Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 12, 2018 45 Pro Football Focus graded out junior linebacker Dontavious Jackson, senior defensive tackle De- marcus Christmas and sophomore defensive tackle Marvin Wilson as the team's top run defenders through eight contests. Notre Dame was a bit erratic running the football through its first eight games, but topped 200 yards four times and ranked 46th in the country at 188.5 yards per game. Notre Dame averaged only 124.5 yards and 2.8 yards per carry in its first two games of the season. Over the next six games, the Irish averaged 209.8 yards per game and 4.9 yards per attempt. The emergence of senior running back Dexter Williams has been the driving force behind Notre Dame's recent rushing success. After missing the first four games of the season with an unofficial suspension, Williams racked up 512 yards and 6.9 yards per carry in his first four games back. Notre Dame's 44-22 win over Navy was the first time this season that Williams, sophomore Jafar Armstrong and junior Tony Jones Jr. played to- gether, and the trio racked up 297 yards of total offense. Advantage: Florida State NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. FLORIDA STATE PASS DEFENSE Defending the pass was not a strength for the Seminoles through the first nine weeks of the season. Opponents passed for 287.9 yards per game and averaged 12.9 yards per completion, numbers that ranked Florida State 122nd and 90th nationally, respectively. Its 20 touchdown passes allowed were 117th. One area Florida State does well against the pass is get after the quarterback. Led by standout junior defensive end Brian Burns, the Seminoles ranked 12th in the country with 25 sacks through eight games. The pressure also impacted the ability of oppo- nents to complete passes at a high rate, with the Florida State defense ranking 19th nationally in passing completion rate. Senior strong safety A.J. Westbrook and sopho- more cornerback Levonta Taylor graded out by Pro Football Focus as Florida State's top two cover players through eight games. Taylor is arguably the most physically gifted cornerback Notre Dame will face this season. Notre Dame was one of the top passing offenses in the country through the first five starts of the season by junior quarterback Ian Book. He led the nation in completion percentage (76.5) through the first nine weeks of the season, and his 170.18 quarterback rat- ing ranked him seventh in college football. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Neither squad has been overly strong on special teams through the first nine weeks of the season. Florida State ranked 93rd nationally in special teams efficiency according to ESPN's Football Power Index and 96th according to S&P+. Notre Dame ranked 59th and 56th, respectively, by those two groups. Florida State's top special teams unit has been its punt return squad, which is led by return man D.J. Matthews. The speedy and elusive sophomore ranked fifth in the country with a 13.8 yards per return aver- age through eight games, including a 74-yard runback for a score in Florida State's 28-27 loss to Miami. Notre Dame's top specialists through eight games were fifth-year senior punter Tyler Newsome and se- nior punt returner Chris Finke. Through eight games, Newsome ranked ninth in the country with a 45.7 yards per punt average and Finke was 36th with an 8.6 yards per return mark. Advantage: Even COACHING Despite Willie Taggart having a 47-50 record in his eight seasons as a coach, Florida State hired him away from Oregon to replace national champion- ship winner Jimbo Fisher following the 2017 season. Taggart went 16-20 in three seasons at Western Kentucky and 24-25 in four seasons at South Florida, but he led the Bulls to a 10-2 mark in his final cam- paign in Tampa. Taggart left Oregon for Florida State after just one season after leading the Ducks to a 7-5 mark. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly guided his Irish team to a 61-24 record from 2012 through the first eight games of the 2018 season, a span of just less than seven seasons. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Taggart's teams have not fared well on the road in recent seasons. Through nine weeks, the Seminoles were just 1-2 on the road, with a 28-24 win over a Louisville team that started the season 2-6 the lone triumph. Taggart went just 1-4 on the road last sea- son with Oregon, and just once (2016) in his last six seasons as a head coach have his teams had a winning record on the road. Heading into Florida State's Nov. 3 matchup against No. 21 North Carolina State, Taggart was just 2-17 during his career against ranked opponents, and 0-6 as the coach of a Power Five school. Florida State is also not accustomed to playing in the cold, which it is likely to be when the Seminoles kick off against the Irish. Notre Dame is 11-1 in its last 12 home games, with its lone defeat a one-point loss to eventual national runner-up Georgia on Sept. 9, 2017. Advantage: Notre Dame GAME PREVIEW: FLORIDA STATE Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 89 Keith Gavin 6-3 213 Jr. 88 Tre'Shaun Harrison 6-2 179 Fr. WR 8 Nyqwan Murray 5-11 192 Sr. or 29 D.J. Matthews 5-10 156 So. LT 74 Derrick Kelly II 6-5 320 5th-Sr. 73 Jauan Williams 6-7 295 R-So. LG 70 Cole Minshew 6-5 329 R-Jr. 76 Arthur Williams 6-4 320 5th-Sr. C 54 Alec Eberle 6-4 295 5th-Sr. 51 Baveon Johnson 6-3 295 R-So. RG 72 Mike Arnold 6-5 328 R-So. 70 Cole Minshew 6-5 329 R-Jr. RT 59 Brady Scott 6-6 301 R-Fr. 75 Abdul Bello 6-6 312 R-Jr. TE 6 Tre' McKitty 6-5 245 So. 32 Gabe Nabers 6-3 240 Jr. WR 15 Tamorrion Terry 6-4 197 R-Fr. 27 Ontaria Wilson 6-0 170 R-Fr. QB 12 Deondre Francois 6-1 215 R-Jr. 1 James Blackman 6-5 181 So. RB 3 Cam Akers 5-11 210 So. or 9 Jacques Patrick 6-3 234 Sr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DE 99 Brian Burns 6-5 235 Jr. 13 Joshua Kaindoh 6-7 256 So. DT 90 Demarcus Christmas 6-4 305 5th-Sr. 16 Cory Durden 6-5 290 R-Fr. NG 55 Fredrick Jones 6-2 304 5th-Sr. 21 Marvin Wilson 6-5 317 So. DE 11 Janarius Robinson 6-5 259 R-So. 94 Walvenski Aimé 6-5 270 5th-Sr. SAM 28 DeCalon Brooks 5-10 211 R-Fr. 22 Adonis Thomas 6-4 233 R-Jr. MIKE 5 Dontavious Jackson 6-3 228 Jr. 35 Leonard Warner III 6-4 232 So. STAR 20 Jaiden Woodbey 6-3 215 Fr. 27 Zaquandre White 6-0 210 R-Fr. CB 1 Levonta Taylor 5-10 181 Jr. 26 Asante Samuel Jr. 5-10 178 Fr. FS 8 Stanford Samuels III 6-2 183 So. or 23 Hamsah Nasirildeen 6-4 214 So. SS 19 A.J. Westbrook 6-0 190 Sr. 24 Cyrus Fagan 6-1 192 So. CB 14 Kyle Meyers 6-0 175 Jr. 12 A.J. Lytton 5-11 175 Fr. FLORIDA STATE DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 23 Ricky Aguayo 6-2 205 Jr. 21 Logan Tyler 6-0 192 Jr. H 21 Logan Tyler 6-0 192 Jr. 30 Tommy Martin 5-11 195 R-Fr. LS 40 Ken Burnham 6-0 210 5th-Sr. 44 Grant Glennon 6-3 224 R-Fr. KO 21 Logan Tyler 6-0 192 Jr. 23 Ricky Aguayo 6-2 205 Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. P 21 Logan Tyler 6-0 192 Jr. 30 Tommy Martin 5-11 195 R-Fr. PR 29 D.J. Matthews 5-10 156 So. 20 Keyshawn Helton 5-9 162 Fr. or 8 Nyqwan Murray 5-11 192 Sr. KR 22 Amir Rasul 5-11 205 Jr. 10 Anthony Grant 5-11 190 Fr. KR 27 Zaquandre White 6-0 210 R-Fr. 88 TréShaun Harrison 6-2 179 Fr. Special Teams