Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/531612
136 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW 2014 BY ANDREW OWENS T he past 12 months marked a series of peaks and valleys for the Notre Dame football program. The season began with a 6-0 record and near upset at No. 2 Florida State before the Irish lost four consecutive games to end the regular season, The Irish did wrap up 2014 on a high note with a bowl win over LSU. Similarly, senior quarterback Everett Golson returned from an aca- demic suspension in May and became a Heisman Trophy candidate midway through the season before ultimately committing 22 turnovers and losing the starting position for the Music City Bowl. Months later, he transferred from Notre Dame and joined Florida State, which topped the Irish in one of the season's defining games Oct. 18. The following is a timeline of the year that was: Aug. 4 — Notre Dame opened fall practice away from campus for the second straight season, this time at Culver Academies in Culver, Ind. Aug. 13 — Head coach Brian Kelly named Golson the winner of the quarterback competition with sophomore Malik Zaire. Golson started 11 games in Notre Dame's 12-1 season in 2012 before missing all of 2013 due to an academic suspension. Aug. 15 — Notre Dame removed four players — junior cornerback KeiVarae Russell, senior wide receiver DaVaris Daniels, senior defensive end Ishaq Williams and fifth-year senior linebacker Kendall Moore — from practices and game competition while announcing its investigation into possible academic fraud. Senior safety Eilar Hardy joined them when Notre Dame announced his suspension Aug. 28. Aug. 26 — Kelly revealed the four captains for the 2014 season: fifth-year senior safety Austin Collinsworth, senior running back Cam McDaniel, senior center Nick Martin and junior defensive lineman Sheldon Day. Aug. 30 — Notre Dame opened its season with a 48-17 win over Rice. Golson accounted for five total touchdowns in his first start since the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama on Jan. 7, 2013. Sept. 4 — Two days prior to the final regular-season matchup with Michigan for the foreseeable future, Notre Dame announced a future series with the Wolverines' archrival, Ohio State, in 2022 and 2023. The Irish also announced a future series with Texas A&M three weeks later. Sept. 6 — The Irish topped Michigan 31-0 at Notre Dame Stadium to snap the Wolverines' NCAA-record 365 straight games without being shut out. Sept. 13 — In the sixth annual Shamrock Series game, the Irish beat Purdue 30-14. The long-time state rival Boilermakers will not appear on Notre Dame's schedule again until at least 2020. Sept. 23 — Kelly announced that the Irish had reshuffled their offensive line configuration during the bye week, moving Martin from center to left guard while he battled a hand injury, inserting senior Matt Hegarty into the lineup at center, and Year In Review A look back at the last 12 months of Notre Dame football 2014 Results Date Opponent Score Attendance Aug. 30 Rice W, 48-17 80,795 Sept. 6 Michigan W, 31-0 80,795 Sept. 13 vs. Purdue* W, 30-14 56,832 Sept. 27 vs. Syracuse# W, 31-15 76,802 Oct. 4 Stanford W, 17-14 80,795 Oct. 11 North Carolina W, 50-43 80,795 Oct. 18 at Florida State L, 31-27 82,431 Nov. 1 vs. Navy% W, 49-39 36,807 Nov. 8 at Arizona State L, 55-31 65,870 Nov. 15 Northwestern L, 43-40 (OT) 80,795 Nov. 22 Louisville L, 31-28 80,795 Nov. 29 at USC L, 49-14 79,586 Dec. 30 vs. LSU^ W, 31-28 60,419 * at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis; # at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; % at FedEx Field in Landover, Md.; ^ Music City Bowl at LP Field in Nashville, Tenn. Quarterback Everett Golson's up-and-down season began with him vaulting into Heisman Trophy contention and ended with him losing the starting job for Notre Dame's bowl game. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA