Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BY LOU SOMOGYI F or the third time in 20 years, Notre Dame's defensive line must replace two starters se- lected within the top five rounds of the NFL Draft. It didn't work out well in 1994 when the 6-5-1 Fighting Irish lacked Bryant Young (first round) and Jim Flanigan (third round) from the previous year's 11-1 outfit. It was worse in 2007 after the 3-9 Irish had graduated Victor Abiamiri (second round) and Derek Landri (fifth round), mainstays on consecutive BCS teams. In 2014, the Irish will rely signifi- cantly on juniors Sheldon Day and Jar- ron Jones to compensate for the early exit of 6-6, 322-pound Stephon Tuitt (second round) and 6-2, 357-pound Louis Nix III (third round). Although neither Tuitt nor Nix had his best season in 2013 for myriad rea- sons, the 679 pounds or so of bulk they supplied in the trenches weighed heav- ily in the 12-1 campaign two years ago, and even in 17-13 and 14-10 slugfest victories versus Michigan State and USC last season. Last year at this time, Phil Steele's Col- lege Football Preview had Notre Dame's defensive line ranked No. 1 in the coun- try. This year the publication has the group No. 42 — the lowest of the eight Irish position groups rated, just behind the special teams unit (No. 41). "Everybody's sleeping on the de- fensive line; everybody's thinking bad about the defensive line," noted the 6-2, 290-pound Day, who possesses the versatility to line up virtually anywhere along the front. Even two years ago as a reserve freshman lineman on a star-studded unit, Day was classified as its best tech- nician. A high ankle sprain incurred during the 41-30 loss at Michigan last year limited his effectiveness most of the season, although his 33 tackles were still second among the linemen to Tu- itt's 49. Under new defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder, Notre Dame will continue to mix 4-3 and 3-4 alignments predicated on the various schemes (pro-style, power, spread, triple option, etc.) it will face, but a 4-3 might be more beneficial to Day and Jones. Day's hand-fighting skills fit ideally THE INSIDE STORY Juniors Sheldon Day and Jarron Jones will anchor a rebuilt defensive interior