Practice Report
OFFENSE BY PETE SAMPSON
The South Bend region endured scorching temperatures and little precipitation throughout the second half of July, so perhaps a reprieve was in order for the first Notre Dame football practice of the 2011 pre-season. The first four periods Saturday were conducted in a heavy downpour of rain.
Footballs were slipping out of the hands of the Irish quarterbacks 20 minutes into Saturday's practice at the LaBar Practice Complex.
As usual, the offense started out in its tempo drill, moving the football down the field with its skeleton 11-man unit. Taking the first reps at quarterback was Dayne Crist, who was sporting a left knee brace but showing no ill effects from his Oct. 30 injury in Notre Dame Stadium. Tommy Rees also was with the first unit offense while Andrew Hendrix and Everett Golson ran the backup units.
Also working with the No. 1 unit at left guard was fifth-year Andrew Nuss while junior Chris Watt - who many expected to come out with the No. 1 unit - took snaps with the No. 2 offense. The rest of the No. 1 unit consisted of Taylor Dever at right tackle, Trevor Robinson at right guard, Braxston Cave at center and Zack Martin at left tackle.
There were no other surprises with the first unit. Michael Floyd was back at his usual No. 1 spot at the W receiver position. The other receivers in the spread offense included TJ Jones (X), Theo Riddick (Z) and Tyler Eifert (Y). Veteran tight end Mike Ragone also worked with the No. 1 unit, lining up attached to the offensive line as opposed to the slot where Eifert usually functions. Ragone entered the lineup as the Irish reached the red zone.
The No. 2 offense consisted of Christian Lombard at right tackle, Brad Carrico at right guard, Mike Golic, Jr., at center, Watt at left guard and the massive Tate Nichols at left tackle. The receivers included John Goodman (X), Daniel Smith (W), Robby Toma (Z) and Jake Golic (Y). Tight end Alex Welch appeared a bit hobbled during the media's viewing time.
Everett Golson ran the offense inside the red zone.
The No. 3 offensive line had Nick Martin at right tackle, Conor Hanratty at right guard, Bruce Heggie at center, Matt Hegarty at left guard and walk-on Matt Tansey at left tackle. The receivers included freshmen DaVaris Daniels (X) and Matthias Farley (Z), Deion Walker (W) and freshman Ben Koyack (Y). The running back was freshman Cam McDaniel.
(Editor's note: Readers of this practice report should not read too much into the alignments, due in part to the fact that so many players were shuffling in and out while the downpour made it difficult to accurately chart each of the players on the field. See Irish Illustrated's report for further information on the players' physical condition.)
DEFENSE BY TIM PRISTER
Checked out the defense during Saturday's soaking wet practice in the LaBar Practice Complex as the Irish kicked off training camp in the standard jerseys and shorts. The thing that hits observers out of the gate is the sheer volume of players the Irish staff can mold this season. When Stephon Tuitt, Tony Springmann and Chase Hounshell take reps with the fourth defensive line, that's saying something. Not sure Notre Dame had a fourth group of defensive linemen last season.
The first team defense came out as expected, the only questionable spots being Sean Cwynar, Zeke Motta, and Carlo Calabrese. Those three guys ran with the starters. The second team offered no surprises of Aaron Lynch, Kona Schwenke and Louis Nix III on the line, Danny Spond, Steve Filer, Dan Fox and Kendall Moore at linebacker, Jamoris Slaughter, Danny McCarthy, Bennett Jackson and Lo Wood at defensive back.
The third and fourth teams had a lot of interplay between who was running with whom it appeared, for example it appeared Josh Atkinson worked with both units at one point. Other third teamers were Hafis Williams, Brandon Newman, David Posluszny, Ishaq Williams, Anthony McDonald, Tyler Stockton and Justin Utupo. Again, Notre Dame has a lot of bodies to work with on defense this season.
A couple freshman potential position changes in Troy Niklas working with the outside linebackers and Tony Springmann working at nose guard. Notre Dame lists both at defensive end. Niklas has a very, very long build and is nearly skinny at 250 pounds. It's premature to get into the red shirt debate because of 20 minutes of observation, but with Niklas it's a safe bet he's going to bulk up in a major way in the coming year and Notre Dame might get a bump from turning him over to Paul Longo for the next 12 months.
Spent plenty of time watching the freshmen during the opening periods of practice. As advertised, Stephon Tuitt and Aaron Lynch are massive additions to the roster in multiple ways. To have those guys in reserve should make this position much improved this fall. Tuitt has a long way to go, similar to Lynch at the start of spring ball, but there's so much to mold for Mike Elston. Both look like they're returning for their junior years, not starting their freshman seasons.
Ben Councell jumped out in terms of his length. Listed at 6-foot-5, the outside linebacker is long and brings a different body type to the "dog" position than Prince Shembo or Danny Spond. However, that height doesn't capture his length, meaning he's almost got a basketball player's build with long arms, very rangy. That attribute strikes when he takes on the blocking sled because he distances it so far from his body.
Kept an eye out for Joe Schmidt as well. The walk-on inside linebacker looks like a walk-on linebacker in terms of his size. Shorter than what Notre Dame would target at that position and dwarfed by his friend Niklas. Similar build to a David Posluszny when he arrived in South Bend. Taking on uncovered guards in a 3-4 defense will be a challenge.
For a player coming off back and foot injuries in the past year, Sean Cwynar appeared to be moving well through drills. He doesn't have the girth of Nix, but he's plenty big at 285 pounds. It will be interesting to see if his lower body conditioning catches up to his upper body after having that be limited much of this year. Still, for a position many thought would be automatically Nix (including this reporter), it won't surprise if it's an even rotation.
Spotted commitment Scott Daly on the sidelines along with junior running back Ty Isaac out of Joliet Catholic. Isaac was offered by Notre Dame this spring along with Illinois, Arizona and Toledo.
For those harboring any lingering concerns about Manti Te'o following that Sun Bowl knee sprain and spring practice limitations, the star linebacker appears to be as good as ever in terms of conditioning.
