Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1024406
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 17, 2018 37 The Commodores have talent returning in the secondary, with 6-3 junior cornerback Joejuan Williams and senior safety LaDarius Wiley leading the way. Vanderbilt held Middle Tennessee quar- terback Brent Stockstill to 178 yards on 24-of-36 passing in the opener. Stockstill entered the season with 8,910 yards and 77 touchdowns in his career. Vanderbilt ranked 49th in sacks last fall and it returns its top four sack leaders, including fifth- year senior outside linebacker Charles Wright, who led the Commodores with nine sacks and eight quarterback hurries. The Odeyingbo brothers combined for 6.5 sacks and four hurries in 2017. Notre Dame struggled to throw the football in 2017, but it kicked the 2018 season off well, pass- ing for 170 yards against a Michigan team that led the nation in pass defense in 2017 (150.1 yards allowed per game). Senior quarterback Brandon Wimbush made plays with his arm and legs in the victory, but playing consistent football week after week is still something he must prove he can do. The Fighting Irish have a massive group of pass catchers, with sophomore tight end Cole Kmet (6-5½), senior tight end Alizé Mack (6-5), junior wide receiver Chase Claypool (6-4½) and senior wideout Miles Boykin (6-4) leading the way. Advantage: Even SPECIAL TEAMS Notre Dame has not been very good on special teams in recent seasons, outside of the steady performance of senior placekicker Justin Yoon. But as mediocre as Notre Dame has been, Vanderbilt has been worse. The Fighting Irish ranked 61st in special teams efficiency in 2017, according to the Fremeau Ef- ficiency Index. Vanderbilt ranked 128th out of 129 teams last season and has yet to rank higher than 65th in efficiency during head coach Derek Mason's tenure. It ranked 119th in 2016. Notre Dame floundered early in the win over Michigan, surrendering a 99-yard return for a score and giving the Wolverines a short field after a 25- yard punt. The Irish settled down in the second half, pinning Michigan deep in its own territory to start the fourth quarter. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING Mason has had success against Notre Dame, although it was as a defensive coordinator for Stanford (2011-13). The Cardinal were 2-1 against Notre Dame during those three seasons and went a combined 34-7 during that stretch, finishing each season ranked in the top 10 of the USA Today coaches poll. Mason has not been able to bring that same level of success to Nashville. Through the first game of the 2018 season, Mason has gone just 19-31 with the Commodores, including 6-26 in SEC play. Vanderbilt has yet to have a winning record under Mason and has been to just one bowl game. Vanderbilt has not been able to play defense even close to the level of the units he built at Stanford. In an attempt to turn that around, Mason hired former Oakland Raiders defensive coordina- tor Jason Tarver, who spent the last three seasons as a defensive assistant with the San Francisco 49ers. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly has posted a 33-19 mark during the same stretch that Mason has been with the Commodores, including 10-win seasons in two of the last threes seasons. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Vanderbilt has gone just 2-13 against ranked opponents during Mason's four seasons, including 0-7 on the road. Overall, the Commodores are 5-16 on the road over the last four seasons. Mason's squad permitted 38.3 points per game on the road last season against Power Five op- ponents, although the Vanderbilt head coach said this summer he wasn't worried about playing at Notre Dame since his team gets to play against SEC opponents on a consistent basis. Notre Dame has won two of its last three games against SEC foes, notching bowl wins against LSU following the 2014 and 2017 seasons. Notre Dame's loss was a 20-19 home defeat against eventual national runner-up Georgia early last fall. Since that home loss to Georgia, Notre Dame has gone 6-0 on its home field, outscoring opponents by an average of 38.7-19.3. Advantage: Notre Dame Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 16 Kalija Lipscomb 6-1 201 Jr. 83 C.J. Bolar 6-1 190 Fr. or 7 Cam Johnson 6-0 190 Fr. WR 19 Chris Pierce 6-4 215 So. 36 Trey Ellis 5-9 175 Gr. or 4 Donaven Tennyson 5-10 174 Jr. TE 80 Jared Pinkney 6-4 255 R-Jr. 84 Sam Dobbs 6-4 235 Sr. LT 58 Justin Skule 6-6 318 Sr. 71 Jared Southers 6-5 315 R-Jr. LG 74 Cole Clemens 6-6 315 So. or 56 Saige Young 6-4 305 Jr. C 76 Egidio DellaRipa 6-4 305 5th-Sr. 63 Grant Miller 6-4 290 R-Fr. RG 61 Bruno Reagan 6-3 318 5th-Sr. 50 Sean McMoore 6-4 305 R-So. RT 77 Devin Cochran 6-7 318 R-So. 78 Bryce Bailey 6-5 302 R-Fr. QB 14 Kyle Shurmur 6-4 225 Sr. 18 Mo Hasan 6-3 208 R-So. or 15 Allan Walters 6-1 210 Fr. RB 23 Khari Blasingame 6-1 228 Gr. or 5 Ke'Shawn Vaughn 5-10 222 R-Jr. or 32 Jamauri Wakefield 6-1 220 R-So. FB 27 Jaire George 6-1 228 R-Jr. 43 Josh Higgs 6-0 237 R-Fr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DL 10 Dayo Odeyingbo 6-6 270 So. or 29 Louis Vecchio 6-5 270 Gr. DL 90 Cameron Tidd 6-3 290 R-So. or 91 Drew Birchmeier 6-3 295 R-So. 57 Josiah Sa'o 6-2 300 R-So. DL 34 Dare Odeyingbo 6-2 282 Sr. 94 Rutger Reitmaier 6-3 275 R-Fr. 99 Stone Edwards 6-5 260 R-Fr. OLB 11 Charles Wright 6-3 240 5th-Sr. 42 Kenny Hebert 6-4 225 R-So. 9 Caleb Peart 6-1 235 R-Jr. ILB 40 Jordan Griffin 6-0 232 5th-Sr. or 7 Dimitri Moore 6-3 225 R-Fr. 24 Alston Orji 6-2 235 Fr. ILB 18 Colin Anderson 6-2 222 R-Fr. or 12 B. DeVault-Smith 6-2 225 R-Fr. 26 Andrew Rector 6-0 210 Sr. OLB 25 Josh Smith 6-4 242 Sr. 88 Michael Owusu 6-5 230 R-Fr. 48 Andre Mintze 6-3 240 R-So. CB 21 Donovan Sheffield 6-0 190 Sr. or 4 Randall Haynie 6-0 185 R-Fr. 15 Elijah Hamilton 6-2 205 R-So. S 5 LaDarius Wiley 6-1 209 Gr. 38 Gil Barksdale 5-10 188 Jr. 14 Max Worship 6-1 200 Fr. S 3 Tae Daley 6-0 195 So. or 2 Frank Coppet 5-11 188 R-So. 22 Austin Quillen 5-11 195 R-So. CB 8 Joejuan Williams 6-3 210 Jr. 31 Alim Muhammad 5-10 170 Gr. 28 Allan George 6-1 185 R-Fr. VANDERBILT DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. PK 98 Ryley Guay 5-10 185 Jr. 39 Javan Rice 6-2 190 Fr. P 93 Parker Thome 6-4 215 5th-Sr. 95 Harrison Smith 6-0 190 Fr. H 93 Parker Thome 6-4 215 5th-Sr. 95 Harrison Smith 6-0 190 Fr. KR 32 Jamauri Wakefield 6-1 220 R-So. 6 Josh Crawford 5-10 195 R-Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. PR 36 Trey Ellis 5-9 175 Gr. 16 Kalija Lipscomb 6-1 201 Jr. 7 Cam Johnson 6-0 190 Fr. SN 47 Tommy Schiager 6-0 220 R-So. 49 Zach Drevno 6-0 220 Fr. or 35 Kyle White 6-0 220 Fr. Special Teams GAME PREVIEW: VANDERBILT