Any success Notre Dame's football team has this season will depend on the offense. An offense that can score a lot of points will be the key for the Irish in 2014.

As we begin another season of ND columns the emphasis for the Irish this season is the offense because the Irish lack experience on the defensive side. The defense was lacking even before the first fall practice, but with the suspensions of starting defensive back KeiVarae Russell and defensive lineman Ishaq Williams, new defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder really has his work cut out for him. In addition to the two defensive starters, the list of suspended players includes reserve linebacker Kendall Moore and backup safety Eilar Hardy.The offense also took a hit with the suspension of top returning receiver Davaris Daniels. The Irish have enough talent at that position so that his loss isn't as serious as the four on defense.Kelly announced on Tueday that the players will not dress for or participate in today's game.Kally said later in the week that he has been informed the investigation into the players is now complete. That means we could be finding out soon what the investigation revealed and what the status of the players will be for the remainder of the season.Irish offenseND will be led by returning signal caller Everett Golson, back after a year on academic suspension himself. He was declared the starter over redshirt sophomore Malik Zaire. Zaire is not ready to start. Golson has done the best job in preseason drills and his overall experience with the offense is the key factor. Make no mistake, Zaire is not far behind and can fill in if needed. The only real negative for Zaire is a lack of consistency. But he is a gamer, as he showed in the Blue Gold game in the spring.ND has plenty of talent at running back led by sophomore Tarean Folston backed by five-star recruit Greg Bryant, also a sophomore, who has gotten a lot of praise in the preseason drills. Senior Cam McDaniel, of course, is the "go to guy" and his stats speak for themselves.The key is the receivers. With the loss of Daniels, the Irish hope that Corey Robinson steps up. Also in the mix are Amir Carlisle, Chris Brown and William Fuller, all with talent. Torii Hunter is also expected to make his mark, but will miss at least two games with an injury. Tight ends Ben Koyack and Durham Smythe are also talented. The offensive line is experience and led by Nick Martin and Ronney Stanley.In summary, Brian Kelly has all the right talent to run his offense. As he enters his fifth season in South Bend he has no excuses for the offense not producing. He was saddled last year when he lost Golson, but that is history.ND defenseOn the defensive side, the Irish have many questions. Talent is present but experience is not.Defensive line hopefuls include Sheldon Day, Jarron Jones, Andrew Trumbetti, Jonathan Williams and Romeo Okwara.The linebacker corps are led by Joe Schmidt, Jaylon Smith, and James Onwualu. Notables for the defensive secondary include Florida transfer Cody Riggs, Cole Luke, Austin Collinsworth and Max Redfield.Today's gameND hosts Rice today in the opener of a very demanding scheduled, one of the toughest in the nation with the likes of Michigan, Stanford, North Carolina, Florida State, Arizona State, and USC to come.Rice finished 10-4 in 2013, and won the Conference USA Championship with a 7-1 conference record. Rice has 19 lettermen returning on offense and 19 on defense. There are five starters returning for the Owls on both sides of the ball.ND leads the series, 4-0, with the last game played between the two schools in 1988 which the Irish won 54-11, in en route to a national championship.The game will be televised nationally by NBC-TV with a 3:30 p.m. EDT start.IRISH NOTES ... Former ND Heisman Trophy winner Tim Brown was in South Bend for an event around the time of the announcement of the four players under suspension. He said such actions by players reflects on all former and present players and the four (only accused for now) must realize they represent the University of Notre Dame. His best comment was this, "I thought last year the way they handled the Golson thing really should have been a lesson not for just the university, but for colleges all over." He added, "For your starting quarterback to have a violation, an academic violation, and for him to be suspended for the entire football season, that's pretty big. You're not going to see a lot of universities doing that."....The new Field Turf has been installed and although many feel it violates ND's tradition by not having a natural grass field, it was the right thing to do. You remember all the mid-season re-sod jobs and how brown the surface looked by November last year. The new turf will feature a combination of new and old designs. The new additions will be at midfield, where an interlocking ND logo will be set, and at each 35 yard line, there will be small green shamrocks designating the spot for kickoffs. The end zones will keep the traditional diagonal striping found on ND fields. Each end zone will include nine lines, which will be set at 42-degree angles toward the Basilica and the Golden Dome. The total number of end zone lines, 18, and the angle designation, 42, are meant to represent the year ND was founded, 1842. ... With the defensive losses, Sheldon Day has stepped forward as a team leader and one who will be counted on to fill the void ... Seven of the players in backup roles this season on defense are true freshmen, so there's not much room for error ... Here is my annual picks for the season. Irish open with win over Rice, 1-0. ND repays Michigan for win two, 2-0. Purdue no match for Irish offense, 3-0. Syracuse in the Meadow Lands is win four, 4-0. Irish drop first game to Stanford, 4-1. ND rebounds with tough win over North Carolina, 5-1. Florida State proves too much for the Irish, 5-2. Navy falls to ND again, 6-2. Arizona State hands Irish a loss, 6-3. Northwestern proves to be tough, but a win for ND, 7-3. Louisville comes to SB and loses, 8-3. USC gets revenge, 8-4 ... Although the Irish are 21 plus points favorite today, Rice is one of those teams on a schedule that could surprise and pull off an upset. Irish must be careful. With the media coverage of the academic problems, the team has rallied around itself, which is a real plus for the coming season.