The Irish have a chance to be good on both offense and defense in 2011, and if the ghost of Declan Sullivan is happy with everyone related to him having season tickets then this season might just be a special one for the Domers.
Junior QB Dayne Crist is back as the official starter after a nasty season-ending knee injury in the loss to Tulsa, but the battle doesn’t quite have the feel of being definitively over-over, and the more mobile sophomore Tommy Rhees should see time. And don’t count out hot-shot redshirt freshman and Kelly recruit Andrew Hendrix seeing more than just mop-up time. I don’t want to say this is a developing platoon situation, but it wouldn’t surprise me to have things play out in a number of different fashions. Remember a few years ago when Tony Pike was a Heisman Hopeful for Cincinnati in 2009? Chazz Anderson had filled in admirably here and there the year prior and started that season as the ‘definite #2’ to quote the coach. However, when Pike went down, it turned out to be a more mobile and then-unknown Zach Collaros who took the reigns of the offense. There was considerable doubt about Pike regaining his starting job once he was again deemed healthy for action. This ND situation isn’t exactly the same, but it sort of gives off the same vibe. Don’t get me wrong, I think Crist is the guy but there is definitely some risk with the pick. Read the rest of this entry →
A majority of fantasy league uses Notre Dame in their format. Based on that, we will take a look at the incoming fantasy impact players in South Bend. Joining the independent ranks in 2011 will be Brigham Young, a team known for it’s fantasy contributors. Lastly, we will take a look at special players respectively from Navy and Army that may surprise in those productive run offenses.
Notre Dame
WR Davaris Daniels - This four star receiver has great size (6’3”), speed (4.45) and fortunately for the Irish selected them from among a dozen offers. Daniel’s impact will be lessened by Michael Floyd’s surprising return for his senior season. Daniels will eventually pair with rising star Theo Riddick for coach Brian Kelly.
TE Ben Koyack - One of top tight end’s in America and arguably top player coming out of Pennsylvania, Koyack is tall (6’5”) and possesses great speed for a tight end (4.5). With super TE Kyle Rudolph departing early for the NFL, Koyack will compete with Tyler Eifert for the starting job. Read the rest of this entry →
Talk about two storied programs from years-gone-by falling to a level of mediocrity that no one could have predicted.
1986 Hurricanes, the most hated team in modern sports (SI.com)
The fans of this series look at this game and yearn for the days of the Jimmy Johnson led Miami team battling the Lou Holtz controlled Irish from the late 80s. This game will really demonstrate just how dire things have gotten in Coral Gables and in Big Bend as this game would have once been a headliner, but is now more of just another game.
What started out as a season expected to be the year Miami would return to dominance quickly turned into another forgettable year for the Canes. The season culminated with the firing of head coach Randy Shannon, leaving many to wonder what would become of the “U” in the future.
Fact is that Notre Dame was in this same exact spot last off-season as the Irish fired then head coach Charlie Weis and replaced him with up-and-coming offensive guru Brian Kelly. Kelly has brought a different style of offense to Big Bend this year that didn’t seem to ever really take off the current players just do not seem to fit the scheme.
Miami announced back on Dec. 12 Temple head coach Al Golden would be taking over the program after the bowl game. You might ask yourself, “Who is Al Golden?” which again reiterates just how long gone the glory days are for Miami.
Army's triple-option led by QB Trent Steelman should sneak up on SMU in the Armed Forces Bowl. (Icon SMI)
Southern Methodist Mustangs (7-6, 6-2 CUSA, 1st Place West, 2nd Place Overall)
vs. Army Black Knights (6-6)
As an interesting kickoff to the preview, both these teams have already faced an offensive clone of their opponent and lost: SMU lost @ triple-option Navy 21-28 in Week 3 and Army was downed at home by run-and-shoot Hawaii 28-31 in Week 2. So both these defenses have already had a taste of what is in store for them this Thursday. The main thing about the triple-option is that it is just so tough to prepare for in one week mid-season, especially if you’ve never seen it before. A guy or two out of position can lead to a breakaway TD. SMU has at least some familiarity with the offense and has had 3 weeks to prepare.
Meanwhile, the time off has not made Army’s DBs any quicker or faster. They might be able to diagnose tendencies, but no one has grown 6 inches or carved a few tenths off their 40-time since early December. The advantage here goes to SMU (Note: SMU has actually played Navy 3 times over the last 3 years and have gone 0-3 vs the triple-option). Read the rest of this entry →
The Cougar offense should really peak the next couple seasons, I would think they would want to seize the opportunity with the next Steve Young, er, Jake Heaps as opposed to Riley Nelson. And the case could certainly be made that BYU could spread more of its message (with the help of BCS money) with Heaps slinging TDs as opposed to digging ditches…
Jake Heaps prepped for stardom with a huge bowl game (Icon SMI)
BYU returns almost everyone on offense. QB Heaps was a learning freshman this season, he will be a savvy vet to start 2011 and on his way to becoming one of the next great BYU quarterbacks. He returns his top two WRs in Cody Hoffman and Mackay Jacobson, but perhaps the top target in 2011 didn’t even play this season: Ross Apo (6-3 and 203 lbs) was a huge recruiting get out of Texas for the Cougars that got lost in the Heaps signing. He was never really healthy to start the season and ended up taking a redshirt.
Plus the OL returns 4 starters (assuming Jr Matt Reynolds passes on the chance to go Pro) and in fact almost everyone from the entire unit, only losing 2 seniors from the entire OL 3-deep. In short, the BYU passing game should be more than fine next year, expect Heaps to potentially be a Top 10 passer next season. The running game also sees the return of both JJ Di Luigi and Bryan Kariya, also added into the mix should be rising-sophomore Josh Quezada (who lead all rushers with 99 yards and a score in the bowl game). Drew Philips may also be added to the backfield mix next year. Philips has drawn comparisons to Reggie Bush and is a true 2-way (offensive only , RB/WR) threat.
As I wrote this, HC Bronco Mendenhall has fired every offensive coach. So another marquee opening for a hotshot OC, especially with BYU becoming Independent. This could have big implications on young Heaps, as in the right hire could make him a 5,000 yard passer next season. Read the rest of this entry →
