Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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38 SEPT. 26, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED the season opener against Duke that he needed to rotate more people into his defensive secondary and build a deeper rotation. Junior TaRiq Bracy and fifth-year senior Nick Mc- Cloud drew the opening-day starts at cornerback for Notre Dame and played all but two snaps, caus- ing Kelly to say those two looked tired by the end of the game. Duke finished with 259 passing yards against the Irish, but with limited damage. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. WAKE FOREST RUN DEFENSE Somewhat surprisingly, sophomore Kyren Wil- liams drew the opening day start at running back for the Irish and didn't disappoint. He earned ACC Running Back of the Week honors with 112 yards on the ground and another 93 through the air, leaving week one as the nation's Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) leader with 205 all-purpose yards. Through the first two games, it's evident that Notre Dame first-year offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will lean heavily on the run game, and why not with a veteran offensive line and a deep stable of running backs who provide a variety of playing styles and skill sets? Behind Williams — who looks the part of a work- horse back — freshman Chris Tyree has already shown flashes of his well-publicized explosiveness and senior Jafar Armstrong is a valuable receiving option out of the backfield. Wake Forest ranked 74th nationally last season in rushing defense and was 16th in third-down conversion defense. The Deacons return their two-leading tacklers in 2020 — junior linebacker Ryan Smenda Jr. and red- shirt senior linebacker Ja'Cquez Williams. Smenda recorded 81 tackles with seven for loss and two sacks. Williams added 73 tackles with 6.5 for loss and 3.5 sacks in 2019. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. WAKE FOREST PASS DEFENSE Through injuries and position shuffling, the Irish receiving corps has looked a bit like a shell game so far this season. Fifth-year senior Ben Skowronek left the Duke game with an injured hamstring and was kept out last week against South Florida. His status remains uncertain. Speedy junior wide receiver Braden Lenzy has also been slowed by injury, sitting out the contest versus the Blue Devils with his own hamstring ailment. To this point, fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book has mainly used tight ends and running backs as his primary targets. However, Kelly indicated he expects a more downfield evolution as the receiver position becomes more settled. The early season turbulence and depth chart sur- prises at wide receiver began with top projected tar- get Kevin Austin undergoing foot surgery on Aug. 3. His rehabilitation has been going well, per Kelly, with the hope of his return sometime in October. Wake Forest tied for eighth in the country with 14 interceptions and was 12th with 25 turnovers gained last season. Active junior safety Nasir Greer had an inter- ception, broke up four passes and forced three fumbles in 2019. The Deacons pass defense is anchored by 2019 first-team All-ACC defensive end, 2020 preseason All-American and fifth-year senior Carlos Basham Jr. Basham — a fitting last name for this disruptive 6-5, 285-pound playmaker — led Wake Forest last season with 18 tackles for loss and 11 sacks. Wake Forest returns all four starters along its defensive line, a unit that is expected to be the best Deacons head coach Dave Clawson has fielded during his seven years on the job. Advantage: Even SPECIAL TEAMS Wake Forest features a first-team preseason All- American in senior placekicker Nick Sciba — a semifinalist for the 2019 Louis Groza Award — an honor given to the nation's best kicker. Sciba went 24 of 25 on his field goals and 47 of 47 on his point after tries last season. Where the Deacons struggled mightily in this category last season was in their return defenses. Wake Forest was 122nd out of 130 FBS teams ver- sus kickoff returners and the second worst in the country at stopping punt returners. Tyree, a first-year kickoff return man for the Irish, has already shown breakaway flashes in his early GAME PREVIEW: WAKE FOREST Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 0 Braden Lenzy 5-11½ 181 Jr. 18 Joe Wilkins Jr. 6-1½ 190 Jr. WR 3 Avery Davis 5-11 202 Sr. 13 Lawrence Keys III 5-10 173 Jr. LT 74 Liam Eichenberg 6-6 302 5th-Sr. 73 Andrew Kristofic 6-5 292 So. LG 69 Aaron Banks 6-6 330 Sr. 76 Dillan Gibbons 6-4 309 Sr. C 55 Jarrett Patterson 6-4½ 305 Jr. 52 Zeke Correll 6-3 295 So. RG 78 Tommy Kraemer 6-6 317 5th-Sr. 56 John Dirksen 6-5 306 Jr. RT 72 Robert Hainsey 6-5 290 Sr. 75 Josh Lugg 6-7 310 Sr. TE 89 Brock Wright 6-4½ 255 Sr. 24 Tommy Tremble 6-3 242 Jr. or 85 George Takacs 6-6 245 Jr. or 87 Michael Mayer 6-5 235 Fr. WR 88 Javon McKinley 6-2 215 5th-Sr. 18 Joe Wilkins Jr. 6-1½ 190 Jr. QB 12 Ian Book 6-0 206 5th-Sr. 7 Brendon Clark 6-2 212 So. RB 23 Kyren Williams 5-9 194 So. 25 Chris Tyree 5-9½ 188 Fr. or 34 Jahmir Smith 5-11 207 Jr. or 20 C'Bo Flemister 5-11 195 Jr. or 8 Jafar Armstrong 6-1 220 Sr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Vyper 9 Daelin Hayes 6-4 270 5th-Sr. 29 Ovie Oghoufo 6-3 240 Jr. or 7 Isaiah Foskey 6-5 257 So. DT 95 M. Tagovailoa-Amosa 6-2½ 282 Sr. 57 Jayson Ademilola 6-3 279 Jr. NT 41 Kurt Hinish 6-2 296 Sr. 54 Jacob Lacey 6-2 293 So. SDE 91 Ade Ogundeji 6-4 268 5th-Sr. 19 Justin Ademilola 6-2 248 Jr. or 7 Isaiah Foskey 6-5 257 So. Buck 33 Shayne Simon 6-3 228 Jr. or 35 Marist Liufau 6-2 226 So. Mike 40 Drew White 6-0 227 Sr. 52 Bo Bauer 6-3 230 Jr. Rover 6 J. Owusu-Koramoah 6-1½ 215 Sr. 13 Paul Moala 5-11½ 224 Jr. CB 4 Nick McCloud 6-0½ 192 5th-Sr. 5 Cam Hart 6-2½ 207 So. CB 28 TaRiq Bracy 5-10 180 Jr. or 26 Clarence Lewis 5-11½ 192 Fr. SS 20 Shaun Crawford 5-9 180 6th-Sr. 3 Houston Griffith 6-0 204 Jr. FS 14 Kyle Hamilton 6-4 219 So. 12 DJ Brown 6-0 194 Jr. or 10 Isaiah Pryor 6-1½ 204 Gr. Special Teams Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. KO 39 Jonathan Doerer 6-3 197 Sr. 38 Dawson Goepferich 6-2 200 5th-Sr. K 39 Jonathan Doerer 6-3 197 Sr. 38 Dawson Goepferich 6-2 200 5th-Sr. P 19 Jay Bramblett 6-1½ 193 So. 38 Dawson Goepferich 6-2 200 5th-Sr. LS 65 Michael Vinson 6-2 226 Jr. 44 Alex Peitsch 6-1 208 Fr. H 19 Jay Bramblett 6-1½ 193 So. 14 J.D. Carney 5-10 180 Sr. PR 13 Lawrence Keys III 5-10 173 Jr. 29 Kyren Williams 5-9 194 So. KR 25 Chris Tyree 5-9½ 188 Fr. or 8 Jafar Armstrong 6-1 220 Sr. NOTRE DAME DEPTH CHART