Notre Dame Football: Gunner Kiel and Biggest Names to Watch in 2012

With college football season getting dangerously close, the excitement billowing from every corner of the USA has fans of Saturday football ready for action.

No school draws more attention than Notre Dame, though.

Add in a huge turnover and the addition of a prospect like Gunner Kiel, and the Fighting Irish have a lot of work to do before they are ready for action.

With their first game of the season September 1 against Navy, it’s time for some football.

All of the following names will on the lips of every Notre Dame fan across the nation, but whether they win games or not will determine the tone of the scuttlebutt.

No. 3: Cierre Wood

With tailback Jonas Gray signing on with the Miami Dolphins, the primary running back for the season will be junior Cierre Wood.

With his average of 5.1 yards per rushing attempt, 1,102 yards on 217 attempts and nine touchdowns, you better believe the fighting Irish will be feeding the ball to Wood early and often.

Depending on where Notre Dame goes with their quarterback situation, Wood may become the biggest part of their offense and the stabilizing force the team needs if it has a freshman under center.

No. 2: Brian Kelly

The Fighting Irish enter the season as the No. 25-ranked college football team in the nation, and there is a heavy burden on the shoulders of third-year Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly.

With a serious lack of impact by the team since Kelly took over, this will be the season that fans start expecting things to turn around. And they'd better.

If they get more of the same mediocre football coming from this program, the talk of the hot seat will fire up as it always does in the South Bend area.

No. 1: Gunner Kiel

With Notre Dame’s starting quarterback Tommy Rees suspended for the first game of the season after being arrested in May, the team must do the smart thing and give their future star Gunner Kiel a chance to shine.

If he doesn’t do well, the Fighting Irish can slide Rees right back in and let Kiel learn from his mistakes. On the other hand, the nation’s top prospect could be a star right away and win the starting job outright.

No matter what the team does at QB while Rees is suspended, as soon as the offense begins to inevitably sputter, the calls for the freshman will begin to get louder and louder. If Kiel’s the better starter, let him play.

Check back for more on the NCAA Football as it comes, and don’t miss Bleacher Report’s college football page to get your fill of college football.

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