It’s Senior Day in South Bend. And while it wasn’t the year—or the group—that Brian Kelly wanted to be saying goodbye to, it’s still another season in the rearview, a fall that went by way too fast.
So as the Irish welcome Virginia Tech to Notre Dame for the first time, the Pregame Six Pack gets a little nostalgic. Because for most of this season, we’ve talked about this team’s youth. And this time, it’s time to tip a cap to the seniors.
As usual, there’s plenty of great reading out there. For my money, it starts at The Observer, who continued their tradition of profiling every senior in the class, from Josh Anderson to Malik Zaire. So let’s get to it. With the weather winter coming, maybe as soon as tomorrow, let’s focus on six seniors key to a Notre Dame victory.
JARRON JONES
He survived the triple-option, protected by his head coach who took more than a few bullets for the fifth-year player. Now Jarron Jones needs to pay the favor back, winning in the trenches and blowing up the pocket to make things uncomfortable for Jerod Evans.
Jones has a favorable matchup against Hokies center Eric Gallo. He’s playing his last home football game with his brother, with Jamir coming on strong as a special teams force. And after making it out of Navy and Army unscathed, Jones isn’t sure where he’ll end up next year—he’s heard everything from first rounder to undrafted—he’s just appreciative that he’s one of the last men standing in his class.
“I am just happy I made it,” Jones told IrishSportsDaily.com on Wednesday. “It’s just been a great five years here. Having the met the guys I have met, playing with the guys and coaches I have, everything has been great. Being here the past five years has been some of the best of my life.”
When he wants to, Jones is one of the most dominant players on the football field. You have to assume tomorrow’s special to Jones, a good thing for the Irish defense.
SCOTT DALY
It might be the kiss of death for a long snapper, but there’s a ton of love floating around for Scott Daly, who has spent five years on campus staying below the radar. That’s the best sign of a great career you could ever ask for.
“I think maybe that is the best compliment,” Brian Kelly said. “When you do not talk about your long snapper for four years, that’s a pretty remarkable thing. To be that efficient, to be that consistent over four years is pretty amazing, what he’s been able to accomplish here.”
Daly came into South Bend with the best recruiting pedigree you could ask for, named by Chris Rubio as the nation’s top long snapper. He’ll leave it with a legitimate chance to take those talents to the NFL.
A great career by a snapper who now has to deal with more stories written about him this week than his entire career combined. No pressure!
JAMES ONWUALU
The latest Cretin-Derham Hall product to come through South Bend has done all that’s asked of him, an unlikely defensive leader considering he entered this season as the most seasoned receiver on the Irish roster. With multiple positions and four-seasons of starting experience under his belt, Onuwalu has tried his best to cherish these final moments before the next challenge.
“I try to once a week, just on Sundays to go down to the Grotto,” Onwualu said this Wednesday. “Just kind of spend some time to think about how lucky I am to be at a school like this and to have accomplished all that I did and have the opportunities that I have.”
While a career in finance will be waiting for him, Onwualu has shown enough this season to have a chance at continuing his career on the field, both as a open-field linebacker as well as a special teamer, something Brian Kelly talked about and Onwualu reluctantly discussed.
“I definitely do desire to play in the National Football League, and it will be something that I’ll be chasing here in a few months,” Onwualu said. “But as of now just trying to finish up the career on a high note.”
COLE LUKE
After a nightmarish start to the season, Cole Luke has successfully rebooted his year, reminding everybody that he’s every bit the playmaker he was as a sophomore. When Greg Hudson took over and Todd Lyght went back to coaching up his secondary, the move to slide Luke inside freed him to be what he was—an instinctive cover-man who finds his way to the football.
That’s been apparent the past few weeks as Luke has found ways to impact the game over and over. And that challenge will be even more apparent this weekend, with Evans the most efficient quarterback the Irish have faced by a wide margin. Even after throwing two interceptions against Georgia Tech last weekend, Evans’s TD:INT ratio sits at an impressive 22:4, a threat with his legs as well as his arm.
That leaves Luke opportunities in his final home football game to steal the spotlight, maybe the role he was always destined to play.
MIKE MCGLINCHEY
Notre Dame’s starting left tackle isn’t going anywhere, announcing his planned return earlier in the season. But before he turns his lens to 2017, there’s a big challenge coming from Bud Foster’s defense, potentially from former Irish recruit Ken Ekanum.
Virginia Tech’s senior edge player made some headlines when he accused the Irish staff of pulling his scholarship offer when he was injured during postseason all-star play before picking a college. Kelly responded by denying the charge, but did acknowledge that his spot might have filled. (There’s reason to believe Kelly here.) Putting bad blood aside, McGlinchey, who has struggled with some mental lapses surrounding the snap count, could be put to the test by the Hokies best pass rusher.
But Saturday is an opportunity for McGlinchey to continue improving, putting behind him the lapses that take away from his spurts of dominance. After Irish fans have been spoiled by years of Zack Martin and Ronnie Stanley, Saturday with be another important datapoint in McGlinchey’s evolution.
MALIK ZAIRE
If Saturday goes according to plan, Zaire might not even see the field. But the fact that he was able to blend into the scenery, and do so when things didn’t go his way, is a testament to the veteran quarterback—who’ll have a choice to stick around for a fifth year and compete for a job or explore his options as a graduate transfer.
Zaire’s not Notre Dame’s best quarterback—no shame considering the ceiling that DeShone Kizer possesses. But if this is it for him, he’ll have left a lasting impression on Brian Kelly’s program, both as a competitor and in his few moments of brilliance.
Zaire’s season-opening start against Texas was as close to a statistically perfect game as possible. His win against LSU in the Music City Bowl may go down as Kelly’s most unlikely victory. And his passion on the field against USC in a lost-second half showed the type of leader he had become.
So while he wasn’t able to provide a spark this season with his limited opportunities, he did all that was asked of him. So just because he finished on the wrong side of one of the most competitive position groups we’ve seen in years, doesn’t mean he should be any less proud of these four challenging years.