Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview
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26 ✦ BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW How many "starters" actually return on a team from the previous year can sometimes be misleading because snap counts can be distributed fairly evenly or alignments can vary. For example, the "starting tight end" last year at Notre Dame was senior Alizé Mack, but Cole Kmet also started seven games in a double tight end look, while slot Chris Finke started the same amount of seven games but was a full-time player with more snaps. Here are the career totals, with last year's starts listed in parentheses. TOP STATE REPRESENTATION At least 27 states plus the District of Columbia and British Columbia, the latter for senior wide receiver Chase Claypool, will be represented on the 2019 Notre Dame roster. Quantity helps, but impact and balance are especially vital to measure the contributions of the top states. 1. California (12) Senior quarterback Ian Book continues a strong Notre Dame tradition at the position from the Golden State, with junior left guard Aaron Banks and sophomore center Jarrett Patterson as starting blockers. On defense, junior Jordan Genmark Heath and sophomore Jack Lamb are both ex - pected to see action at Buck linebacker, as is sophomore TaRiq Bracy at cornerback. Incoming freshman defensive end Isaiah Foskey was a huge addition on National Signing Day. It's clear why the Fighting Irish want to maintain a presence in California with an - nual year-end trips to USC or Stanford. 2. Ohio (8) The offensive line is the dominant feature of this state with senior starters Tommy Kraemer (right guard) and Liam Eichenberg (left tackle), plus sophomore guard John Dirksen and freshman center Zeke Correll also receiving work this past spring with the second unit. Fifth-year senior slot receiver Chris Finke snared 49 passes last season, and class - mate Shaun Crawford could be a factor at nickel or cornerback if he is blessed with good health this season. 3. Illinois (10) Had junior consensus All-American cornerback Julian Love returned for his senior year and wide receiver Miles Boykin used his fifth season, this state might have surpassed California for the top spot. Still, junior tight end Cole Kmet, sophomore cornerback Houston Griffith (by way of IMG Academy in Florida) and senior long snapper John Shannon all have starting roles, while fifth-year senior Trevor Ruhland is a valued utility figure at center or guard. 4. Pennsylvania (7) Junior offensive tackle Robert Hainsey (also by way of IMG) and defensive tackle Kurt Hinish are vital anchors along both lines, and a third junior in Josh Lugg will challenge for significant minutes somewhere along the offensive line. It will be imperative for sophomore quarterback Phil Jurkovec to be ready for ac - tion when needed — which recent history has shown is quite often at the position — while sophomore linebacker Bo Bauer is expected to help at least on special teams a second straight year. This state could end up ranking higher during the season. 5. Florida (7) No one from the state signed in the most recent recruiting cycle, but senior run- ning back Tony Jones Jr. and sophomore wideout Kevin Austin are both expected to see significant time on offense. The X-factors that could aid the state's contributions are junior linebacker Drew White, who came out of nowhere to shine against Navy last season but was injured this spring, and sophomore wide receiver Joe Wilkins. PREVENTING A RARITY: PART II In the 2018 season opener, Michigan's Jim Harbaugh attempted to become only the sixth head coach to defeat Notre Dame at two dif- ferent schools. That attempt failed in a 24-17 Fighting Irish victory that helped propel them into the College Football Playoff three months later. A second, and maybe final, chance will occur Oct. 26 at Michigan in a year where the Wolverines appear to be a popular dark horse to advance to the CFP. That's partly because they are hosting both Notre Dame and Ohio State, which no longer has head coach Urban Meyer. The first to achieve the "double play" was Howard Jones, whose Iowa team in 1921 handed Knute Rockne's squad its lone defeat during the 10-1 campaign, and then would also topple Notre Dame several times while at USC, the first in 1928. Next was Johnny Majors, who twice led Pitt to wins over the Irish in 1975 and 1976, and then two more times at Tennessee in 1979 and 1991. After that came Dennis Erickson (Miami 1989 and Oregon State in 2001 Fiesta Bowl) and Nick Saban, who guided Michigan State to three straight wins over Notre Dame in 1997-99 before seeing his 2012 Alabama juggernaut post a 42-14 conquest of the Irish in the BCS National Championship Game. That made Saban and Northwestern's Ara Parseghian (1956-63) the lone coaches since the 20th century to post a 4-0 record versus Notre Dame. The most recent was Todd Graham, whose Tulsa team stunned Notre Dame in 2010 (28-27) before his 2014 Arizona State unit won 55-31 in Tempe versus the Irish. In between, he almost achieved the rare "triple play" in 2011 at Pitt when his Panthers led Notre Dame in the fourth quarter before falling to a late rally, 15-12. Harbaugh's final two Stanford teams vanquished the Irish in 2009 (45-38) and 2010 (37-14), before he rebuilt the San Francisco 49ers into a Super Bowl team. Adding to Harbaugh's dossier as a nemesis is he was the starting quarterback at Michigan when the Wolverines defeated Notre Dame in 1985 (20-12) and 1986 (24-23). Senior safety Jalen Elliott boasts the most career starts on the team entering this season, having started all 26 contests the past two years. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL Offense Pos. Player Career Starts (2018) WR Chase Claypool 20 (12) OT Tommy Kraemer 19 (10) OT Robert Hainsey 17 (13) QB Ian Book 10 (9) WR Chris Finke 8 (7) TE Cole Kmet 7 (7) OG Aaron Banks 6 (6) OG/C Trevor Ruhland 5 (5) RB Tony Jones Jr. 4 (3) RB Jafar Armstrong 2 (2) TE Brock Wright 1 (1) Defense Pos. Player Career Starts (2018) S Jalen Elliott 26 (13) CB Troy Pride Jr. 19 (12) S Alohi Gilman 13 (13) DE Khalid Kareem 13 (13) DE Daelin Hayes 13 (1) DE Julian Okwara 12 (12) LB Asmar Bilal 10 (10) CB Donte Vaughn 5 (1) CB Shaun Crawford 3 (0) LB Jordan Genmark Heath 1 (1) S Houston Griffith 1 (1) Most Career Starts Entering 2019 The number in parentheses represents 2018 starts