Notre Dame Football: 7 Reasons the Irish Will Improve over Last Year

Notre Dame has suffered a few underachieving seasons the last couple of years, and the pressure is on head coach Brian Kelly to get the job done. Two back-to-back 8-5 seasons is completely unacceptable when you are the head coach of a program this prestigious.

But this may finally be the year that Notre Dame is able to turn things around and get back into the BCS bowl picture. The Irish return seven starters on both sides of the ball and have plenty of talent to get the job done in 2012.

Here are a few reasons why Notre Dame will surprise many and be a better football team in 2012.

Solid Production from the Backfield

Jonas Gray has moved on to the NFL, but 1,000-yard rusher Cierre Wood returns for his senior season. He averaged over five yards a carry last season, scored nine touchdowns and showed that he is more than capable of leading this football team.

Sophomore George Atkinson III should get more touches this season as well. He only carried the ball nine times last season, but did show some of his playmaking abilities on kickoff returns, returning two back for touchdowns.

Amir Carlisle is a transfer from USC who will not have to sit out a season. He is a speedster who averaged over six yards a touch in limited action as a freshman for the Trojans. Former wide receiver Theo Riddick will also get carries after playing both positions throughout his career.

Notre Dame may not have many household names in the backfield, but there is a lot of potential and talent to help lead the way for this offense.

Defensive Line Isn't as Bad as You Think

Notre Dame struggled mightily last season to pressure the quarterback, finishing the year with only 25 sacks. Things got even worse when the sack leader, Aaron Lynch, decided to transfer to South Florida to be closer to family. This, of course, means other players must step up and produce, but until then, Irish fans aren't exactly thrilled with what they have to work with.

Kapron Lewis-Moore will move back into his starting role. He has been a productive player throughout his career and has six sacks despite missing half of the year in 2011 and seeing limited playing time. Stephon Tuitt saw playing time as a freshman last year and racked up 30 tackles and two sacks; he has the potential to really step up his sophomore season.

The line also has decent depth with players like Chase Hounshell, Tony Springmann and true-freshman Sheldon Day.

Much like the running back position, the names aren't impressive, and the Irish likely don't have a player who can fill the shoes of Lynch, but as a unit, you could do a lot worse than the productive players that are on this roster.

Tyler Eifert All over the Place

With Malcolm Floyd no longer on the team, tight end Tyler Eifert becomes the go-to guy on this Notre Dame offense. Last season, he really emerged as one of the better players at his position, hauling in 63 passes for 803 yards and five touchdowns. With his skill set, he will likely have another big year, but you will see him all over the field in 2012.

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Obviously he’s a guy that has to replace the production loss of Michael Floyd. Head coach Brian Kelly said. To do that we’ve got to be able to get him into some favorable positions. Obviously, he’s not going to lock down just at the tight end position. He’s a guy that can play as a wide receiver. Heck, he could play running back if we needed him to. He’s an incredible athlete. He’s a versatile player, so we’re going to take advantage of that skill. (Via 247sports.com)

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Having a player as athletic and versatile as Eifert on the field should help create mismatches and make this offense that much more effective. Irish fans should expect another big year from the senior tight end.

True-Freshmen

Despite missing out on several big-name recruits, Notre Dame did manage to seal the deal on 17 talented players, many of which will see valuable minutes this season. The wide receiver position needs work, so you can expect players like Justin Ferguson, Davonte Neal and 6'3" wideout Chris Brown to get looks early to help strengthen the position.

Quarterback Gunner Kiel will continue to compete for the starting position, but it's very likely that he will sit for a season before he is give the keys in 2013.

Other players who could make an impact in their first season are versatile player KeiVarae Russell, defensive tackle Sheldon Day, long-snapper Scott Daly and safety Elijah Shumate.

Less Turnovers

The main reason the Irish have struggled the last two seasons is because they simply can't hold onto the football. In the last two seasons combined, Notre Dame has turned the ball over 53 times. I don't care how much talent your team has or who you are playing on Saturday, you are not going to win many games when you cough the ball up that many times.

Notre Dame is 3-9 in the last three seasons when it turns the ball over at least three times.

With that said, everyone is well aware that this has been a huge problem for this team the last couple of years. It is no secret and really isn't something that is difficult to fix; just hold on to the pigskin and the chances of winning increases dramatically. Besides, how many seasons can a team turn the ball over 24 or more times?

One would think the mistakes would improve this time around.

Everett Golson Will Provide Better QB Play

One of the reasons for the turnovers was the poor quarterback play. Of the 53 combined turnovers in the last two years, 33 of them came by interceptions. We have no idea who the starting quarterback for the Irish is going to be this season, although Everett Golson appears to provide this team with the best chance to win now.

Who knows what is going to happen to Tommy Rees after his offseason arrest, and he didn't exactly show much to remain the starter in 2012. Gunner Kiel has no experience to step on the field right now and contribute.

That means that it all comes down to Andrew Hendrix and Golson.

Although Golson is the quarterback who can kill you with his legs as well, which fits perfectly in Brian Kelly's offense. He also had the best performance in this year's spring game, giving the coaching staff a sneak peak of what he is possibly capable of doing.

We will find out more next month on who the starting quarterback is going to be, but don't be surprised if it ends up being Golson and he improves a position that has haunted this team since Jimmy Clausen left.

Schedule Isn't as Hard as You Think

The main reason many Irish fans are not too high on the 2012 season is because of the brutal schedule that stares at them in the face. Taking trips to USC, Oklahoma and Michigan State are not easy games at all. Not to mention that does not include games against Michigan, Stanford and an underrated BYU team.

But Notre Dame does have the talent to at least compete with those teams, if they are able to answer just a few questions, like the quarterback position.

So let's say that we automatically give the Irish losses to both Oklahoma and USC, which still leaves room for 10 victories and a possible BCS bowl. There is no way this team enters as underdogs to teams such as Navy, Boston College, Miami or Wake Forest.

The Irish do have to worry about the Wolverines, but the game is being played in Notre Dame, and good teams take care of home field. Traveling to East Lansing will be the first true test to this club, but the Irish did manage to win last year's meeting by a score of 31-13. And even if Notre Dame splits those two games, that gives the Irish a 9-3 record heading into a bowl game, which is still an improvement. (Considering the Irish take care of business in the rest of the games.)

This year’s schedule is certainly no cakewalk, but if Notre Dame truly has the talent that many believe it does, this is a team that should prevail and improve in 2012.