Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2012 Notre Dame Football Preview
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50 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2015 FOOTBALL PREVIEW RUNNING BACKS ate toss and turned it into a 78-yard touchdown, and his lone carry picked up 14 yards. • At Arizona State, he nabbed 59- and 26-yard passes. • Versus Northwestern, his lone catch was good for 33 yards, and the next week he grabbed a 21-yard pass against Louisville. • At USC, he contributed a 40-yard catch-and-run play. • His finest hour came in the 31-28 Music City Bowl win versus LSU. Prosise's three catches included a 21-yard nab, but his three runs first featured a 25-yard jaunt and then a 50-yard jet sweep for a touchdown to knot the game at 28. That scoring run showcased his balance, power and speed (runner-up in the 100 meters as a junior at the Virginia state finals with a time of 10.9). The cumulative results from last season prompted the staff to consider more ways of putting the ball into Prosise's hands. That doesn't mean he will be exclusively a running back with Folston and Bryant, but a multi- purpose threat in the slot and backfield who can get the ball in his hands maybe 10-15 times per game. He's neither a natural running back nor a natural receiver, but a stellar athlete and playmaker. "We had always kind of talked about it during the year in terms of we always like getting the ball in his hands because he's outstand- ing when he's running after the catch," Kelly said of finding ways to utilize Prosise's talents. "… His speed when he has the ball in his arm is pretty clear against even SEC talent." The week before this year's Blue-Gold Game, Prosise had a jaw- dropping 70-yard touchdown run in practice that highlighted his extra gear. "If I were those two guys [Folston and Bryant], I'd feel like they better be careful because he's got elite speed in the second level," Kelly said of Prosise. "… C.J. puts some pressure on both of those guys and I want to create some more competition." More uplifting was how Prosise began to become more comfort- able running between the tackles while acquiring a base on proper steps and technique on inside zone plays, not just jet sweeps, plus planting his foot and running downhill. He wasn't merely a niche runner or a change-up to the attack. Prosise could conceivably have 70 to 100 carries this season if he stays healthy. He was the top rusher in the spring game with 12 carries for 64 yards. "He gives us versatility we haven't had since Theo Riddick was here," associate head coach/receivers coach Mike Denbrock said of Prosise while comparing him to Riddick, who rushed for 917 yards, caught 35 passes and excelled as a blocker in 2012. "It's exciting to have a guy who can do both roles and it was born out of a necessity with the depth at running back, but it's going to pay off in the fall. "I don't think anybody has improved more than he has. I watch that kid every day and the way he goes about his business, it's really important to him and he understands the game pretty well for a guy who was a safety when he came here." His biggest adjustment is keeping his pad level low while also being able to see where he is running and who is coming at him in traffic. The knowledge base is much better than when he moved from defense to offense. "Just because I'm already on the offensive side of the ball it's kind of easier," Prosise said. "There's still a learning curve, but it's an easier transition because this is the stuff I've been kind of already doing, running sweeps and stretch plays. … LSU was definitely a big moment for me and my confidence, and letting me know I can do this. This is my third year at receiver and I'm used to the system and what's going on." Maybe one more step to take is punt return duties. "We'll see," Prosise said. "I'll have to talk to [special teams co- ordinator] Coach [Scott] Booker and see what he thinks about it. I definitely think I could do a good job back there." That's what makes a quality "athlete" recruit, and why three isn't a crowd in the backfield. ✦ "LSU was definitely a big moment for me and my confidence, and letting me know I can do this." PROSISE ON PLAYING MORE RUNNING BACK Two of the best security plans for any college football backfield are averaging 200 rushing yards and limiting the number of lost fumbles. History shows that at Notre Dame — and in college football overall — a team that aspires to win a national title usually is in the 200-yard rushing range per contest. Head coach Bob Davie's two best seasons with the Irish were the two in which the Irish finished with more than 200 yards rushing: 212.5 in 1998 when Notre Dame be- gan 9-1 before quarterback Jarious Jackson was injured, and 213.5 during the 9-2 BCS season in 2000, prior to the bowl debacle versus Oregon State. The rushing average dipped to 146.3 yards per game during Tyrone Willingham's three-year reign (2002-04) and plummeted even more under Charlie Weis with a five-year rushing average of 117.2. Under Brian Kelly, amidst 8-5 finishes in 2010 and 2011, Notre Dame averaged only 126.6 and 138.9 yards rushing per game, respectively, and it was 150.8 in the regular season last year before committing to the run for the bowl and posting a win to move the final record to 8-5. In 2013, a 9-4 finish, the Irish were at 157.1 It was during the 12-0 regular season in 2012 that the Irish eclipsed the coveted 200-yard rushing mark for the first time in 12 years, finishing with a 202.5-yard average and a robust 5.0 yards per carry. That fell to 189.4 after netting only 32 yards in the BCS National Championship Game debacle (prior to 2003, bowl games were not included in team stats) versus Alabama. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe not. Notre Dame averaged 150.8 yards rushing per game during the 2014 regular season, before the 263-yard ef- fort in the Music City Bowl victory against LSU lifted the total to 159.5. For Notre Dame to have a better chance to reach elite category, it needs to be around the 200 figure like it was in 2012 (including 200-yard performances against quality teams like Oklahoma and USC on the road). Nine of the last 10 national champs averaged more than 200 rushing yards, and nine of the top 10 teams in the final poll last season did the same. As for ball security, under former running backs coach Tony Alford (now at Ohio State), Notre Dame backs had an exceptional track record of seldom fumbling: • They lost only two on conventional hand-off plays in 2011. • In 2012, the two senior running backs (Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood) who combined for 1,642 yards on the ground lost one fumble apiece — and none until the ninth game. • In 2013, it was only two again. • Last year, of the 12 fumbles Notre Dame lost, only two were by running backs: Greg Bryant late in the Syracuse game when the game was already in hand, and senior Cam McDaniel late in the Northwestern game that set up the Wildcats' field goal to put the game into overtime prior to their win. — Lou Somogyi SECURITY PLANS QUICK FACTS Position Coach: Autry Denson (1st year at Notre Dame) Returning Starter: Tarean Folston (12 career starts) Departing Starter: Cam McDaniel (6) Projected New Starter: None Top Reserves: Greg Bryant and C.J. Prosise (6 starts at WR) Waiting Their Turn: Josh Adams and Dexter Williams Moved In: Prosise (from WR) Other Departures: None FYI: There was a disconnect among several preseason college football publica- tions on how to rate Notre Dame's backfield … Lindy's Sports College Football National 2015 Preview had the Fighting Irish backfield (including quarterback Malik Zaire) ranked No. 6 in the country … However, the 2015 Athlon Sports Col- lege Football Preview didn't have the Irish running backs (and not including the quarterback) among its top 25 … Phil Steele's 2015 College Football Preview stood somewhere in between. Based on just the running backs, it gave that position group a No. 14 rating nationally … 2009-14 Notre Dame assistant Tony Alford was the second straight Irish running backs coach to leave for Ohio State, joining 2010-11 coach Tim Hinton.