Eric Hansen

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - On his way back from a serious knee injury that abridged his senior football season at Lincoln High School in Portland, Ore., Ethan Johnson turned to swimming to help him get up to speed for his freshman season at Notre Dame.

Swimming had always been a part of Johnson’s life -- both of his parents were high school swimmers who had continued to be active in the sport into their adult years. And Johnson swam laps recreationally year round, though he hadn’t been involved in competitive swimming since age nine.

“At my first meet, I realized why I hadn’t been in competitive swimming for a while,” Johnson said. “I was fast enough to compete and win, but I kind of caused quite as stir. Here I was at 6-foot-4, 270 pounds, and most of the guys I went against were 135 pounds. And I looked even more out of place, because I was basically wearing compression shorts. There was no way I was going to wear a Speedo.”

Johnson’s Speedo-phobia may be the only thing the Irish freshman defensive lineman is afraid of. And the same can be said of the rest of the impacting freshman class. Their signature is all over Notre Dame’s 4-2 start, and they are a key factor as to whether the Irish can improve upon that mark over the final six games of the regular season.

Keep a close eye on Johnson and fellow defensive lineman Darius Fleming, linebacker Steve Filer and cornerback Robert Blanton on defense; wide receiver Michael Floyd, tight end Kyle Rudolph, offensive guard Trevor Robinson and running back/special teams guy Jonas Gray on offense. There are others who are getting a close look during the open week, as Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis tries to decide whether to unredshirt someone else.

Most likely he’ll stand pat, save perhaps tight end Joseph Fauria joining the mix. The Irish won’t be able to stand pat in other areas. Beyond the five freshmen, here are the top five issues Weis and the Irish need to find answers for:

The Evolution of Jimmy Clausen
In the past three games the sophomore quarterback’s national passing-efficiency standing has jumped from 73rd to 37th -- well above where former Irish standout Brady Quinn stood during his sophomore season (55th). And ND’s passing attack has jumped an FBS-leading 92 spots from 2007 -- 110th to 18th.

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What Clausen must do now is avoid that fatal flaw, the critical game-changing turnover. He had three (two interceptions and a lost fumble) in the 29-24 loss at North Carolina on Oct. 11, on a day when he was at times his most brilliant.

It is Clausen’s eight interceptions that are weighing him down in the efficiency ratings -- only six QBs in the top 100 have thrown more. They’ve also been pivotal in the two Irish losses to date.

In the second half of the season, Clausen and the Irish face three of the worst 11 pass defenses in the 119-team FBS – Washington (119), Navy (109) and Syracuse (110). But they’ll see one in the middle of the pack (Pitt at 53rd) and two of the nation’s best (Boston College, No. 2; USC, No. 4). There is no room for Clausen to plateau if ND is going to aim higher than the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas this bowl season.

Kicking Around Changes In The Kicking Game
For better, for worse, sophomore Brandon Walker is and should be Notre Dame’s place-kicker for the remainder of the season. He is just 2-of-8 on field goals, but his distance and lift have not been the problem. And he has wiped out junior Ryan Burkhart in every competition the two have had over the past two seasons by lopsided margins -- including just before the North Carolina game..

Weis has limited Walker to just the place-kicking duties, even though he has the much stronger leg of the two. And perhaps that’s a mistake. Burkhart is one of only 12 main kickoff men in the FBS not to have recorded a touchback this season.

Beyond the fact that Walker can kick deeper, perhaps kicking off would take some of the pressure off his place-kicks. If he were more involved in the game and involved in an area where accuracy is less critical, it might loosen him up mentally for the long field goals. And what does Weis have to lose at this point?

In the return game, perhaps it’s time to give freshman Michael Floyd a run at punt returner. Sophomore Armando Allen is averaging a respectable 9.4 yards per return, but 22 of his 66 return yards came on one return and he only has returned seven of the 27 kicked to him. At the very least, the Irish need someone who will run up and fair catch the ball. Floyd gives Notre Dame someone with good hands. At best, he provides the Irish with breakaway speed and breakaway moves. He averaged 23.3 yards per return in high school.

Tighten Up The Tight End Situation
On Oct. 14, Notre Dame’s Office of Residence Life suspended junior tight end Will Yeatman for the remainder of the season for being arrested Sept. 21 at an off-campus party and having a blood-alcohol content of 0.02, or roughly the equivalent of one beer. It was Yeatman’s second alcohol-related offense brought before the board this calendar year.

Weis had been holding Yeatman out of competition since the arrest while waiting for some resolution. Now that Weis has it, it’s time to re-examine his options.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many.

Sophomore Mike Ragone is out for the year after undergoing knee surgery in August. Junior Luke Schmidt may also be gone unless doctors can solve his post-concussion issues. Yeatman is suspended. That leaves freshmen Kyle Rudolph and Joseph Fauria.

Rudolph has played almost every down of every game and is ND’s fifth-leading receiver (14 receptions, 166 yards, 2 TDs). The 6-foot-7, 245-pound Fauria has been redshirting and Weis prefers to keep it that way, but he might not have a choice, especially if there is another injury.

Weis has been able to put together a patchwork of makeshift tight ends for the multiple-tight end sets -- from fullback Steve Paskorz, offensive tackle Matt Romine and freshman offensive guard Trevor Robinson.

“I haven’t been campaigning to catch a pass,” Robinson said. “But if they want to throw one to me, I won’t complain.”

The 6-5, 301-pound Robinson said the last time he had a pass thrown to him was when he was playing fullback in eighth grade.

“I was pretty excited about it,” he said. “I had a wall of blockers in front of me. But I dropped it.”

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