Notre Dame Football: Irish Hopes on the Shoulders of 4 Positions

Notre Dame prepares to enter camp this summer to high expectations. Not that there is anything unusual about that statement, but this time the usual expectations of fans and alumni are echoed by the press and the preseason polls.

Ranked as high as sixth, the Irish's finish to the 2010 campaign raised more than a few eyebrows and has placed Notre Dame back among the most talked about squads in the nation.

As hopes quickly transition into expectations and you begin to regularly hear the words "Notre Dame" and "BCS" in the same sentence, it becomes harder and harder to remember that it is not even August yet. We are all getting ahead of ourselves.

A glance at the upcoming schedule leads most to believe that every game is winnable. Still, given recent past of under performing and being unable to hold on to late leads many of the games are also very losable.

Irish hopes are raised by the fact that the team had an amazing four-game finish and that they "should have" beaten Michigan, Michigan State and Tulsa.

Unlike many games in the Weis era, the "should haves" aren't counter weighed by games that were won, but realistically could have been lost.

On the surface there is a ton to be excited about.

Just beneath the surface however, is a looming shred of doubt.

South Florida, Michigan, Michigan State, Maryland and Navy are all games that Notre Dame should be favored and are probably the more talented team on the field. Still, as last year proved just as easily as these should be five wins, they could be five losses.

The difference between a 10-2 season and another 7-5 season is much slimmer than most of us want to admit.

To get over the hump this year, Notre Dame needs solid and consistent performances from four positions that often were somewhat lackluster a year ago.

As a whole the defense did improve down the stretch, but apart from Manti Te'o, the linebackers left much to be desired.

Often out of position and weak in pass coverage, the Irish need more out of Prince Shembo and a healthy Carlo Calabrese on at the weak inside position.

Aiding in pass rush and pass coverage will be key for inside as well as outside linebackers. Darius Flemming is probable as a starter, and Ishaq Williams will have a chance to earn playing time, if not starts over Danny Spond, Steve Flier and Danny Fox.

The outside backers as a group are a bit thin, and injury to any of the two-deep could be devastating to stopping the run and the short passing game.

On the defensive side of the ball the other group key to Notre Dame's success will be the cornerbacks.

Gary Gray and Robert Blanton will bring the most experience that an Notre Dame secondary has seen in a long time.

Lo Wood played solidly in his freshman season and will be needed to continue to contribute to stabilize what has long been the Achilles heel of the Irish defense.

Too often at a crucial moment an opposing receiver is running wide open for a first down or worse. The USC game and our shared happy off season could have been very different had Ronald Johnson not gotten butter fingers at the Coliseum last November.

On the other side of the ball, only two position groups cause concern, and both reside in the backfield.

The offensive line performed well last year and should be expected to be equally solid in 2011.

As long as Michael Floyd returns, receivers and tight ends also will be a more-than-formidable unit.

The running backs however are a large question mark.

With the ACL injury to Cameron Robinson only Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray will have game experience. Incoming freshman Cam McDaniel will likely be called upon to early to help shoulder the load.

While Wood had a great spring showing great speed, improved field vision, and nice explosiveness Gray remains an enigma.

Looking solid at times, he still lacks the consistency that Wood has found. He has yet to live up to his potential and become the standout that he was recruited to be.

The running back position is one injury away from being a problem.

The unit who's play will be most discussed and will most impact Irish fortunes is of course the Quarterbacks.

While it appears to be senior Dayne Crist's job to lose, it is by no means a lock.

Sophomores Tommy Rees and Andrew Hendrix along with Freshman Everett Golson will be splitting reps with Crist.

Rees holds the sentimental segment's hearts guiding the Irish to their solid 2010 finish, but a look at actual numbers will show that offensive production decreased with him at the helm.

He was also the beneficiary of suddenly improved defensive play and Brian Kelly's realization that there were running backs not named Armando Allen on the squad.

Hendrix and Golson are Brian Kelly guys. They are fast and can throw. They can run the spread they way Kelly envisions it. But they have zero snaps between them.

Crist leads the way as far as experience, but due to injury, he has yet to have a solid stretch of game experience to really see consistency develop.

Inconsistent play at the QB position cost the Irish three games last year. There has to be a reduction in turnovers and an improvement in recognition of defensive fronts and coverages.

The silver lining at quarterback is that there is depth this year.

A year ago, with Hendrix "redshirting," there was no one with collegiate experience behind Crist who only had seen limited action behind Jimmy Clausen.

Coming into his senior season Crist needs to cease the job and have the game slow for him. He showed flashes of brilliance around bad reads and missed receivers.

He also needs to find the mobility that he once had. Following an ACL tear in 2009 Brian Kelly admitted that he was hesitant to use Crist as a runner often.

He removed the QB running portion of his offense entirely upon the realization that there was a virtual QB black hole behind Crist if he was injured.

Once he sustained his second consecutive season-ending knee injury in a patellar tendon rupture and the much less mobile Tommy Rees took the helm having the QB run the ball became a foreign concept.

This year with the potential woes at tailback, having a QB that can run the ball out of the shotgun is essential.

Gaining ground production along with the need for more consistency in decision making would highlight the offense and make the Irish hard to beat.

Brian Kelly's second season has potential.

Tons of potential.

But whether the team achieves that potential or becomes yet another "building block" to a return to glory that so many are praying for rests on the shoulders of these few.