Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1162458
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 16, 2019 37 games with senior Brandon Wimbush starting at quarterback. After junior Ian Book was inserted into the lineup in game four, the average jumped up to 306.9 passing yards per game, which would have ranked 12th nationally if maintained over the course of the entire season. Despite the loss of leading pass catcher Miles Boykin to the NFL, the Irish have a couple of vet- eran pass catchers for Book to throw to. Senior wideout Chase Claypool, who had just one fewer catch than Boykin the final seven games, is ex- pected to be the team's go-to receiver. The return of fifth-year senior wide receiver Chris Finke and a talented sophomore class give Book a number of after-the-catch weapons. New Mexico struggled defending the pass a season ago, ranking 114th in yards allowed per attempt (8.5), 128th in yards allowed per comple- tion (14.7) and 104th in pass efficiency defense (144.61 rating). To make matters worse, New Mexico must re- place nine starters on defense, including all five in the secondary. Only senior cornerback De'John Rogers (two games) has any starting experience among returning players. If they are to improve against the pass, the Lobos will have to get better at pressuring the quarter- back. New Mexico's 26 sacks in 2019 ranked 69th nationally. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS New Mexico was wildly erratic on special teams in 2018. The Lobos led the nation in kick return coverage (14.9 yards allowed per return) and ranked fourth in punt return average (19.4 yards per attempt). In addition, junior punter Thomas Dyer returns after finishing 17th in the nation with an average of 44.3 yards per kick. The bad news is Davie's squad ranked 128th in kick return average (15.8) and 54th in punt return coverage (7.5 yards allowed per return). Also, safety Marcus Hayes — who led the na- tion in punt return average (21.3) a season ago — transferred in the offseason. Kickoff specialist Danny Sutton is also gone after finishing 17th in the country in touchback percentage (70.0). Notre Dame likewise lost vital personnel from its special teams, with the programs all-time lead- ing scorer Justin Yoon and prolific punter Tyler Newsome both exhausting their eligibility. Their replacements — junior placekicker Jonathan Do- erer and freshman punter Jay Bramblett — are inexperienced. The Fighting Irish ranked 62nd and 109th, re- spectively, in punt return coverage and kick cover- age, numbers that must dramatically improve in year three of Brian Polian's tenure running the special teams units. Advantage: Even COACHING After his firing from Notre Dame at the conclu- sion of the 2001 season with a 5-6 record, former Irish head coach Bob Davie spent the next 10 years working for ESPN in various capacities, but the call from the sideline proved too great. Davie took over a New Mexico program that had gone 3-33 in the three seasons prior to his arrival. By his fourth season, he had the Lobos in their first bowl game since 2007. He led New Mexico to a combined 16-10 record in 2015-16, but over the last two seasons he has gone just 6-18. The 64-year-old head coach enters the 2019 season as a regular on preseason "hot seat" lists, which means his job could be in jeopardy if he can't get things turned around appreciably. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly has taken the Irish in a completely different direction. He and the Irish bottomed out in 2016 with a 4-8 mark in a year in which the Lobos were 9-4. Since that time, Notre Dame has gone 22-4 and is com- ing off the school's first-ever College Football Play- off berth that began in 2014. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Under Davie, the Lobos are 0-8 in the regular season against Power Five opponents, losing by an average combined score of 47-16. New Mexico is also just 13-28 on the road since Davie took over, so there isn't much working in its favor heading into the school's first-ever visit to South Bend. Conversely, Notre Dame has recorded a 10-1 mark against non-Power Five opponents in the last four seasons, winning those games by an average score of 39-18. Notre Dame is 12-1 at home over the previous two seasons and went 6-0 at home in 2018. Advantage: Notre Dame GAME PREVIEW: NEW MEXICO Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR-X 9 Jordan Kress 6-0 197 Jr. 80 Anu Somoye 6-2 195 5th-Sr. or 13 Aaron Molina 6-3 200 5th-Sr. LT 78 Javon Mosley 6-7 335 Sr. 76 Jarred Sylvester 6-5 309 Sr. LG 79 Chris Estrella 6-4 294 Sr. 71 David Zavala 6-4 297 Sr. C 64 Kyle Stapley 6-3 307 Jr. 55 Radson Jang 6-1 271 R-So. RG 66 Jacob Jankoviak 6-2 285 Jr. 73 Cade Briggs 6-3 275 Fr. RT 50 Teton Saltes 6-6 284 R-Jr. 65 Justice Spates 6-4 271 So. or 67 Hayden Wilson 6-3 281 R-So. TE 88 Marcus Williams 6-3 205 Jr. 84 Erik Beilman 6-4 255 5th-Sr. or 82 Jeffrey Jones Jr. 6-5 236 Sr. or 85 Kyle Jarvis 6-3 244 Jr. WR-Y 23 Jay Griffin IV 5-10 159 R-Jr. 3 Elijah Lilly 6-0 159 Sr. WR-Z 7 Anselem Umeh 5-11 176 R-Jr. 15 Q Drennan 6-2 194 R-Jr. or 11 Cedric Patterson III 5-11 168 R-Fr. QB 12 Brandt Hughes 6-2 226 Jr. or 4 Sheriron Jones 6-3 196 Sr. or 8 Tekava Salanoa-Tuioti 6-1 199 R-So. or 10 Trae Hall 6-2 181 R-Fr. RB 28 Ahmari Davis 5-10 182 Sr. 33 Javohn Jones 5-10 185 5th-Sr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LE 84 Trent Sellers 6-3 271 Sr. 95 Adebayo Soremekun 6-2 298 Sr. NT 52 Aaron Blackwell 6-3 288 Sr. 99 Ben Gansallo 6-2 291 Jr. RE 90 Erin Austin 6-2 269 Sr. 98 Joey Noble 6-3 253 Jr. Rush 18 Dylan Horton 6-4 222 So. 20 Jacobi Hearn 5-11 237 Jr. MLB 33 Alex Hart 6-3 235 5th-Sr. 46 Brandon Shook 6-2 231 R-Jr. or 23 Reco Hannah 6-2 211 Jr. Buck 30 Alexander Vainikolo 5-11 246 Sr. 5 James Lewis 5-11 215 Jr. LCB 6 De'John Rogers 5-9 170 Sr. 12 Antonio Hunt 5-8 164 So. SS 3 Patrick Peek 5-10 199 Sr. 9 Jerrick Reed II 5-10 188 So. FS 11 Kameron Miller 6-2 204 R-Jr. 15 Letayveon Beaton 5-9 200 Jr. or 4 Shaddrick Lowery Jr. 5-9 191 So. Nick 32 Johnny Hernandez 5-10 187 5th-Sr. 13 Nico Bolden 6-3 207 R-So. RCB 8 Donte Martin 5-9 167 R-Fr. 7 Blair Manly 6-2 205 5th-Sr. NEW MEXICO DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. FG 94 Andrew Shelley 6-1 185 R-So. 47 Dylan Kelly-Romero 5-10 192 5th-Sr. KO 99 Donovan Murphree 6-2 175 R-Fr. 47 Dylan Kelly-Romero 5-10 192 5th-Sr. P 96 Tyson Dyer 6-2 198 Jr. 94 Andrew Shelley 6-1 185 R-So. DS 34 Jared EnRico 6-1 195 Jr. 48 Aiden Kneller 6-1 206 Fr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. H 96 Tyson Dyer 6-2 198 Jr. 12 Brandt Hughes 6-2 226 Jr. KOR 8 Donte Martin 5-9 167 R-Fr. 15 Q Drennan 6-2 194 R-Jr. PR 6 De'John Rogers 5-9 170 Sr. 15 Q Drennan 6-2 194 R-Jr. Special Teams