College football preview: S. Florida at Notre Dame
By Lindsey Willhite
lwillhite@dailyherald.com
South Florida at Notre Dame
When: 2:40 p.m. Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium
TV: Channel 5
Radio: WLS 890-AM
Series: First meeting
Coaches: Skip Holtz (8-5, second year at USF; 46-32 overall); Brian Kelly (8-5, second year at ND; 179-62-2 overall)
SF players to watch: South Florida retains just four full-time starters from last year’s Meineke Car Care Bowl champs, but junior QB B.J. Daniels is among them. He threw more INTs (13) than TDs (11) last year in Holtz’s first year, but he was an excellent runner during the Jim Leavitt era. South Florida lost three all-Big East players on defense, which leaves LB Sam Barrington and LB DeDe Lattimore (a freshman All-American) as the new leaders.
ND players to watch: Dayne Crist overcame last year’s knee injury and Tommy Rees’ preseason challenge to emerge as Notre Dame’s starting QB. Crist completed 174 of 294 passes for 2,033 yards, 15 TDs and 7 INTs before getting hurt against Tulsa. He welcomes back No. 1 target Michael Floyd, whose offseason DUI didn’t stop him from getting the chance to smash Notre Dame’s receiving records. He owns 171 career catches for 2,539 yards and 28 TDs, which means he needs 9 catches and 169 yards to secure all three records. Glenbard West grad Chris Watt makes his first career start at left guard while freshman wideout DaVaris Daniels (Vernon Hills) and redshirt freshman OT Christian Lombard (Fremd) are likely to see action.
The skinny: Skip Holtz attended Notre Dame, played one year for Notre Dame and served as a Notre Dame assistant coach for four years — including the 1992-93 seasons as offensive coordinator for his father, Lou. So it’s easy to paint this as a homecoming, but this game is more about Notre Dame fulfilling some obvious potential. The Irish rank No. 16 in the opening Associated Press poll thanks to nine returning starters on offense, eight returning starters on defense and two returning specialists.
Fast fact: For just the third time in the last 10 years, Notre Dame opens the season in the Associated Press’ Top 25 poll. The Irish haven’t lost an opener as a ranked team since 2001 at Nebraska. They haven’t lost as the higher-ranked team in an opener since 1995, when Northwestern edged No. 9 Notre Dame 17-15.