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UHND.com - Frank Vitovitch
July 21, 2001

Notre Dame, Ind (UHND) - It has been a while since my last article on UHND so I decided to write down some random thoughts I had on the upcoming season before starting all the pre-season articles and features that I plan on doing.  

First off, I think everyone has to be pleased with the early recruiting results.  Davie has got verbals now from 3 players who are considered among the top 100 prospects in the country from various publications in James Bonelli, Jamie Ryan, and Chris Olsen.  Sporting News lists Olsen as their early pick to be the best quarterback on the East Coast.  His commitment also shows that Davie might be moving Notre Dame more to a balanced offense ala Michigan.  Olsen comes from almost the exact same mold as Matt LoVecchio in that he is mainly a pocket passer with the ability to run.  He can't escape from a pass rush like Battle showed last year or how Holiday is supposed to be able to, but he can hurt people with his feet.

Add the three top 100 prospects to Scott Raridon and Dan Santucci and the early results of this class look great.  Notre Dame is also in on several of the top prospects in the country like Lorenzo Booker and Gavin Dickey.  Davie is busting his tail this season recruiting and appears to have corrected a lot of the areas in which Notre Dame's recruiting efforts have been lacking.

Now, about this upcoming season.  The consensus on the board is that the offensive line is the main key to success this year and I couldn't agree more.  With Jones and Gandy graduating Notre Dame has two big holes on a line that was never really dominant a year ago.  Jeff Faine has become the player everyone though he would be.  Now its time for his fellow linemen from the class of 2003 to step up and fulfill their potential as well.  Big things were expected when Ryan Gillis, Brennan Curtin, Sean Milligan and Neal Ambron signed with the Irish along with Faine, but Faine has been the only one to step up and perform.  Ambron has since transferred but Milligan, Curtin, and Gillis will all have the opportunity to play this season.

While the offensive line holds the main key to success for Notre Dame this season, the biggest concern for Bob Davie and company has to be the secondary which graduated Brock Williams and Tony Driver, the two cornerstones of a secondary that showed much improvement from the '99 defensive backfield that gave up 300 yard games like they were going out of style.  Shane Walton is the most experienced cornerback on the team and will be counted on to step up and make some big plays for the Irish.  The other cornerback spot is up for grabs.  Clifford Jefferson and Vontez Duff were supposed to battle for it, but Jefferson's future is in question as allegations that he sexually assaulted a woman have come out this offseason.  Police investigated and did not find enough evidence to support an arrest, but the University has yet to make any decisions on this matter.  Injury plagued Jason Beckstrom has showed promise and could earn playing time if he can get healthy and stay healthy.  At safety, Ron Isreal returns as the starting strong safety with Gerome Sapp backing him up.  At free safety Glen Earl was supposed to battle with Donald Dykes for the starting job, but now Dykes has found himself in legal trouble as well so his future is also uncertain.

On Offense, Notre Dame HAS to open it up some.  With Javin Hunter, David Givens, and Arnaz Battle leading the way at receiver with last year's promising free receivers Ronnie Rodamer, Lorenzo Crawford, and Omar Jenkins Notre Dame has it's best group of receivers in some time and they must be utilized.  Unless Notre Dame starts throwing the ball downfield, the running game will not be nearly as effective as it can be with the stable of horses the Irish have at tailback.

With Julius Jones, Tony Fisher, and Terrence Howard at tailback, Notre Dame has one of the best backfields in the country and their best since Jerome Bettis and Reggie Brooks teamed up to run over teams back in the early '90's.  Unless the offensive line makes holes for the backs and unless Notre Dame starts passing downfield to open up defenses, the talent Notre Dame has at tailback will be wasted.

The bottom line is that this year's team is easily the most talented of the Davie era and it has top 10 potential.  The brutal schedule and Notre Dame's inability to win big games on the road however could make for a disappointing record.  

There are a lot of things that need to be talked about like the line and how it could be the dominating line everyone has been looking for and how the linebackers, despite the loss of Anthony Denman, are loaded with talent and I will be doing a lot of articles dissecting this year's team before the season starts, but for now this is a good start.