KEY LOSSES
Tight end Kyle Rudolph left early for his high spot in the NFL draft, but ND got along without him when he was hurt in 2010 and Tyler Eifert has plenty of experience. Nose Tackle Ian Williams is gone but is touting redshirt freshman Louis Nix as his replacement. There is depth everywhere with the Irish.

PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2011:

QBs Dayne Crist and Tommy Rees -- Crist, who will be a senior, is coming off knee surgery, while Rees, a sophomore to be, led the team to the four straight wins down the stretch, including the Sun Bowl. Don't count redshirt freshmen-to-be Andrew Hendrix out of this race, either, and recruit Everett Golson has the most talent when it comes to running the spread offense.

WR Michael Floyd -- Kyle Rudolph left but Floyd stayed, and the hope is he won't be bothered by the nagging hamstring problem that hindered him for so much of the 2010 season.

LB Manti Te'o -- He was the runaway leader in tackles as a sophomore and is already one of the better linebackers in the country. He sat out in the second half of the bowl game with a knee injury.

RB Cierre Wood -- A strong finish to his sophomore season leads to optimism for next year.

PLAYER NOTES

--WR/KR Bennett Jackson, a freshman last year, is moving over to cornerback.

--K David Ruffer, a senior walk-on in 2010, will return for a scholarship season, and into a mix that includes Nick Tausch and recruit Kyle Brindza, called "the most talented kicker in the country," by coach Brian Kelly.

--QB Tommy Rees completed 61 percent of his passes as a true freshman. He threw 12 touchdown passes and eight interceptions, but three of the picks came in the game Dayne Crist went down. Rees was 4-0 as a starter.

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