searcy 800-421-7751 The BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL PRE- VIEW is published by Coman Publishing Company, 324 Blackwell St, Suite 1020, Durham, NC 27701. The BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED FOOTBALL PRE- VIEW is printed by EP Graphics, Berne, Ind. Postmaster: Send address changes to BLUE & GOLD IL- LUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702-2331. For advertising or subscription information call 1-800-421- 7751 or write BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED, PO Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702-2331. 2014 Notre Dame Football Schedule Date Opponent (TV) Time (ET) Aug. 30 Rice (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Sept. 6 Michigan (NBC) 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13 vs. Purdue (NBC)^ 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 vs. Syracuse (TBA)# TBA Oct. 4 Stanford (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 11 North Carolina (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Oct. 18 at Florida State (TBA) TBA Nov. 1 vs. Navy (TBA)$ TBA Nov. 8 at Arizona State (TBA) TBA Nov. 15 Northwestern (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 22 Louisville (NBC) 3:30 p.m. Nov. 29 at Southern California (TBA) TBA ^ Shamrock Series at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; # at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; $ at FedEx Field in Landover, Md. NOT AN AVERAGE JOE Former walk-on Joe Schmidt has become a key component of the linebacking corps PAGE 88 FEATURES SEASON PREVIEW ............................................ 20 GOODBYE BCS, HELLO PLAYOFF ................................28 REVISITING FOOTBALL FINAL FOURS .......................32 TRAINING TECHNOLOGY ...........................................34 OFFENSE Q&A .................................................... 40 RB CAM MCDANIEL ...............................................50 OL COACH HARRY HIESTAND ................................68 DEFENSE Q&A ........................................................80 DB KEIVARAE RUSSELL ........................................100 MICHIGAN RIVALRY ENDS AGAIN ......................116 OPPONENT SUPERLATIVES .................................120 2013 IN REVIEW ...................................................138 RECRUITING CLASS OF 2009 REVIEW .................148 POSITION OVERVIEWS QUARTERBACKS ............................................... 46 RUNNING BACKS .............................................. 54 WIDE RECEIVERS .............................................. 58 TIGHT ENDS...................................................... 64 OFFENSIVE LINEMEN ....................................... 72 DEFENSIVE LINEMEN ....................................... 82 LINEBACKERS ................................................... 92 DEFENSIVE BACKS .......................................... 104 SPECIALISTS ................................................... 112 DEPARTMENTS THE FIFTH QUARTER .......................................... 2 UNDER THE DOME ............................................. 4 RECRUITING CLASS OF 2014 TOP STORYLINES ................... 154 TERRIFIC 20 FOR 2015 .................................... 157 ALSO INSIDE 2014 ROSTER .................................................... 18 OPPONENT PREVIEWS ................................... 124 2014 PREDICTIONS ..............................................136 2013 STATISTICS ............................................. 142 IRISH IN THE NFL ............................................ 144 ON THE COVER UNDER CENTER QB Everett Golson is back in charge of the Irish offense PAGE 42 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2014 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 1 PHOTOS BY BILL PANZICA 1.Contents.indd 1 6/10/14 3:54 PM

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