Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 31, 2020 39 project wouldn't happen overnight — a belief validated during his 3-9 first season. Collins, who came to Atlanta after coaching two seasons at Temple, returned 18 starters from last year (eight on offense and 10 on defense). The Yellow Jackets have shown marginal improvement with victories over Florida State and Louisville. Under Kelly, Notre Dame entered last week's game at Pittsburgh with a 7-1 road record against league teams since 2016, winning those seven by an average of 26.4 points. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Considering Georgia Tech returned all but four starters from 2019, the team's absence of emerg- ing players at the skill positions remains concern- ing for Collins — although his roster was thinned early this season because of unexpected player shortages. Another huge issue was 14 turnovers (third most nationally) in the first five games. Notre Dame's balanced defense promises to keep that stability search ongoing for Collins at least through next week. Kelly expressed concern with his lack of run/pass offensive balance after the headshaking five-point win over Louisville. But riding arguably the best unit Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea has fielded here — and one of the best in the nation at stopping third-down conversion plays (No. 2 with a 20.8 percent rate) — the Irish can survive more offen- sive imbalance in this game … but Clemson looms. Advantage: Notre Dame GAME PREVIEW: GEORGIA TECH Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 15 Malachi Carter 6-3 200 Jr. 26 Josh Blancato 5-10 190 R-Jr. Slot 2 Ahmarean Brown 5-10 170 So. 11 Marquez Ezzard 6-2 210 R-So. LT 73 Zach Quinney 6-6 315 R-Jr. 65 Austin Smith 6-3 310 R-So. LG 78 Jack DeFoor 6-5 310 R-Sr. 72 Charlie Clark 6-4 305 R-Jr. C 57 Mikey Minihan 6-3 307 R-Jr. 79 William Lay III 6-2 305 R-Jr. RG 70 Ryan Johnson 6-6 325 R-Sr. 55 Kenny Cooper 6-3 325 R-Sr. RT 54 Jordan Williams 6-6 330 Fr. 61 Michael Maye 6-3 320 R-So. TE 83 Dylan Deveney 6-6 258 So. 34 Jack Coco 6-2 240 R-Jr. WR 1 Jalen Camp 6-2 220 r-Sr. 12 Adonicas Sanders 6-1 195 r-Jr. QB 10 Jeff Sims 6-3 215 Fr. 13 Jordan Yates 6-0 200 R-Fr. RB 21 Jahmyr Gibbs 5-11 200 Fr. 22 Jamious Griffin 5-10 218 So. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 42 Jordan Domineck 6-3 247 R-So. 31 Kyle Kennard 6-4 235 Fr. or 35 Jared Ivey 6-6 240 Fr. DT 0 Djimon Brooks 6-1 305 R-So. 52 Justice Dingle 6-3 280 R-So. or 94 Mike Lockhart 6-4 302 R-Fr. DT 99 D'Quon Douse 6-2 305 R-Fr. 92 Ja'Quon Griffin 6-0 276 R-So. DE 9 Antonneous Clayton 6-3 270 R-Sr. 15 Chico Bennett Jr. 6-4 250 So. LB 6 David Curry 6-2 230 R-Sr. 17 Demetrius Knight II 6-2 232 So. LB 44 Quez Jackson 6-1 225 Jr. 5 Jerry Howard Jr. 6-0 230 Sr. CB 25 Charlie Thomas 6-2 210 Jr. 16 Myles Sims 6-3 185 R-So. FS 1 Juanyeh Thomas 6-3 220 Jr. 14 Jaylon King 6-1 195 R-So. SS 2 Tariq Carpenter 6-2 226 Sr. 18 Derrik Allen 6-2 213 R-Fr. NICK 22 Kaleb Oliver 6-4 220 R-Jr. or 3 Tre Swilling 6-0 205 R-Jr. CB 21 Zamari Walton 6-3 187 R-So. 24 Kenan Johnson 6-1 185 R-Fr. GEORGIA TECH DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 46 Gavin Stewart 5-11 170 Fr. or 87 Jude Kelley 6-1 170 Fr. KO 48 Austin Kent 6-1 215 R-Jr. 46 Gavin Stewart 5-11 170 Fr. P 27 Pressley Harvin III 6-0 255 Sr. 48 Austin Kent 6-1 215 R-Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 34 Jack Coco 6-2 240 R-Jr. 52 Cade Long 5-11 220 R-So. KR 21 Jahmyr Gibbs 5-11 200 Fr. 1 Juanyeh Thomas 6-3 220 Jr. PR 11 Marquez Ezzard 6-2 210 R-So. 26 Josh Blancato 5-10 190 R-Jr. Special Teams Through five games, sophomore cornerback Zamari Walton led the Yellow Jackets in intercep- tions (two) and passes broken up (three). PHOTO BY RICH BARNES, USA TODAY SPORTS