Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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24 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2017 FOOTBALL PREVIEW TOP FIVE STATES 1. Illinois (14 players) The Chicago area always has been an excellent pipeline, and this year includes senior Nyles Morgan and sophomore Julian Love at linebacker and corner- back, respectively. Junior Myles Boykin made a conspicuous ascent this spring at receiver, while senior Nic Weishar pro- vides quality depth at tight end. Incoming recruits Isaiah Robertson at safety and Cole Kmet at tight end ar- rive with lofty credentials, with Robertson already showcasing some of it this spring as an early enrollee. 2. Florida (10) Sophomores Devin Studstill and Kevin Stepherson played major roles last year at safety and wide receiver, respectively, but had challenging springs while fighting for playing time. Sophomore Tony Jones Jr. and junior Dexter Williams will vie for carries in the backfield, while the linebacker unit returns j u n i o r Te'von C o n e y (fourth in t a c k l e s l a s t y e a r with 62) and s o p h o m o r e Jonathan Jones behind Morgan. 3. Ohio (9) The Irish failed to land any scholarship players from the Buckeye State this winter (al- though safety Patrick Pelini from Youngstown, son of Youngstown State head coach Bo Pelini, will be a preferred walk-on), but the state's talent will still be crucial to Notre Dame's 2017 fortunes. Sophomore tackles Tommy Kraemer and Liam Eichenberg have excellent futures ahead of them, and junior wideout and return man Chris Finke can pro- vide a spark. What will determine this state's contributions is how well defenders such as senior Daniel Cage and junior Elijah Taylor along the line and junior Shaun Crawford in the second- ary recover from injuries. Junior safety Nick Coleman came out of nowhere this spring to earn a possible starting role. 4. California (11) Defense has been tougher to recruit for Notre Dame in the Golden State, but the receiving corps with Equanimeous St. Brown, C.J. Sanders and Javon McKinley provides a strong nucleus. A vital dark horse could be sophomore backup quarterback Ian Book. 5. New Jersey (4) The Garden State gets the slightest edge over neighbor- ing Pennsylvania, which is led by fifth-year left tackle Mike McGlinchey and junior running back Josh Adams. What is so crucial with New Jersey is the presence of senior All-American guard Quen- ton Nelson and junior starting quarterback Brandon Wimbush, upon whom so much rests. Defensively, senior end An- drew Trumbetti's 63 career tackles are the most among the linemen, and his pass-rushing ability to complement sopho- more Daelin Hayes (from Mich- igan) will be needed. Thirty different states, the District of Columbia and Canada are all represented on Notre Dame's 2017 roster. These are the top five states based on combining the quantity (including walk-ons), quality, potential impact and balance (offense and defense) on the roster. Sophomore cornerback Julian Love is part of a strong 14-man Irish con- tingent from the state of Illinois. PHOTO BY JOE RAYMOND Going For Two Notre Dame men's basketball coach Mike Brey often has noted how in the former Big East, and now in the ACC, one-game winning streaks are cherished. True … but two wins in a row would be even better for the Fighting Irish football team in 2017. Last year marked only the fourth time the Irish didn't post consecutive wins in a season. The other three were 2-8 campaigns in 1956 and 1960, and a 3-5-1 mark in 1933. After this year's opener against Temple, 15 games will have passed since Notre Dame re- corded victories in back-to-back games. That last occurred in November 2015 versus Wake Forest (28-7) and Boston College (19-16) — and even those non-style-point wins hurt Notre Dame's College Football Playoff chances that season. The past 15 games without consecutive wins is a school record, eclipsing the 13 straight it had in the last two games of 2006 and through the first 11 of 2007. In 2016, Notre Dame lost a single-sea- son school-record five games in the fourth quarter, and a sixth when it was tied: • The Irish took a 35-31 lead in the opener at Texas with 10:57 left in the contest and had a chance to expand it, but the Longhorns rallied to victory in double overtime. • Versus Duke three weeks later, Notre Dame moved ahead 35-28 with 7:46 left, but the Blue Devils tallied on their last two series, the latter with 1:24 remaining, to win 38-35. • Head coach Brian Kelly's troops led 10-0 at halftime against a Stanford team that was coming off back-to-back blowout losses. The Irish still were ahead 10-9 after three quarters before falling 17-10. • Versus Navy, Notre Dame clung to a 24-21 edge going into the fourth quarter, but a nine-minute TD drive by the Mid- shipmen and only one more possession by the Irish offense resulted in a 28-27 Navy triumph. • In the home finale against Virginia Tech, Notre Dame bolted to a 17-0 cush- ion and still was ahead after three quarters (31-21). The Hokies finished with a 13-0 run to win the game. This is not even including a 3-3 tie go- ing into the fourth quarter at North Caro- lina State, also a 10-3 Irish defeat. In such cases, everything from the strength and conditioning and the nutri- tion program to lack of a killer instinct and mental toughness is scrutinized. An overhaul has been made in the for- mer, in addition to six new assistants for on-field duties. It can't get any worse in 2017. The is- sue is more about how much better it can become, especially at finishing games. Finishing The Job