Print Edition of the Irish Insider for Friday, November 11, 2016

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The observer | FRIDAY, november 11, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

recruiting

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Struggles leave ND Shamrock Series often not grasping at recruits worth losing home game

By ZACH KLONSINSKI Assistant Managing Editor

Notre Dame is in full “hold-on-tothe-class” mode as it limps into San Antonio for the team’s Shamrock Series matchup with Army with a 3-6 record, according to Blue and Gold Illustrated recruiting analyst Bryan Driskell.

“It’s kind of hard to go out there and beat Michigan and Ohio State and Penn State and Florida and USC for recruits when those schools are out there winning every weekend and you’re losing games to Navy and Stanford and Duke and programs like that,” Driskell said.

The Irish began the year with one of the best recruiting classes in the country and needed just one or two more top-end recruits to secure what Driskell said at the beginning of the season was a top-5 class, but even as the season has turned sour on Notre Dame the potential for a top-10 class still exists. “[Notre Dame is] in a situation where if they can keep this class together, it’s a good class,” Driskell said. “It won’t end up being as good as it should have been, could have been, but it’s still a good class. … It’s certainly not what they expected it to be at this point in time.”

The Irish are currently only hosting one recruit — class of 2018 fourstar receiver Joshua Moore from Yoakum, Texas — on an official visit, Driskell said, although he expects one or two more recruits from the Lone Star State to take in the action Saturday, including class of 2018 four-star tight end Mustapha Muhammad from Missouri City, Texas.

This will be the eighth-consecutive year Notre Dame plays in the Shamrock Series, dating back to 2009 when the Irish routed Washington State at the Alamodome, 40-14, but next year the series is scheduled to take a hiatus as Notre Dame opens the Campus Crossroads renovations to Notre Dame Stadium.

In its seven previous Shamrock Series games, though, Notre Dame has played just one team that was ranked at the time (No. 22 Arizona

State at AT&T Stadium in Dallas in 2013). While this perceived lack of quality competition for such a marquee event frustrates some fans and alumni, Driskell said it hasn’t detracted from the Shamrock Series’ impact on recruiting.

“It’s been a pretty exciting thing for young people. I think the uniform is impactful on young people,” Driskell said. “I know older folks don’t really want to admit this, but the reality is that young kids look at the programs like Oregon and places like that that basically have a new uniform every week, and they think that’s cool.

“And they like and respect the tradition of what Alabama does and what Notre Dame does, but when you can maybe throw a little something in there to show, ‘Hey, you’re going to come here and have some fun and get some fresh gear’ and things like that too. That helps with 17- and 18-year olds. That’s just the reality of it.”

Driskell said recruits like the event because it allows them to play on the big stage closer to their homes, part of Notre Dame’s focus on traveling all around the country on its quasi-independent schedule.

“How many schools can say they played in the state of Florida, the state of Texas and the state of California all in the same season?”

Driskell said. “I’m willing to be a lot of money Notre Dame’s about the only school that can say that they’ve done that.”

Driskell would win that bet: Notre Dame is the only program in the Power 5 to play in each of those states this season.

Still, Driskell said there is untapped potential with the Shamrock Series as a whole, not just from a recruiting angle.

“Imagine if they were playing Oklahoma at Arrowhead Stadium [in Kansas City, Missouri],” Driskell said. “That would be huge. Or Oklahoma in AT&T Stadium in Dallas. That would be huge too. I think that is something they should look into.”

Contact Zach Klonsinski at zklonsin@nd.edu

Alex Carson Assistant Managing Editor

If you take a look at next year’s Notre Dame football schedule, you might notice one thing is missing: the Shamrock Series.

This weekend’s San Antonio showdown between the Irish and Army will mark the eighth, and final scheduled, installment of the annualsince-2009 neutral site game that’s allowed Notre Dame the opportunity to play home games across the country, from Texas to Maryland and Illinois to Massachusetts.

Director of athletics Jack Swarbrick, however, announced in the spring that the 2017 edition of the Shamrock Series, well, wouldn’t exist. The Campus Crossroads project will be complete, Swarbrick reasons, and Notre Dame wants to “maximize” its home slate next year to, for lack of a better phrase, show off the University’s brand-new investment in Notre Dame Stadium.

As well it should.

But that’s far from the only thing Notre Dame should be enthused about showing off as often as possible throughout the fall. What about the numerous band traditions, from Trumpets Under the Dome on Friday to the halftime show on game day?

Should the University not be interested in showing those off seven, not six, times every year? The same applies to any number of traditions, be they collective or personal, that people enjoy when making the trek to South Bend for a football weekend.

When the Shamrock Series was started, back in 2009, Notre Dame played a “7-4-1” schedule. That meant seven home games, just four road games, plus the neutral-site

showdown. But after Swarbrick took over, that moved to a “6-5-1” — and for good reason. Most quality opponents aren’t interested in playing one-off games without a return date, and once the ACC deal was completed, the Irish playing five road games annually was cemented as a permanent certainty.

That’s fine — it’s ref lective of a changing college football world — but it means the series must be viewed in a different light than it was a decade ago when it was conceived.

This isn’t to say that Notre Dame should limit itself from giving up home dates to play neutral-site games. When the opportunity arises to schedule a competitive opponent or to play in a tangibly interesting venue, like Fenway Park, for instance, Swarbrick and Notre Dame should be chomping at the bit to get out there.

But in the majority of its games, that’s not what the Shamrock Series has been. Is the series about expanding recruiting access to more of the country? Because Notre Dame already has that access, for the most part. Each year, the Irish finish their season on the West Coast, play enough games in the Midwest, and, with the ACC agreement in place, will annually play contests up and down the East Coast. If there’s one region Notre Dame isn’t infiltrating enough, it’s the South and Texas — but the Irish just finished a series with Texas, and they have ones with Georgia and Texas A&M coming up.

And as far as the opponents are concerned, lackluster doesn’t even

Alex Carson

Zach Klonsinski

Marek Mazurek

Assistant Managing Editor

Assistant Managing Editor

Sports Editor

Saturday might be Army’s last chance at securing bowl eligibility. With a second FCS opponent on the horizon, and the Army-Navy Game coming after bowl selections are typically made, the Black Knights could need a victory to play postseason football for just the second time this millennium.

Logic says that, after a one-point loss to Navy a week ago, that the Irish should be good enough to at least squeeze out a win over Army this week. But while the Black Knights still aren’t quite on par with their service academy brethren at Navy and Air Force, they’re still a better-than-normal unit.

Their wins over Temple and Wake Forest are nothing to scoff at, and if the Irish continue to make things hard for themselves, they won’t win the game.

Remember that point about logic? It’s had little place, for better or worse, in Notre Dame’s season thus far.

FINAL SCORE: Army 35, Notre Dame 31

Yes, Army runs a very similar triple-option attack to Navy, who used it to completely control the game against Notre Dame last week.

However, the Black Knights are not as efficient as their Midshipmen counterparts with the ball, and Notre Dame was (once again) one play away from coming away with the victory this week.

Expect another classic, grinding game against the triple option at the Alamo Dome, but Notre Dame should stay out of its way enough to get another victory. It shouldn’t be as ugly as Miami, but that’s not outside the realm of possibility with this year’s team.

Notre Dame’s defensive execution has been sloppy all year, but the talent it has on that side of the ball should be able to contain Army just enough to come away on top.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 38, Army 24

begin to describe it. The Shamrock Series is now on its eighth year, and only once — in 2013, against No. 22 Arizona State — have the Irish played a ranked team. That wasn’t a marquee opponent.

Notre Dame’s trip to San Antonio will be an afterthought in the college football world this weekend — and it would have been, even if the Irish were 7-2, not 3-6.

Neither the opponent nor the venue is particularly compelling.

If, from 2018 onward, Notre Dame is going to give up its seventh home date to play a neutral-site game, it should do so in a manner that betters the program. If the opportunity to play in one of our favorite speculative venues — let’s say Lambeau Field — arises, by all means, pull the trigger. If LSU, for instance, wants to play you on the opening weekend of the season in Atlanta, you take it.

But moving forward, Notre Dame doesn’t need to take games with Miami to Chicago, games with Purdue to Indianapolis or games with Army to San Antonio for the simple sake of saying you played a neutral-site game. None of those games moved, or will move, the needle in a significant way.

More often than not, there’s been more to offer — for recruits, fans and players — by showing off, one extra time, what’s best about a game day at Notre Dame.

Contact Alex Carson at acarson1@nd.edu The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

The good news: Notre Dame scored on 83 percent of its possessions last Saturday in its game against Navy.

The bad news: the Irish only had six possessions.

If Notre Dame has any chance to beat Army, it has to find a way to get the ball more than six times. That either means quicker scores on offense or better defense. Both options are open to the Irish.

Any time Equanimeous St. Brown and Kevin Stepherson step on the field, the deep ball is there for the Irish. And while Army also runs the triple option, they aren’t a top-25 team like Navy.

Ultimately, the Irish will perform better in their second week against the option and against a less-talented team. Notre Dame maintains an undefeated record in the Shamrock series.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 38, Army 24

Insider

By MAREK MAZUREK Sports Editor

When he lines up in a threepoint stance, senior defensive lineman Isaac Rochell is imposing to say the least.

The McDonough, Georgia, native looks every bit of his 6-foot-3 1/2, 290-pound frame, and his four years at Notre Dame prove that his bark is just as potent as his bite.

When the Irish suit up to face Army in San Antonio, Rochell will make his 19th consecutive start on the defensive line. In that time, Rochell has recorded 90 tackles and two sacks. Last season, he led the Irish defensive front with 63 tackles — the most by a defensive lineman in the program since 2007. In fact, you’d have to go back to October of 2014 to find the last game Rochell didn’t make an appearance on the stat sheet.

But when interviewed after practice Wednesday, what Rochell is the most eager to talk about isn’t his individual accolades or how Notre Dame’s defense plans to attack Army.

He wants to sell you coffee.

Specifically, coffee from Street Bean in Seattle.

“Basically, Street Bean is a nonprofit coffee shop, and they employ homeless youth in the Seattle area and give them an opportunity to reclaim their lives,” Rochell said.

ndsmcobserver.com | FRIDAY, november 11, 2016 | The Observer

For every bag of coffee Street Bean sells, it gives a homeless youth in Seattle one hour of free job training, and Rochell spent two weeks there over the summer learning the inner workings of a nonprofit business.

“I’ve never seen a nonprofit company that’s as unique as Street Bean is,” Rochell said. “I just reached out to their owner pretty much, just kind of random. They weren’t really expecting it. Nor did they really know Notre Dame. I was blessed and fortunate to have the opportunity to go out there. It was one of the coolest experiences I ever had.”

Not only did Street Bean not expect an application from him, Rochell said, but it also didn’t expect a Division I lineman to be quite so large.

“I don’t think they fully understood it until they saw me, and they’re like, ‘OK this dude’s kind of big,’” Rochell joked. “But I think that’s what makes it so beautiful, that they were willing to take a chance, not knowing who I was, in order to teach somebody about nonprofit. It was great.”

Though he recently worked with Street Bean, Rochell said he came into Notre Dame with an interest in philanthropy. For Rochell, political science seemed like a good fit because the discipline deals with organizing communities and

affecting change socially.

“I think I was just more interested in the idea of being able to help people and getting involved with philanthropic stuff,” Rochell said. “A lot of that deals with political science because you’re dealing with the law and whatnot. And a lot of the initial classes I dealt with weren’t dealing with politics, but they were more discussing social issues.”

And Rochell’s leadership doesn’t stop in class or over the summer.

The four-year veteran was awarded a captaincy for his senior season, and Rochell couldn’t be more honored.

“It’s definitely the biggest honor of my life, to be considered a leader of Notre Dame football,” Rochell said. “All in all, it’s the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced. Also, I have the opportunity and privilege to be a captain with some good guys.”

A key to Rochell’s leadership: learn from those who came before you. After being teammates with players like Sheldon Day, Stephon Tuitt and Romeo Okwara, Rochell said he sought to recreate the vibrant atmosphere he inherited on the defensive line.

“When you’re playing with great players, you’re taking a lot of great things from them,” Rochell said.

“Obviously, they cared about their teammates. [Sheldon Day] cared about his teammates. Tuitt cared

Ben Padanilam

Renee Griffin

Associate Sports Editor

Sports Writer

While Notre Dame’s offense was efficient in the loss to Navy, the defense struggled to get off the field, particularly in the most crucial moments of last week’s first try at defending the triple option.

Now, after a second-straight week of preparation, the Irish get to face Army’s configuration of the option attack. Army is not a team to be underestimated, as it holds a winning record, averages more rushing yards per game than Navy and holds respectable wins over Temple and Wake Forest.

But the seeing the option the previous week will help. And while the Irish haven’t always played up to their talent level, the significant advantage they have over Army should give them the edge they need.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 35, Army 21

Army’s offense is just like Navy’s, except not quite as good. That bodes well for the Irish, who did a decent (albeit not sufficient) job of containing the Midshipmen despite having so many young players seeing the triple option for the first time.

The Black Knights arguably have a better defense than the Midshipmen, but DeShone Kizer and his receiving corps have had little trouble against defenses that are even stronger.

The Irish know that they have to take advantage of whatever possessions they get — probably more than six this time, as long as the defense gets off the field at least a couple times on fourth down.

That should be enough to get Notre Dame the win.

FINAL SCORE: Notre Dame 31, Army 21

about his teammates. And so you learn a little bit about being a leader.

“Everybody’s got their own personality, and when you bring everyone together, you have a good time. I personally love all the guys on the D-line. But I would say in general, the D-line on teams is the jokester group.”

While Rochell benefitted from Day and Okwara around to guide him in his first few seasons with the Irish, he felt somewhat odd being turned to as the sole leader of the unit. However, Rochell said he recognizes the transition as part of the leadership process and hopes next year’s leaders are able to find their own way.

“It’s definitely weird, and I know it will be weird for whoever that guy is next year,” Rochell said. “Just the absence of some people who you’ve always been here with. I’ve always been here with Sheldon, I’ve always been here with Romeo [Okwara]. And that’s kind of defined my experience in a lot of ways, so with them gone, you feel like you’re embarking on a new journey. So it’s definitely different, but it’s an experience. It’s cool. It’s a challenge at the beginning of the year I enjoyed because it’s a new challenge. It’ll be cool to see guys do the same thing next year.”

Yet, Rochell said he learned some of his most important lessons

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while wearing his barista’s smock, not his shoulder pads. Sometimes, Rochell said, it’s important to step back and realize that football isn’t the end-all-be-all of life.

“I think anytime you’re working with underprivileged individuals, it puts things in perspective,” Rochell said. “Just the idea that football is just a game. There’s a bigger picture. Even with the guys on the team, guys are going through stuff, different issues going on that need to be handled.

Sometimes you have to keep it small. This is just a game, let’s look at the bigger picture of life. That’s the biggest takeaway, just a bigger understanding of a human.”

Even with an eye toward the NFL, Rochell hopes to make it to the next level not just to cash paychecks but to start something bigger than himself.

“I think the NFL is definitely something I’m thinking about and excited about,” Rochell said.

“Then, within that, I want to get involved with some type of philanthropic, Street Bean-type thing.

Just because I think it’s so important. If you don’t do that, one day we’re just going to be old wondering what we did with our lives.

That’s definitely my plan, and I’m excited about it.”ed about it.”

Contact Marek Mazurek at mmazurek@nd.edu

Follow Observer Sports on Twitter for live updates and analysis during the game this weekend and all season long. @ObserverSports

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Insider

The observer | FRIDAY, november 11, 2016 | ndsmcobserver.com

Notre Dame takes on triple option, again Sports Writer

Notre Notre Dame will get a chance to redeem itself against a triple option offense on Saturday, facing Army’s attack one week after losing by one point to a Navy offense that has all but trademarked the system.

With a 5-4 record and an average of 410.2 yards gained per game — 320.3 of which come on the ground — the Black Knights have not quite been able to match Navy’s success this season, as the Midshipmen are 6-2 and are posting 434.5 yards per game on offense. Still, Irish head coach Brian Kelly called Army “one of the best option rushing attacks in the country.”

“You better be ready, because they’re tough-minded individuals at Army,” Kelly said. “So we’ll be smart with our players, but they know what’s in store. They just finished playing a very tough-minded

“probably as good as I’ve seen a true freshman play” against that type of attack.

While the triple option is Army’s most unique feature, its defense is the one that ranks well nationally, coming in at No. 6 for fewest yards allowed per game.

Its opponents are not offensive powerhouses, but the same Duke team that scored 38 points against Notre Dame earlier this season scored only 13 against the Black Knights. Much of its strength comes from its variety of coverage, Kelly and junior quarterback DeShone Kizer said.

“As similar as Army and Navy are on offense, they are completely different on defense,” Kizer said.

“Army is very good at what they do in the sense that they are changing their looks consistently. They are blitzing from all over the place.

They are three-down, they are fourdown, they are two-high, they are one-high.

will throw a surprise pass, as Navy did on the final play of the game in Jacksonville, Florida, that cemented the Notre Dame loss.

“You’re still defending triple,” Kelly said. “You still have to defend the fullback; you still have to defend the quarterback at the edge and then the pitch, and then what their desire is relative to throwing the football, what their appetite is.

“Is it something that they’re willing to potentially get behind the chains on first down or are they going to save it for when they absolutely have to throw the football?

They’ll throw it on first down and take their chances of being behind the chain. So that’s just a different offensive philosophy.”

For many of the young players in the Irish secondary, Navy was the first look at a collegiate triple option offense, so Army will be less of a transition. Kelly praised the play of freshman cornerback Julian Love in the loss to the Mids, saying it was

football team in Navy, and they know that they’ve gotta prepare in a manner that allows them to go out there mentally and physically beat their opponent.”

Kelly noted that Army and Navy were certainly not identical in scheme, pointing to the styles of their respective quarterbacks as important distinctions. Senior Midshipmen quarterback Will Worth, who racked up 223 yards of total offense on his own against the Irish last Saturday, is more physical than Army junior quarterback Ahmad Bradshaw, Kelly said.

“The quarterback probably defines the personality of that triple option,” Kelly said. “[Bradshaw] wants to get on the edge. Not as physical [as Worth], but he’s quick, he’s elusive. So this changes the style a little bit based upon who the quarterback is.”

The quarterback differences will be key to the Irish defense’s ability to read whether run-first Army

By RENEE GRFFIN

army WR

(So.) Christian Poe 87

LT LG C RG RT TE

(Sr.) Colby Enegren 72 (So.) Rick Kurz 62

(Sr.) Justin Gilbert 60

(Jr.) Ahmad

Asberry

3

Bradshaw

17

(Fr.) Kell Walker 32

(So.) Chris Carter

7

(So.) Tyler Campbell 22 (Sr.) Elijah St. Hilaire 30

(Fr.) Jaxson Deaton 73

RB QB RB

(Jr.) Bryce Holland 65 (Jr.) Joshua Boylan 66

(Fr.) Mike Johnson 59 (Jr.) Mike Houghton 70

(Jr.) Brett Toth 78 (So.) Rick Kurz 62

(So.) Quinten Parker 85 (Sr.) Dalton Mendenhall 47

WR

(Sr.) Jeff Ejekam 81 (Fr.) Glen Coates 80

(Fr.) Elijah Riley 23 (Fr.) Mike Reynolds 16

(Sr.) Jeremy Timpf 39 (So.) Calen Holt 42

(Jr.) Rhyan England 20 (So.) Max Regan 4

S

(Sr.) Andrew King

11

(Jr.) Scott Washle 36

(So.) Kenneth Brinson 56 (So.) James Nachtigal 19

(Sr.) Xavier Moss

25

(Fr.) Cameron Jones 19

MLB RUSH

S

WILL

(R-Sr.) De’Jon Wilson 57

(So.) Jalen Sharp 14

(So.) J.D. Mote 98 (So.) Nick Schrage 99

(Fr.) Malik McGue 16 (Jr.) John Trainor

6

PK P PR

CB

WR

(Sr.) Eddy Ruzga 90

(Jr.) Ahmad Bradshaw 17 (So.) Chris Carter

(So.) Tyler Campbell 22 (Sr.) Elijah St. Hilaire 30

(So.) Scott Flanick 89 (Jr.) Clay Barton

H KR LS

35 Donte Vaughn (Fr.)

H KR LS

Te’von Coney (So.)

4

22 Asmar Bilal (So.)

S

Andrew Trumbetti (Jr.)

98

8

Devin Studstill (Fr.)

28 Nicco Fertitta (So.)

9 Daelin Hayes (Fr.)

Daniel Cage (Jr.)

75

94 Jarron Jones (Gr.)

Jerry Tillery (So.)

99

MLB

5

Nyles Morgan (Jr.)

48 Greer Martini (Jr.)

93 Jay Hayes (Jr.)

Isaac Rochell (Sr.)

90

S

55 Jonathan Bonner (Jr.)

SAM

CB

(So.) Raymond Wright 77

(Fr.) Jaylon McClinton 7

(So.) Nick Schrage 99

DE DT DT DE

SAM

(Jr.) Andrew McLean 58

DE NG DE

Julian Love (Fr.)

27

WILL

RT RG C LG LT TE

(Fr.) Amadeo West 97

(So.) James Gibson 2

CB

WR WR

CB

(Jr.) John Voit 59

(Jr.) Alex Aukerman 21

(Jr.) Blake Wilson 18

Contact Renee Griffin at rgriffi6@nd.edu

Notre Dame (Sr.) Edgar Poe 82

(So.) Jordan

“They are all over the place. You have to be able to make sure you take what the defense is giving you.”

Going against another timesucking triple option, the Irish offense will need to make the most of limited opportunities. Against Navy, the Irish had only six possessions and put points on the board in five of them, but it wasn’t enough to win.

“That is something that we’re going to be able to build off of going into Army, having the understanding of how important a possession is,” Kizer said. “I think we’re ready to go.

“This team is very unique in the sense that no matter what the outcome of the game before, we’re able to come back and really push ourselves and compete and have the positive mind-set needed to go out and win games.”

36

17

James Onwualu (Sr.)

23

Drue Tranquill (Jr.)

21 Jalen Elliot (Fr.)

44 Jamir Jones (Fr.)

Cole Luke (Sr.)

27 Troy Pride Jr. (Fr.)

Equanimeous St. Brown (So.)

6

81 Miles Boykin (So.)

16

Torii Hunter Jr. (Sr.)

3 C.J. Sanders (So.)

Alex Bars (Jr.)

71

78 Tommy Kraemer (Fr.)

Colin McGovern (Sr.)

62

66 Tristen Hoge (So.)

53

Sam Mustipher (Jr.)

75 Mark Harrell (Gr.)

RB QB

33

Josh Adams (So.)

25 Tarean Folston (Sr.)

14

DeShone Kizer (Jr.)

8 Malik Zaire (Sr.)

Quenton Nelson (Jr.)

56

57 Trevor Ruhland (So.)

Mike McGlinchey (Sr.)

68

70 Hunter Bivin (Sr.)

80

Durham Smythe (Sr.)

82 Nic Weishar (Jr.)

29

Kevin Stepherson (Fr.)

15 Corey Holmes (Jr.)

4

Montgomery VanGorder (Jr.)

14 DeShone Kizer (Jr.)

3

C.J. Sanders (So.)

10 Chris Finke (So.)

61

Scott Daly (Gr.)

54 John Shannon (Fr.)

PK P PR

19

Justin Yoon (So.)

85 Tyler Newsome (Jr.)

85

Tyler Newsome (Jr.)

42 Jeff Riney (So.)

10

Chris Finke (So.)

3 C.J. Sanders (So.)