The oldest starting (or co-starting) unit ever in Notre Dame football annals might be lining up in 2020.
By old, we are speaking not necessarily about age but of class year. Also, we are omitting the years prior to 1950.
The late-1940s Notre Dame football dynasty had a roster laden with World War II veterans such as College Football Hall of Fame inductee Jim Martin, a Bronze Star recipient who enrolled as a 22-year-old freshman in 1946, after World War II, and was 25 as a senior. Another Hall-of-Fame inductee, running back Emil Sitko, was 26 his senior year in 1949. It was quite prevalent in that era with the GI Bill.
However, when breaking down the 22 potential starters on offense and defense this year, consider this:
• The Fighting Irish have a school-record three graduate transfers this season — wide receiver Ben Skowronek, safety Isaiah Pryor and cornerback Nick McCloud — all of whom could be starters or, at worst, co-starters.
The experience of Skowronek and Pryor in Big Ten strength and conditioning programs were demonstrated when in physical skills tests at Notre Dame this summer they graded out with the highest scores among the Fighting Irish receivers/tight ends and defensive backs, respectively.
