LeSean McCoy Declaring for NFL Draft
This past season Notre Dame lost a game it had no business losing to Pitt thanks in large part to a great game from Panther running back LeSean McCoy. Luckily for the Irish McCoy will not be a factor when they travel to Pittsburgh next fall because the Pittsburgh Post Gazzette is reporting that the talented back will declare for the NFL Draft tomorrow.
Losing McCoy is a major blow to Pitt and suddenly makes that game look like a much more favorable matchup for the Irish. McCoy ran for 169 yards on 32 carries for Pitt against Notre Dame last fall with most of his damage being done in the second half as Pitt erased a 14 point half time deficit.
Pitt’s top returning back in terms of yards gained in 2008 will be Kevin Collier. Collier ran for 25 yards on 4 carries throughout the entire season.
With McCoy, Pitt would have been one of the tougher games on the schedule next year. Without him, the Pitt game should be a very winnable game for Notre Dame.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
Kid is a good runner. I am hoping the Arizona Cardinals out here can scoop him up. But by actually making the playoffs and winning games, we pretty much screwed this one up.
Though I’m not so sad to see this talented young man leave the ncaa for a bright future in the NFL, I don’t think he was the reason we lost to Pitt.
I’d say that burden falls upon CW’s shoulders because of his terrible game plan. Especially the end of game plan.
The Pitt game was ND’s to win and we gave it away. IMHO
I’m sure more “Sponge Bob” teams will put us up there with all the paper tigers like Ohio State.