Jackson, Holloway Receive Post Season Honors
Frank Vitovitch
December 10, 1999

Notre Dame, Indiana -  The Football News released its All American and All Independent teams which feature two and six Golden Domer respectively.  Two Irish earned All American Honorable mentions; one was obvious while the other was a bit surprising.  Those two and four other Domers were on the All Independent team as well.

Notre Dame's lone captain and heart and soul of the team, Jarious Jackson, was the obvious pick for the All American Honorable mention.  He broke many Notre Dame single season passing records this year including passing and total yards in a season.  He did more than just break records however, he lead the team and they lived and died with his play.  He left everything he had on the field and carried his team on his back for comeback wins against Navy, Oklahoma, and USC.   Jackson finished the season 184-316 (58.6%) with 2,753 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions.  He also gained 734 yards on the ground with another 7 touchdowns (a team high).

The surprise Honorable Mention All American was Jabari Holloway. Talent wise there's not surprise.  Based on his talent he could have been first team, but he rarely got the ball this year.  He only caught 12 passes this season for 189 yards and 3 touchdowns.  It looks as though the Football News honors the people who have a ton of talent but don't get to showcase it. Hopefully next season the tight end is utilized much more by Notre Dame because Jabari is a first round draft pick caliber player - if he just gets the chance.

The All Independent team included Holloway who was   joined by Lamont Bryant, Anthony Denman, Tony Fisher, and John Merandi.   Ironically, Jarious Jackson was not a member of this team.  Anthony Denman was an obvious choice.  In his first season as a starter he came up huge and was the leader on the defense.  He is also one of my candidates for captain of the 2000 Irish squad.  He made big play after big play.  He had 89 tackles, 9 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 pass break up, three fumble recoveries (one for a touchdown), 2 forced fumbles, and 1 interception.  Denman is a future star and is very capable of being an All American next season.

A'Jani Sanders lead Notre Dame in tackles with 91 and tackles for loss with 10.  He also tied for the team lead with 4 pass break ups.   He came in second with 3 interceptions behind Deveron Harper's 4.  He was an emotional leader would lead by example.  The only person who hit defenders harder was possibly Deke Cooper.  The Notre Dame secondary took a lot of flack this season, and in some cases deservedly so, but Sanders still suited up every week and played with his heart each and every week.  Having to leave Notre Dame on a 5-7 record isn't the best way out, but A'Jani enjoyed each week.

Tony Fisher put up some very nice numbers considering he had to share carries with Tony Driver, Julius Jones, and Terrence Howard not to mention the 700+ yard Jarious Jackson got on the ground. He ended up with 156 carries for 783 yards and 5 touchdowns.  Against Stanford he shinned.  He had over 100 yards receiving to go along with 3 touchdowns - 2 rushing and 1 receiving.  Speaking of receiving, Tony caught 18 passes for 296 yards and another two touchdowns.  He did a nice job replacing Notre Dame all time leading rusher Autry Denson this season.  It will be hard to divide the carries up between Fisher and Jones next year since both are great talents!

Lamont Bryant came back for a 5th year and had a nice season.  He collected 4 sacks, 53 tackles, and 6 tackles for loss.  Many times he provided the only pass rush for the Irish.  Like Sanders, he lead by example and his leadership should have a good effect on the up coming stars Cedric Hillard and Darrell Campbell. 

Lastly, John Merandi was the only returning starter to the offensive line this season and he was the leader of the line.  He played well each week and was one of our Third Team Preseason All Americans this year.  When you play on a line that gives up as many sacks as Notre Dame did this season, its hard to gain much recognition.  John will not be back for a 5th year so Jeff Faine will fill in next year.