Secondary Achievement
by IrishFan
July 29, 1999

What is the one common thing we saw in all of ND's losses and near loses? A lack of pass defense. QB's like Drew Brees, Joe Hamilton, and Scott Mutryn picked Notre Dame's secondary apart last season. In fact, in the games ND won without the game being particularly close (Mich, ASU, Stanford, Baylor, Navy), the Irish still yielded 203 yards passing.  In the rest of their games they gave up 246 yards.  Forty three yards may not seem like a whole lot, but it the difference between punting and getting first downs.

The secondary was torched often last year. Brock Williams was only a sophomore, but he was still burned a lot for long plays. Brock had some problems in the spring that I won't get into here that caused him to miss a lot of practice.  Due to this, he probably hasn't made a lot of progress.

There will be a lot of experience in the secondary, but will there be a lot of talent?   Many of the new comers have more talent and better speed than the ones with the "experience." A'Jani Sanders and Deke Cooper will be the starting safeties this year. Both are seasoned vets with plenty of experience, but for their position, they are not particularly fast.

I think Deke Cooper could play linebacker. He would be a great drop backer since he would be fast for that position, and he is a great run stopper. Problem with that is, Rocky Boiman would have to be moved, and he played safety in high school.  That means it would be an entirely new position for him to play.

There is a lot of youthful speed in this Irish secondary.  Donald Dykes, Clifford Jefferson, Albert Poree (incoming freshman), and Chris Yura (another incoming freshman) all have good speed. However, their cover skills are probably not good enough yet to be starters on the college level.

Another new comer is soccer transfer Shane Walton. I have never seen this kid play, but I already love his attitude and desire to play. On the soccer team he was a star, All Big East 2nd team as a freshman, but on the football team he will most likely not start. This takes a lot of guts and shows the love he has for the game. Shane may not get the starting nod in 99, but he will be a great leader as he gets older.

Those are the players involved in this year's secondary. They must be able to shut down opposing team's top receivers and not allow lesser WR's to burn them like last year. The secondary will determine how well this Notre Dame team can do. If they can control the passing game and force the opposition to run, the defense will be in good shape since the d-line will be rotating 8 quality players.

Last year, as previously mentioned, a lot of games were lost or almost lost because the opposing team's passing game was not shut down. ND was notorious for getting a team into a 3rd and long and then letting them complete a pass for the first down. This needs to stop if the Irish want to take the next step up.

The talent is here for a title run if a few things happen. The O-line will have to gel and learn to play as a unit since there will be 4 new full time starters, the line backing core must also grow together as a group since there are 3 new starters, the runningbacks need to be able to be productive and wear down defenses, and lastly and in my opinion most importantly, the secondary must play good cover and let the line get to the quarterback and force bad throws. If these things happen, or even 3 of the 4, ND could be in for a special year.