Notre Dame Running Back Analysis For The 2013 Season

Notre Dame Football RB's 2013

Players that return: George Atkinson III, Cam McDaniel, Amir Carlisle, Will Mahone

Players that leave: Theo Riddick, Cierre Wood

New Additions: Greg Bryant, Tarean Folston

Overview: Notre Dame loses a good amount of its production at running back with Theo Riddick graduating and Cierre Wood declaring for the NFL draft. Riddick was just as important with catching the ball as he was running the ball and Wood finished pretty high on the all-time rushing list at Notre Dame. In the 2012 season, Theo Riddick and Cierre Wood combined for 304 carries, 1,659 rushing yards, and 9 rushing touchdowns. Riddick also was 4th on the team in receiving with 36 receptions for 370 yards and 2 touchdowns. George Atkinson and Cam McDaniel are the only returning Notre Dame running backs that had any playing time in 2012 as Amir Carlisle redshirted due to injury and Will Mahone redshirted. Even with the new additions of Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston, expect both to redshirt in 2013 to help preserve eligibility for the future.

George Atkinson III 2012 Statistics:

Rushing: 51 attempts, 361 rushing yards, 7.08 yards per rush, 5 rushing touchdowns, 30.08 rushing yards per game.

Receiving: 2 receptions, 4 yards, 2 yards per reception, 0 receiving touchdowns, 0.3 receiving yards per game.

George Atkinson III 2011 Statistics:

Rushing: 9 attempts, 27 yards, 3 yards per rush, 2 rushing touchdowns, 2.08 rushing yards per game.

Receiving: 1 reception, 10 yards, 10 yards per reception, 0.8 receiving yards per game.

Career Single Game Highs: 10 attempts (vs. Miami FL, 2012), 123 rushing yards (vs. Miami FL, 2012), 12.3 yards per rush (vs. Miami FL, 2012), 2 rushing touchdowns (vs. Navy, 2012), 1 reception (at Purdue, 2011, vs Stanford, 2012, and vs. BYU, 2012), 10 yards (at Purdue, 2011)

Additional Information: George Atkinson III was one of 2 Notre Dame running backs to have 2 rushing touchdowns of 50 or more yards (the other was Cierre Wood, who had 2 that were 60+ yard touchdowns). The amount of playing time Atkinson had on offense varied throughout the 2012 season. In the first game of the season, he had 9 carries for 99 yards and 2 touchdowns, while in the next game he had only 1 carry for 0 yards. He missed the Oklahoma game due to illness. Heading into the spring, Atkinson will likely be the de facto starter at running back due to the most experience out of everyone returning.

Cam McDaniel 2012 Statistics:

Rushing: 23 attempts, 125 rushing yards, 5.43 yards per rush, 1 rushing touchdown, 10.42 rushing yards per game.

Receiving: 2 receptions, 41 receiving yards, 0 receiving touchdowns, 3.4 receiving yards per game.

Cam McDaniel 2011 Statistics:

Rushing: 3 attempts, 9 rushing yards, 3 yards per rush, 0 rushing touchdowns, 1 yard per game.

Receiving: N/A

Career Single Game Highs: 11 attempts (vs. Miami FL, 2012), 59 rushing yards (vs. Navy, 2012), 6.56 yards per rush (vs. Navy, 2012), 1 rushing touchdown (vs. Miami FL, 2012), 1 reception (vs. Navy, 2012 and Miami FL, 2012), 21 receiving yards (vs. Miami FL, 2012), 21 yards per reception (vs. Miami FL, 2012)

Additional Information: Cam McDaniel played sparingly during his second season with the Irish with only 3 games in 2012 where he had carries, and all of it had been when the outcome had been decided. McDaniel will likely see more carries in the 2013 season and could have a solid impact as well. While George Atkinson III is most likely the starter going into the spring due to experience, it might be McDaniel who is the 2nd string running back due to experience, but expect there to be an open competition to replace Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick.

Information on remaining running backs: Amir Carlisle redshirted after transferring from USC due to injury and Will Mahone redshirted during his freshman season. Both are capable of challenging for a starting role. Mahone might be the power back that the Irish are looking for. While Greg Bryant and Tarean Folston might redshirt in 2013, they could also potentially see playing time in 2013, but it just depends overall.

Note: A player who is all caps notes a returning starter.

Projected Running Back Depth Chart:

George Atkinson III Jr.
Amir Carlisle So.
or Will Mahone rFr.
or Cam McDaniel Jr.
Greg Bryant Fr.
Tarean Folston Fr.

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Notre Dame Quarterback Analysis For The 2013 Season

Notre Dame Football QB's 2013

Players that return: Everett Golson, Tommy Rees, Andrew Hendrix, Gunner Kiel

Players that leave: None

New Additions: Malik Zaire

Overview: The Irish return everyone at quarterback for the first time since 2009 when the Irish had returned Jimmy Clausen, Dayne Crist and Evan Sharpley that season. However, the depth at this position is at its best in some time as 3 players have all seen decent time during their careers as Tommy Rees was a 2-year starter in 2010 and 2011, and Everett Golson completed his first year of starting as a redshirt freshman. The Irish having a quarterback in each year also helps build consistency as well in addition to depth.

Everett Golson 2012 Statistics:

Passing: 318 attempts, 187 completions, 58.8 completion percentage, 2,405 passing yards, 7.6 yards per attempt, 12 touchdowns, 6 interceptions, 200.4 yards per game.

Rushing: 94 attempts, 298 rushing yards, 3.17 yards per rush, 6 touchdowns, 24.83 yards per game.

Career Single Game Highs: 36 attempts (vs. Alabama), 23 completions (vs. Pittsburgh), 77.3 completion percentage (vs. Miami, FL), 346 passing yards (vs. Wake Forest), 11.5 yards per attempt (vs. Wake Forest), 3 passing touchdowns (vs. Wake Forest), 2 interceptions (vs. Michigan), 16 rushing attempts (vs. Purdue), 74 rushing yards (vs. Pittsburgh), 8.5 yards per rush (vs. Miami, FL), 1 rushing touchdown (6 different games with 1 rushing touchdown)

Additional Information: Everett Golson appeared in 12 games and started 10 games in 2012 as a redshirt freshman and helped lead the Irish to a 12-0 regular season record and a 42-14 bowl loss to Alabama. Golson will be the starting quarterback going into the 2013 season and should build upon the numbers he posted in 2012, he led all players on his team in rushing touchdowns with 6 rushing touchdowns in the 2012 season. While he did not start against Miami (FL), he came into play after the first 3 plays and played the whole game until the backups were brought in when the win was for sure, and missed the BYU game due to a concussion.

Tommy Rees 2012 Statistics:

Passing: 61 attempts, 34 completions, 55.7 completion percentage, 436 passing yards, 7.1 yards per attempt, 2 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, 36.3 yards per game.

Rushing: 5 attempts, -15 rushing yards, -3 yards per rush, 1 rushing touchdown, -1.25 yards per game.

Tommy Rees 2011 Statistics:

Passing: 411 attempts, 269 completions, 65.5 completion percentage, 2,871 passing yards, 7 yards per attempt, 20 touchdowns, 14 interceptions, 220.8 yards per game.

Rushing: 31 attempts, -56 rushing yards, -1.81 yards per rush, 0 rushing touchdowns -4.31 yards per game.

Tommy Rees 2010 Statistics:

Passing: 164 attempts, 100 completions, 61.0 completion percentage, 1,106 passing yards, 6.7 yards per attempt, 12 passing touchdowns, 8 interceptions, 122.9 yards per game.

Rushing: 12 attempts, -2 rushing yards, 0 rushing touchdowns, -0.17 yards per rush, -2.0 yards per game

Career Single Game Highs: 54 attempts (vs. Tulsa, 2010), 33 completions (vs. Tulsa, 2010), 72.7 completion percentage (vs. Navy, 2011), 334 passing yards (vs. Tulsa, 2010), 10.8 yards per attempt (vs. Navy, 2011), 4 passing touchdowns (vs Air Force, 2011 and vs. Tulsa, 2010), 3 interceptions (3 vs. Tulsa, 2010 and 3 at USC, 2010), 5 attempts (at Pittsburgh, 2011 and vs. Maryland, 2011), 6 rushing yards (at Pittsburgh, 2011 and vs. USC, 2011), 1 rushing touchdown (vs. Michigan, 2012)

Additional Information: Tommy Rees appeared in 11 games in the 2012 season with all of them being consecutively and played as little as 1 play to a whole game. He started against Miami (FL), but was pulled after 3 plays for Everett Golson and started against BYU when Golson was out with a concussion. Rees helped rally the team against Purdue, Michigan, and Stanford in relief as well. A senior to be in the 2013 season, Tommy Rees will likely battle with redshirt freshman to be in Gunner Kiel for the number 2 spot behind starter Everett Golson.

Andrew Hendrix 2012 Statistics:

Passing: 7 attempts, 5 completions, 71.4 completion percentage, 55 passing yards, 7.9 yards per attempt, 0 passing touchdowns, 0 rushing touchdowns, 18.3 yards per game.

Rushing: 8 attempts, 41 rushing yards, 5.13 yards per rush, 0 rushing touchdowns, 13.67 yards per game.

Andrew Hendrix 2011 Statistics:

Passing: 37 attempts, 18 completions, 48.6 completion percentage, 249 passing yards, 6.7 yards per attempt, 1 passing touchdown, 2 interceptions, 49.8 yards per game.

Rushing: 25 attempts, 162 rushing yards, 6.48 yards per rush, 1 rushing touchdowns, 32.4 yards per game.

Career Single Game Highs: 24 attempts (at Stanford, 2011), 11 completions (at Stanford, 2011), 45.8 completion percentage (at Stanford, 2011), 192 passing yards (at Stanford, 2011), 10.6 yards per attempt (at Navy, 2012), 1 passing touchdown (at Stanford, 2011), 1 interception (at Stanford, 2011 and vs. Florida St., 2011), 12 attempts (vs. Florida St., 2011), 111 rushing yards (vs. Air Force, 2011), 18.5 yards per rush (vs. Air Force, 2011), 1 rushing touchdown (at Stanford, 2011).

Additional Information: Andrew Hendrix played sparingly in 2012 with appearances in only 3 games, which were Navy, BYU, and Wake Forest. Hendrix will be a junior in the 2013 season and will likely provide additional depth at the quarterback position and also will likely be the 3rd or 4th quarterback on the depth chart.

Information on remaining quarterbacks: Gunner Kiel had redshirted in 2012 after being an early enrollee for the Irish. He played in the spring game and will likely battle with Tommy Rees for the 2nd spot on the quarterback depth chart behind starter Everett Golson. Malik Zaire is the next early enrollee at quarterback (previous ones were Gunner Kiel, Everett Golson, and Jimmy Clausen) and will see some playing time during the spring game. However, he will redshirt in 2013 and likely have an impact on the scout team.

Note: A player who is all caps notes a returning starter.

Projected Quarterback Depth Chart:

EVERETT GOLSON SO.
Tommy Rees Sr.
or Gunner Kiel rFr.
Andrew Hendrix Jr.
Malik Zaire Fr.