Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1022027
38 SEPT. 10, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ceiving yards and three scores, is a dynamic young prospect that leads an experienced group of pass catchers. In fact, Ball State only lost two receptions from its 2017 squad. Notre Dame returns one of the most productive cornerbacks in the country in junior Julian Love, who finished second nationally with 23 passes defended a season ago. Love will be joined in the secondary by classmate Troy Pride Jr., an elite athlete that started the final four games of the 2017 campaign. Pride was outstanding during the spring and car- ried that into the fall, and his emergence gives the Irish a chance to have one of the top cornerback duos in the land. Behind Love and maybe Pride is junior Donte Vaughn, who is the backup at both corner spots following a season ending injury to senior Shaun Crawford, who also was working as a nickel back. A more consistent pass rush is needed for Notre Dame in 2018. It racked up 24 sacks a season ago, but only six in the final six games. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. BALL STATE RUN DEFENSE On paper this is a major mismatch, although we don't yet know just how good Notre Dame will be running the football in 2018. The Fighting Irish ranked third nationally in yards per rush (6.25) and seventh in rushing yards per game (269.5) a season ago. They racked up a mini- mum of 318 yards on the ground in seven of the 13 games. Gone from the offense are All-American of- fensive linemen Quenton Nelson and Mike Mc- Glinchey, tight end Durham Smythe and running back Josh Adams, who rushed for 1,430 yards last fall. Senior quarterback Brandon Wimbush led the offense with 14 rushing touchdowns last fall, and he was second with 803 rushing yards. His return gives the ground attack a legitimate playmaker, but who emerges alongside him is to be determined throughout this campaign. Junior Tony Jones Jr. entered the season as the starter despite rushing for just 232 yards (5.3 per rush) last season, his first in the rotation. Jones is a solid all-around player that is being expected to take his game to a higher level. A pair of sophomores — Jafar Armstrong and Avery Davis — who switched from other positions add big-play potential to the offense. With Nelson and McGlinchey gone, Notre Dame will feature a new-look offensive line. Four players with starting experience return, but only two are at the same position they played a season ago. How quickly the line meshes will go a long way toward determining how effective Notre Dame can be running the ball. It should, however, be able to dominate the Cardinals defense, which ranked 91st nationally in rushing yards allowed per game (188.0) and 108th Fifth-year senior cornerback Josh Miller led the Cardinals with 14 passes defended (one interception and 13 passes broken up) in 2017. PHOTO BY RICKY BASSMAN Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 81 Miles Boykin 6-4 228 Sr. 4 Kevin Austin 6-2 210 Fr. LT 74 Liam Eichenberg 6-6 308 Jr. 55 Jarrett Patterson 6-4½ 290 Fr. LG 71 Alex Bars 6-6 315 5th-Sr. 76 Dillan Gibbons 6-4 313 So. C 53 Sam Mustipher 6-2½ 306 5th-Sr. 57 Trevor Ruhland 6-3½ 295 Jr. RG 78 Tommy Kraemer 6-6 316 Jr. 75 Joshua Lugg 6-7 314 So. RT 72 Robert Hainsey 6-5 295 So. 69 Aaron Banks 6-6 319 So. TE 86 Alizé Mack 6-5 247 Sr. 84 Cole Kmet 6-5½ 258 So. WR 10 Chris Finke 5-9½ 180 Sr. 88 Javon McKinley 6-2 219 Jr. WR 83 Chase Claypool 6-4½ 227 Jr. 87 Michael Young 5-10 192 So. QB 7 Brandon Wimbush 6-2 222 Sr. 12 Ian Book 6-0 203 Jr. RB 6 Tony Jones Jr. 5-11 220 Jr. 8 Jafar Armstrong 6-1 218 So. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DE 53 Khalid Kareem 6-4 265 Jr. 91 Ade Ogundeji 6-4½ 255 Jr. DT 99 Jerry Tillery 6-7 305 Sr. 95 M. Tagovailoa-Amosa 6-2½ 285 So. NT 55 Jonathan Bonner 6-4 295 5th-Sr. 41 Kurt Hinish 6-2 295 So. DE 9 Daelin Hayes 6-4 265 Jr. 42 Julian Okwara 6-4½ 241 Jr. Mike 4 Te'von Coney 6-1 240 Sr. 45 Jonathan Jones 5-11½ 227 Jr. Buck 23 Drue Tranquill 6-2 235 5th-Sr. 2 J. Genmark Heath 6-1 225 So. ROV 22 Asmar Bilal 6-2 225 Sr. 33 Shayne Simon 6-3 222 Fr. CB 5 Troy Pride Jr. 5-11½ 190 Jr. 10 TaRiq Bracy 5-10 170 Fr. S 24 Nick Coleman 6-0 194 Sr. 21 Jalen Elliott 6-0½ 205 Jr. S 11 Alohi Gilman 5-10½ 202 Jr. 3 Houston Griffith 6-0 205 Fr. CB 27 Julian Love 5-11 193 Jr. 8 Donte Vaughn 6-3 211 Jr. NOTRE DAME DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. K 19 Justin Yoon 5-10 198 Sr. 39 Jonathan Doerer 6-3 200 So. P 85 Tyler Newsome 6-2½ 214 5th-Sr. 42 Jeff Riney 5-11 181 Sr. KO 39 Jonathan Doerer 6-3 200 So. 19 Justin Yoon 5-10 198 Sr. H 12 Ian Book 6-0 203 Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 54 John Shannon 6-2 235 Jr. 46 Matt Bushland 6-2 210 Jr. KR 24 Nick Coleman 6-0 194 Sr. or 87 Michael Young 5-10 185 So. PR 10 Chris Finke 5-9½ 180 Sr. 87 Michael Young 5-10 185 So. Special Teams GAME PREVIEW: BALL STATE