Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2018 45 CORNERBACK Top Topic Through Aug. 20: The starting tandem of juniors Julian Love, an All-American candidate, and Troy Pride Jr., unofficially the fastest man on the team who has also displayed much physicality, has a chance to be the best at the school since consensus All-American Shane Walton and third-team Associated Press All-American Vontez Duff in 2002. "I feel really good about the ability to do some things defensively that sometimes you worry about, putting a guy out on an island," Kelly said of coverage schemes. "We're going to have to do that sometimes, and I think we can hold up." Of Note: Last year junior Donte Vaughn, who displayed as much promise as Love and Pride his fresh- man year, was hindered by back is- sues but has rebounded with a strong camp so far. Senior Shaun Crawford, sidelined with ACL and Achilles in- juries his first two seasons, came out of the chute impressively in 2017 be- fore the residuals from the first two seasons began to catch up. He also will continue to help at nickel while attempting to upgrade his durability. Summary: Especially vital to Love, and all corners, is not to get hung up on individual stats like believing you should match the school-record 20 passes broken up, as he did last year. That set back Love this spring. "He's stopped worrying about making interceptions," Kelly said. "You could be a great player without one interception. I think he got a little bit of 'I'm a preseason All-American, so I have to pick off every throw.' That develops bad habits. "Be who you are. What he was last year was a technician, he was smart, he knew time and place in the game, and he got back to those basics and fundamentals. It's really paid off for him." "I'm set up to do well in this de- fense," Love said. "They rely heavily on me, a lot of one-on-one situations, I just need to do my job. I have to stop going outside my body to make these plays and just let the game come to me. "… It's hard to tell somebody who wants the ball on defense to, 'Alright, let the game come to you.' Just work through my technique, eliminate things in my mind possible before the play starts." ✦ Strongside End No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 53 Khalid Kareem 6-4 265 Jr./2 91 Ade Ogundeji 6-4½ 255 Jr./3 44 Jamir Jones 6-3 245 Jr./2 19 Justin Ademilola 6-2 246 Fr./4 Defensive Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 99 Jerry Tillery 6-7 305 Sr./1 95 M. Tagovailoa-Amosa 6-2½ 285 So./3 57 Jayson Ademilola 6-3 284 Fr./4 Nose Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 55 Jonathan Bonner 6-4 295 5th-Sr./1 41 Kurt Hinish 6-2 295 So./3 97 M. Dew-Treadway 6-4 300 Sr./2 98 Ja'Mion Franklin 6-1½ 306 Fr./4 Drop End No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 9 Daelin Hayes 6-4 265 Jr./2 42 Julian Okwara 6-4½ 241 Jr./2 47 Kofi Wardlow 6-2½ 245 So./4 Walk-ons: Seniors Lincoln Feist (54) and Brandon Hutson (49) Mike Linebacker No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 4 Te'von Coney 6-1 240 Sr./1 45 Jonathan Jones 5-11½ 227 Jr./3 52 Bo Bauer 6-3 225 Fr./4 Buck Linebacker No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 23 Drue Tranquill 6-2 235 5th-Sr./1 2 J. Genmark Heath 6-1 225 So./3 15 D.J. Morgan 6-2 220 Jr./3 31 Jack Lamb 6-4 226 Fr./4 40 Drew White 6-0 228 So./4 Rover No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 22 Asmar Bilal 6-2 225 Sr./2 33 Shayne Simon 6-3 222 Fr./4 30 J. Owusu-Koramoah 6-1½ 215 So./4 29 Ovie Oghoufo 6-3 223 Fr./4 Walk-ons: Seniors Kier Murphy (59), Robert Regan (37), Devyn Spruell (51) and Jimmy Thompson (46) Field Cornerback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 5 Troy Pride Jr. 5-11½ 190 Jr./2 20 Shaun Crawford 5-9 181 Sr./3 10 TaRiq Bracy 5-10 170 Fr./4 12 D.J. Brown 6-1 191 Fr./4 Boundary Cornerback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 27 Julian Love 5-11 193 Jr./2 8 Donte Vaughn 6-3 211 Jr./2 16 Noah Boykin 6-0½ 178 Fr./4 Walk-ons: Senior Brian Ball (36), junior Temitope Agoro (26), sophomore Brandon Garcia (39) and freshman Marcus Thorne (43) Stud Safety No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 24 Nick Coleman 6-0 194 Sr./1 21 Jalen Elliott 6-0½ 205 Jr./2 28 Nicco Fertitta 5-9 181 Sr./1 7 Derrik Allen 6-1½ 213 Fr./4 Whip Safety No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 11 Alohi Gilman 5-10½ 202 Jr./3 3 Houston Griffith 6-0 205 Fr./4 14 Devin Studstill 6-0 200 Jr./2 13 Paul Moala 5-11 212 Fr./4 Walk-ons: Junior Christopher Schilling (38), and sophomores John Mahoney (25) and Patrick Pelini (32) BGI 2018 DEFENSE DEPTH CHART Based on our observations from the four open practices in August, here is what the depth chart on defense appears to be, with heights and weights updated by Notre Dame. A few duplicate numbers could change. For example, fifth-year senior running back Keenan Sweeney and freshman rover Shayne Simon both wear No. 33, but also might be on the kickoff return team. If that remains, one would need to change his number. Junior cornerback Donte Vaughn, who was hin- dered by back issues in 2017, rebounded with a strong camp in August. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL