Camp Notes - USC, Stanford, NC State, and Miami

Notre Dame is in the thick of camp and they'll be giving the media more access later this week. Many other programs are at the same place the Irish are when it comes to preparation for the season, but not Stanford.

The Cardinal have to start preparing for a game sooner than almost everyone else because they are headed to Australia soon to play Rice to open the season on August 26th. There was some question as to whether they were going to have their starting quarterback healthy for that game or for the season in general for that matter. That doesn't sound like it will be an issue for this game or going forward, though.

Keller Chryst took over late in the season when Stanford played their best ball on offense last season. That was partially because they played weaker defense so the jury is still out on him for this year, but they seem glad to have him back and healthy after he tore his knee in their bowl game. 

Head coach David Shaw was on the Rich Eisen show today and said working at "full speed" so it would be surprising if he didn't start versus Rice.

Oh, if you're thinking this trip to Australia will trip Stanford up early in the season, then think again. They start school later and will return with a bye week before they play USC on September 9th. We'll see how Chryst performs against what should be a top level defense then.

USC could have their best defense in years

It's the news no Notre Dame fan wants to hear, but it's true. In addition to a Heisman Trophy candidate at quarterback, the Trojans are going to be loaded on defense. They have 10 players with starting experience returning and the reports out of camp have been glowing about them as a unit.

Even if they were to have some bad injury luck, the depth they have accumulated because of recent recruiting success is impressive. Porter Gustin and Uchenna Nwosu might be the best edge tandem in the country and they have former 5 star Olowule Betiku and Connor Murphy, the brother of former Stanford star rusher Trent Murphy, as their backups.

Former Notre Dame recruiting target Ykili Ross has been a standout in camp, but he is likely not going to start because of the other returning talent. This might be their most talented group they've had since the Pete Carroll era.

One area where they seem to be struggling is at kicker where the two players competing are not doing so hot at the moment. The offense isn't doing so great since in camp with them having to replace some talent at receiver, but we'll see if that is an issue for them in the long term with Sam Darnold back and with plenty of games to get things worked out before they travel to South Bend in October.

NC State figuring things out in the secondary

NC State may have the best defensive line in the nation this season. They have everyone returning from what was a great group and they should be very strong in the front seven in general. It is interesting to note that they are still trying to find three starters in the secondary, though.

At the risk of giving Irish fans hurricane flashbacks, I think there is a good chance that Chip Long and the offense will have to throw a lot when they face the Wolfpack. It's going to be very tough to run on them. They had a top 10 rushing defense in yards and yards per carry last season and were 11th in rushing S&P+ and I would expect them to be similarly stingy with so much talent coming back.

Passing on them (just not in a hurricane), is probably going to be the best option. And with some new faces in the secondary, it might be an opportunity for Equanimeous St. Brown and the rest of the Irish receivers to be the focal point of the offense that day.

Miami still looking for a quarterback

Miami has all season to figure out their quarterback situation before they get to Notre Dame and they may just have a good enough defense to get by without a great one. Right now they have four guys competing for it, but it sounds like it will be narrowed down to two soon. Mark Richt seems to be leaning towards "veterans" Malik Rosier and Evan Shirreffs. Rosier has one start under his belt and Shirreffs has yet to attempt a pass in a college game.

That's the big question mark for the Canes this year as they return a good amount of skill talent including running back Mark Walton and receiver Ahmonn Richards.

Recruiting rankings don't matter much when guys get deeper into their careers. Referencing them is usually just a way to indicate a player who has less experience has talent. It's interesting to note that both Rosier and Shirreffs were not highly recruited players that had a 4 star ranking beside their name or several big time offers. The younger quarterbacks competing for the job that are struggling currently were more highly touted as recruits. We'll see if who wins the job early keeps the job by the time they play the Irish late in the year.