Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1133608
BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 101 DEFENSIVE BACKS DID YOU KNOW? Notre Dame's No. 6 finish last year in pass ef- ficiency defense was its highest since the NCAA first started using the stat in the early 1990s. Prior to that, the NCAA measured pass de- fense only by yardage allowed, which can be misleading when teams rack up yardage through the air during "garbage time" in losses. An effective pass rush, tremendously im- proved safety play and the combination of con- sensus All-American Julian Love and speedster Troy Pride Jr. at the cornerback positions con- tributed to the upgrade and overall production. Love and Pride each allowed only one touch- down pass over them in the 13 games, and the defense overall permitted just 10. Unfortu- nately, three came in the second quarter of the Cotton Bowl loss to Clemson when Love was temporarily sidelined with a head injury. 2018 VS. 2019: STOCK UP OR DOWN? Notre Dame is in a similar situation heading into the 2019 season that it was last fall — and it turned out quite well in 2018. A year ago, the Irish had a chance to have one of the nation's premier cornerbacks tandem with Julian Love and Troy Pride Jr., but the safety position joined running backs as the team's top question mark. Now the Irish enter the season with one of the nation's preeminent safety tandems and a cornerback (Pride) with All-American talent, but there are concerns at the other corner, nickel and with safety depth. Most of the reserves have been either injury prone or are unproven. How quickly this can be allayed will determine the group's collective effectiveness. X-FACTOR Senior Troy Pride Jr. is the probable successor for All-American cornerback Julian Love at boundary cornerback after starting at the field spot a season ago. Pride will also be tasked with replacing Love's highly productive play. During the final six games in 2018, Pride held quarterbacks to a 40.7 percent completion rate and a measly 3.8 yards per target, far better than Love's 59.5 percent rate and 5.3 yards per target during the same stretch. Pride also provides a team high 4.32 speed in the 40-yard dash, and a stel- lar season from him is anticipated. FRESHMAN OUTLOOK Pride will man one spot, and sophomores Houston Griffith and TaRiq Bracy are competing for snaps at field cornerback. Behind them are injury-ravaged veter- ans Shaun Crawford, Donte Vaughn, converted running back and quarter- back Avery Davis, and senior walk- on Temitope Agoro, who started on special teams last year. This creates a bit of opportu- nity for freshmen KJ Wallace and Isaiah Rutherford to crack the two deep. Wallace is smart and technically sound while draw- ing comparisons to Love as a prep player, and Rutherford brings good length (6-0) and speed. In most years at safety, the highly touted Kyle Hamilton would be vying for a starting role. Still, he could find himself in the 2019 rotation, as might Litchfield Ajavon. QUOTABLE: SENIOR CORNERBACK TROY PRIDE JR., WHO HAS QUALIFIED FOR THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIPS AS A SPRINTER, ON GIVING UP THE SPORT THIS YEAR TO CONCENTRATE SOLELY ON FOOTBALL: "I felt a lot more put together. But I wasn't stretching myself too thin — I wasn't out every weekend on a flight or some- thing. … I also feel faster. I just feel in a good place. Maybe I just needed to be in a more focused level." Field Safety 11 Alohi Gilman (5-10½, 201), Sr./2 12 DJ Brown (6-0½, 192), So./4 14 Kyle Hamilton (6-3, 190), Fr./4 Field Cornerback 3 Houston Griffith (6-0, 205), So./3 35 TaRiq Bracy (5-10, 172), So./3 20 Shaun Crawford (5-9, 186), 5th/2 15 Isaiah Rutherford (6-0, 175), Fr./4 Boundary Safety 21 Jalen Elliott (6-0½, 210), Sr./1 7 Derrik Allen (6-1½, 220), So./4 — Litchfield Ajavon (5-11, 185), Fr./4 Boundary Cornerback 5 Troy Pride Jr. (5-11½, 194), Sr./1 8 Donte Vaughn (6-3, 210), Sr./1 4 Avery Davis (5-11, 200), Jr./3 16 KJ Wallace (5-11, 190), Fr./4 NOTABLE DATA Of the 957 snaps taken by the Notre Dame defense last year (472 rushing and 485 passing), the starting safety tandem of Jalen Elliott and Alohi Gilman was credited by BlueandGold.com with 934 and 923, respectively, or 97.2 percent between them. Furthermore, Elliott and Gilman were regulars on special teams, especially cov- erage, meaning they likely eclipsed 1,000 total snaps apiece. Also, consensus All-American cor- nerback Julian Love took 864 snaps (66.5 per game), and part of the reason Love stated he turned pro after his junior year was that, when including special teams, the tread through the first three years on his tires was beginning to show. It will be up to the sophomores and incoming freshmen to display enough where the start- ing unit might not have to monopolize all the action. SCHOLARSHIP PLAYERS (14) Listed after the class year is the years of eligibility remaining. Cornerback TaRiq Bracy was perhaps the top surprise in the freshman class last year after working his way into the rotation. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL