BGI’s Year-End Awards
Most Outstanding
Trevor Laws – What Paul Hornung meant to the 2-8 team in 1956, Laws was to the 2007 Irish.
Unlike Hornung, though, who won the Heisman, Laws’ efforts during a 3-9 team seem to be relatively overlooked, not earning mention amongst the major awards for linemen and defensive players.
Despite facing multiple personnel and blocking schemes, Laws’ 112 tackles were second most in history by an Irish defensive lineman, behind Steve Niehaus’ 113 in 1975. Among the NCAA’s top 102 tacklers listed in 2007, Laws was the lone lineman – at No. 43 with an average of 9.33. Mentioned in second place with 75 stops and a 6.25 average per game was Virginia senior standout end Chris Long, son of NFL Hall of Fame player Howie Long.
Beyond numbers, Laws was a model of fortitude, unrelenting tenacity, excellence amidst adverse circumstances, and a model to emulate for all present and future Notre Dame athletes.
Most Improved Player
First Team: David Bruton – Last spring’s Blue-Gold Game, when Bruton was named Defensive MVP with four tackles and returning a Demetrius Jones interception toss for the game-winning 35-yard TD, was a precursor to the junior’s breakout campaign.
A backup to Chinedum Nduke in 2005-06, the ultra-aggressive free safety’s combination of range, playmaking skills and fierce hitting should make him one of the nation’s elite figures at his position in 2008. Bruton also is maybe the best gunner on punt coverage teams we’ve ever seen at Notre Dame, and one of the reasons why the Irish finished 14th nationally in net punting yardage. He finished third in tackles (85) despite missing a start, and added a team-high three interceptions. Among the potential handful of fifth-year seniors and 14 fourth-year seniors, Bruton is Notre Dame’s best NFL prospect in 2009.
Second Team: Darrin Walls – As a freshman in 2006, the prized cornerback recruit was relegated to the sidelines in the last two-thirds of the season while learning the game. This year he supplanted fifth-year senior Ambrose Wooden in the starting lineup during the preseason and excelled as Notre Dame’s best cover man. Among the 24 remaining sophomores on scholarship, Walls displayed the most star power (although tackling against the run is an area all Irish corners must upgrade), and he will be projected to become the school’s first All-America cornerback since Shane Walton in 2002.
Walls’ nine pass breakups were exactly as many as the rest of the defensive backfield combined, and maybe the most exciting play of the year was his 73-yard interception return at Penn State that gave the Irish a temporary 7-0 lead. That play also made one wonder if he could ever be used in a part-time role on offense, as speculated upon during his recruitment.
Honorable Mention: Robby Parris – Junior David Grimes and sophomore George West were easily classified as the 1-2 receivers at the end of spring to replace the Jeff Samardzija-Rhema McKnight tandem, with junior D.J. Hord and freshmen Duval Kamara and Golden Tate also expected to vie for much action.
Instead, Parris, who caught one pass in a mop-up role as a 2006 freshman, saw the most action among the wideouts (188:08) while finishing third in receptions with 29, behind tight end John Carlson (40) and Kamara (32). Parris also had the best average per reception (12.4) among the top seven pass catchers – with five of them at 9.3 or less.
Biggest Surprise
First Team: Brian Smith – In a freshman class replete with marquee names on offense, Smith was practically an afterthought even on the less-heralded defensive haul. Classmate Kerry Neal was projected for some early action, but Smith was perceived as not much more than a Plan B consolation prize last February. Notre Dame finally offered the former Iowa verbal commit recruit after the Irish whiffed on more heralded prospects such as Ben Martin (Tennessee), Martez Wilson (Illinois) and inside linebacker Chris Donald (Tennessee).
Halfway through August training camp, Blue & Gold Illustrated already listed Smith as the top surprise in the 18-man freshman class, and his playing time gradually increased during the season, highlighted by three starts. His 25 stops were even more than Neal’s 20, and his 25-yard TD return of a Matt Ryan pass provided Notre Dame a glimmer of hope in the 27-14 loss to Boston College.
Second Team: Joe Brockington – If someone would have told you in August that the fifth-year senior Brockington would finish second to Laws in tackles (108), second to Laws in quarterback hurries (4) and first in tackles for loss (8.5)…wouldn’t you have been surprised?
Sophomore Toryan Smith was projected to at least split time with Brockington at middle linebacker, but Brockington had nearly four times as much playing time even though Smith wasn’t sidelined with an injury. The physical Brockington didn’t do anything spectacular, but nobody else did enough to justify playing ahead of him.
Honorable Mention: Robert Hughes – Actually, the freshman surprised us the most because he didn’t play more often.
Hughes debuted on offense in Game 4 with six carries for 33 yards and a notable 3-yard, second- and third-effort touchdown run versus Michigan State before halftime to cut the Notre Dame deficit to 17-14 en route to a 31-14 loss. In the next six games, though, Hughes carried only 12 times for 15 yards, most notably the TD run against Navy in memory of his recently deceased brother. It was his lone play of the game.
Finally, he closed with 110- and 136-yard rushing efforts in victories against Duke and Stanford, making him the first Irish freshman back to post consecutive 100-yard rushing outputs since Autry Denson versus Navy and Air Force in 1995. Hey, even Jerome Bettis totaled only 115 yards rushing as a freshman in 1990.
Career Achievement Awards
First Team: Tom Zbikowski – The strong safety/return man did not display the all-around playmaking skills in 2006 and 2007 as he did in 2005, with an injury hampering his performance in 2006.
Still, only seven Notre Dame players are listed with more career tackles than Zbikowski’s 300, and no Irish defensive back ever had more stops.
Second Team: John Carlson – With his team-high 40 grabs this season, Carlson finished with 100 in his career. Only three-time All-American Ken MacAfee (1974-74) had more (128) as a Notre Dame tight end. Overall, Carlson became the 12th Notre Dame player to snare at least 100 passes (and fifth under Charlie Weis).
Honorable Mention: Maurice Crum – No, he does not strike you as a prototype inside linebacker, but the heart, durability and leadership skills led him to add 84 tackles to his résumé, giving him 241 for his career. If he opts to return for a fifth season next year, as his former University of Miami All-America father Maurice Sr. has recommended, he could finish among the top half-dozen tacklers in school history.
Special Teams Player
First-Team: David Bruton & Mike Anello – Bruton’s skills have already been talked about, but the junior walk-on Anello also became a force as a gunner, recording six tackles and setting up many other opposing returns to be unproductive among his 71 appearances in eight games. This duo was the one area the maligned special teams could cite as an asset.
“He’d have two guys doubling him and he’d go by them every play,” said Charlie Weis of Anello’s work on the scout team in practices. “I said, ‘He’s on the wrong team!’ ”
Second Team: J.J. Jansen – In three seasons as the long-snapper, Jansen’s 305 snaps had two noticeable snafus – a low snap to Geoff Price against Boston College that led to a “knee on the ground” call in Irish territory, and a high snap to Eric Maust versus Duke that the punter was able to retrieve and get off without damage. Weis has stated he wouldn’t be surprised if Jansen’s specialty lands him on an NFL roster next year. Fellow walk-on Kevin Brooks is the heir apparent, continuing the walk-on tradition at this position that has included John Crowther (2000-02) and Casey Dunn (2003-04).
Honorable Mention: Eric Maust – Also a pitcher on the baseball team, Maust acquitted himself fairly well in place of the injured Price, with his 21 punts averaging 42.1 yards – and nine of them placed inside the 20. His ad-lib play against Duke, when he retrieved a high snap and escaped the ensuing rush, came when the game was still scoreless, and it helped avert a potential upset (if there is such a thing for a 1-9 team).
Top Freshmen
First Team: Ian Williams & Duval Kamara – Playing the demanding nose tackle slot, Williams saw regular duty in each of the first 10 games to give junior starter Pat Kuntz a breather, and then started the last two in place of the injured Kuntz. Remarkably, Williams finished sixth in tackles (45) despite playing only the 15th most minutes (125:20) on defense. Only two other freshmen linemen in Notre Dame history posted more tackles: End Ross Browner had 68 for the 1973 national champs and tackle Steve Niehaus had 47 in 1972 before suffering a season-ending injury after the fourth game. Niehaus became a No. 2 pick in the NFL Draft, and Browner No. 8. Although the Irish have five highly-recruited incoming defensive linemen on the line for 2008, Williams already has become a probable anchor for years to come.
Kamara’s 32 receptions broke Tim Brown’s Notre Dame freshman record of 28 set in 1984, and his four TD receptions eclipsed the three set by freshmen tight end Derek Brown (1988) and wideout Derrick Mayes (1992). By the time his career is finished, Kamara could break Jeff Samardzija’s career record of 179 receptions.
Second Team: Kerry Neal & Brian Smith – The outside linebackers supplied some much-needed perimeter explosion to the front line. Neal ended up starting five times and Smith three. More bulk, experience and continued development, especially against the run, between the two could allow defensive coordinator Corwin Brown to thrive with a scheme that provides more pressure off the edge. Long-time Irish faithful recall Ross Browner and Willie Fry as the standard of bookend pressure from the defense, but that bar has been too out of reach. Can this duo come close to Justin Tuck and Victor Abiamiri, who were third- and second-round picks, respectively?
Honorable Mention: Armando Allen, Jimmy Clausen & Hughes – Armando Allen racked up a relatively quiet 1,176 all-purpose yards – a figure among Notre Dame freshmen topped only by Julius Jones (1,263) in 1999. Furthermore, Armando Allen’s 33 kick returns for 704 yards broke Tim Brown’s Irish single-season mark of 698 yards in 1986.
Jimmy Clausen’s off-season elbow surgery had a noticeable effect, and his learning curve was made far steeper with the entire offense rebuilding. But by Game 11 against Duke, the Jimmy Clausen that was seen on high school tape began to emerge.
Hughes provides a workhorse, physical force in the backfield, with some deceptive wiggle to augment a robust 238-pound frame.
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