Blue and Gold Illustrated

Preseason 2020

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2020 33 on third and fourth down with three or fewer yards to go. They ranked 70th in stuff rate — defenses stopped nearly 20 percent of their rushes for no gain or a loss. 2. A SLOT FOR SEVERAL CANDIDATES Kelly took a moment during his Aug. 17 press conference to make a brazen guarantee. "We're not going to be a one- tight-end offense," the head coach declared. "You will see three tight ends and not just in goal line. You're going to see the utilization of three tight ends as a basic package because that's our personnel grouping. Those are the guys who can help us win." The state of the room is strong. Kelly has highlighted the early re- turns and readiness of four-star freshmen Michael Mayer and Kevin Bauman. He expects them to see the field. He called likely starter Tommy Tremble "one of our better offensive players." Senior Brock Wright and junior George Takacs shouldn't be forgotten as possible contributors. A potential bump in tight end us- age would affect another position: the slot receiver, a job vacated by Chris Finke. It's the least clear of Notre Dame's three receiver posi- tions. And it could be the place for a second (or third) tight end. "We can certainly make the case we're better suited with two tight ends on the field than we are with a slot," Kelly said. "We're still evaluat- ing that. You're going to see both." In two-tight-end sets last year, Notre Dame ran the ball 168 times and threw 109 passes. Book had 77 completions in two-tight-end sets, which ranked sixth among Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks. It's a familiar and comfortable per- sonnel grouping for him. He threw just two passes with three-plus tight ends on the field, though, and both were goal-line touchdowns. Notre Dame ran only 11 rushing plays with three tight ends. An uptick in three tight end usage would be a departure from Kelly's past, but he thinks it might help get gifted pass-catchers and matchup problems on the field in a creative way. 3. BOOK'S NEXT STEP Book fought himself at times last season. There were moments that looked as if he was at a yellow traffic light, stuck in the indecision of what to do. It resulted in some big plays left on the field because the ball wasn't thrown, even if he scrambled for a decent gain. His accuracy was spotty. Pressure was a bugaboo. He com- pleted 56 percent of his passes and averaged 5.7 yards per pass in Notre Dame's first five Power Five games. But his November and December performance resembled his 2018 play. He was a reason Notre Dame won games instead of a character who did his job while others shined. He averaged 7.6 yards per pass and had three games with at least four touchdown passes. Notre Dame needs the second ver- sion of him, and Kelly is confident he brings it. "He's not distracted by the noise of the position in which he's a leader and quarterback at Notre Dame," Kelly said. "He's going to have a great year. There's no doubt in my mind we're going to see the best ver- sion of Ian Book this fall." Book hasn't been the primary rea- son Notre Dame lost the games it has dropped since 2018. But it'd be a big deal if he can be a primary reason the Fighting Irish win more of the games against the best teams on the regular season schedule, and then in the postseason as well. In sophomore Brendon Clark and freshman Drew Pyne, the Irish have two backup quarterbacks with differ- ent assets. "Brendon's got incredible talent," Kelly said. "He's got a strong arm, he's got strength, escapability. It's just the consistency and performance. "[Pyne] is so smart as a football player. Just has a great concept of the position, and he just has a command about him." ✦ Quarterback No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 12 Ian Book 6-0 206 5th-Sr./1 7 Brendon Clark 6-1 212 So./4 10 Drew Pyne 5-11½ 194 Fr./4 Walk-ons: J.D. Carney (14), Cole Capen (17) and Chase Ketterer (27) Running Back No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 8 Jafar Armstrong 6-1 220 Sr./2 20 C'Bo Flemister 5-11 195 Jr./3 34 Jahmir Smith 5-11 207 Jr./3 23 Kyren Williams 5-9 204 So./4 25 Chris Tyree 5-9½ 179 Fr./4 Walk-on: Cameron Ekanayake (16) Boundary Receiver (W) No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 4 Kevin Austin* 6-2 210 Jr./3 11 Ben Skowronek 6-3 224 5th-Sr./1 88 Javon McKinley 6-2 215 5th-Sr./1 80 Micah Jones 6-4½ 210 Jr./3 * Out eight to 12 weeks after suffering a foot injury in early August Field Receiver (X) No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 0 Braden Lenzy 5-11 181 Jr./3 18 Joe Wilkins Jr. 6-1½ 184 Jr./3 15 Jordan Johnson 6-2 180 Fr./4 82 Xavier Watts 6-0 195 Fr./4 81 Jay Brunelle 6-1 196 Fr./4 Slot Receiver (Z) No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 13 Lawrence Keys III 5-10 173 Jr./3 3 Avery Davis 5-11 205 Sr./2 22 K. Abdur-Rahman 5-11½ 195 So./4 Walk-ons: Leo Albano (26), Henry Cook (37), Griffin Eifert (28), Greg Mailey (43), Conor Ratigan (86) and Matt Salerno (29) Tight End No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 24 Tommy Tremble 6-3 233 Jr./3 89 Brock Wright 6-4½ 250 Sr./1 85 George Takacs 6-6 245 Jr./3 87 Michael Mayer 6-5 235 Fr./4 84 Kevin Bauman 6-5 240 Fr./4 Walk-ons: Jack Henige (49), Xavier Lezynski (48) and Charlie Selna (83) Left Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 74 Liam Eichenberg 6-6 305 5th-Sr./1 73 Andrew Kristofic 6-5 292 So./4 Left Guard No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 69 Aaron Banks 6-6 325 Sr./2 75 Josh Lugg 6-7 308 Sr./2 76 Dillan Gibbons 6-5 305 Sr./2 Center No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 55. Jarrett Patterson 6-4 ½ 300 Jr./3 52 Zeke Correll 6-3 290 So./4 61 Colin Grunhard 6-0 ½ 290 Sr./2 Right Guard No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 78 Tommy Kraemer 6-6 317 5th-Sr./1 56 John Dirksen 6-5 306 Jr./3 70 Hunter Spears 6-5 304 So./4 68 Michael Carmody 6-6 295 Fr./4 Right Tackle No. Player Ht. Wt. Cl./Elig. 72 Robert Hainsey 6-5 295 Sr./1 77 Quinn Carroll 6-6 306 So./4 79 Tosh Baker 6-7 285 Fr./4 Walk-ons: Quinn Murphy (53), Max Siegel (64) and Bren- nan Wicks (62) 2020 Offense Scholarship Chart Without access to practice this August because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is an educated guess of how the 2020 lineup might look.

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