Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 11, 2021 39 GAME PREVIEW: TOLEDO of 37 yards, while Davis was only 2 of 5 with two blocked kicks. Toledo did not return a punt or a kickoff for a touchdown and failed to block any kicks in 2020. With a kickoff return average of only 15.2 yards, the Rockets finished last in the MAC and 123rd in the country in that category. Notre Dame finished among the top 25 nation- ally in kickoff and punt returns in 2020, but it remained middle of the NCAA pack in both of its return defenses. Irish senior punter Jay Bramblett averaged 42.8 yards per kick with 10 punts of more than 50 yards in 2020, while graduate student placekicker Jona- than Doerer became unreliable, missing eight of his 23 field goal attempts, most coming late in the season, when he missed one attempt in each of the final six Irish games. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING In his 13th season with the Toledo program and his sixth as head coach of the Rockets, Jason Can- dle is 38-21 as the program's leader and has put his team in the conversation to win a MAC champion- ship this year. Toledo was picked in the preseason to finish second to Ball State in the West Division. A pair of three-point defeats last season dropped Candle and his Rockets into a tie for second place in the division and out of the conference title game after the 4-2 abbreviated season. With 21 starters returning, expect this to be Candle's best team to date. With at least 10 wins in four straight years, Irish head coach Brian Kelly has his team and program rolling, especially at home. The Irish under Kelly enjoyed their third straight unbeaten season at Notre Dame Stadium last year, extending their home winning streak to 24 games, the longest since 1942-50 when they won 28 straight at home, a record that could fall this year. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES With a history of success and 60 letter winners on his roster — including six All-MAC honorees — Toledo will be among the favorites to win the Mid-American Conference title in 2021. Other than settling on a new starting quarter- back, the Rockets won't be lacking firepower on an offense that averaged 35 points a game last season. This is only the ninth game Notre Dame has ever played against a team from the MAC — it's 8-0 — and it's also the first-ever meeting between these two schools. Advantage: Notre Dame Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LT 68 Mitchell Berg 6-6 310 Jr. 70 Michael Bergen 6-4 280 R-Fr. LG 78 Vitaliy Gurman 6-4 307 Sr. 71 Vinny Sciury 6-3 292 Fr. C 72 Bryce Harris 6-3 295 Sr. 63 Parker Bisek 6-3 290 R-Fr. RG 60 Tyler Long 6-4 290 So. or 65 Luke Doerger 6-2 292 Sr. RT 73 Nick Rosi 6-4 290 So. or 74 Lavel Dumont 6-4 315 So. TE 89 Drew Rosi 6-4 240 Sr. or 9 Jamal Turner 6-6 255 Jr. QB 2 Carter Bradley 6-3 210 So. or 7 Dequan Finn 6-2 198 R-Fr. RB 22 Bryant Koback 6-0 205 Jr. 21 Jacquez Stuart 5-9 170 R-Fr. or 3 Micah Kelly 5-9 195 R-Fr. WR-Z 5 Bryce Mitchell 6-3 207 Sr. or 14 Isaiah Winstead 6-3 210 Jr. WR-X 4 Danzel McKinley-Lewis 5-11 190 Sr. or 19 Jerjuan Newton 5-11 186 R-Fr. WR-M 8 Devin Maddox 5-9 175 So. 17 Demeer Blankumsee 5-10 180 Fr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. OLB 91 Jamal Hines 6-3 250 Jr. 85 Adrian Woliver 6-2 250 So. DT 95 Judge Culpepper 6-4 290 So. 96 David Hood 6-1 280 Sr. or 97 Cavon Butler 6-3 310 So. DT 99 Desjuan Johnson 6-3 255 Jr. 98 Darius Alexander 6-4 320 R-Fr. or 92 Devan Rogers 6-2 285 So. OLB 56 Terrance Taylor 6-3 235 Jr. 48 Nate Givhan 6-4 240 Jr. or 44 D'Andre Ragin 6-2 230 R-Fr. WLB 45 Dyontae Johnson 6-2 230 Jr. 35 AJ Crider 6-1 227 Jr. or 51 Josh Recker 6-1 227 R-Fr. LB 30 Jonathan Jones 5-11 225 Sr. 42 Jackson Barrow 6-0 220 R-Fr. NIC 20 Saeed Holt 6-0 195 Jr. 0 Samuel Womack 5-10 185 Sr. CB 27 Quinyon Mitchell 6-0 197 Fr. 13 Chris McDonald 5-10 185 So. SS 6 Nate Bauer 6-0 195 So. 25 Maxen Hook 6-0 210 Fr. FS 7 Zachary Ford 6-3 203 So. 23 Troy Simon 6-0 190 Jr. CB 0 Samuel Womack 5-10 185 Sr. 24 Justin Clark 5-11 180 Jr. TOLEDO DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 17 Thomas Cluckey 6-1 195 So. or 29 Evan Davis 5-9 180 So. P 49 Bailey Flint 6-4 215 Sr. 17 Thomas Cluckey 6-1 195 So. H 49 Bailey Flint 6-4 215 Sr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 58 Sean Mills 6-2 220 Sr. KR 21 Jacquez Stuart 5-9 170 R-Fr. 4 Danzel McKinley-Lewis 5-11 190 Sr. PR 8 Devin Maddox 5-9 175 So. 10 Adam Beale 5-8 165 So. Special Teams Staff Predictions Todd D. Burlage: Notre Dame 49, Toledo 24 Sixth-year Toledo head coach Jason Candle returns 21 starters — including six All-Mid- American Conference honorees from last sea- son — on a dangerous Rockets team that's ex- pected to battle for a MAC championship this season. Irish head coach Brian Kelly counters with a 24-game winning streak at home and with some dominating and sustained success against unranked opponents. Talent and depth take this one. Steve Downey: Notre Dame 41, Toledo 14 Toledo enters the season with a veteran team and legitimate hopes of winning their first MAC title since 2017. However, the Irish boast a 5-0 mark against MAC schools under Brian Kelly, winning by an average score of 47-16 (the lone outlier being a 24-16 win over Ball State in 2018). The Rockets were turnover- prone — 12 in just six games — last year, and that is just the type of thing that can give the Irish separation in this one. Patrick Engel: Notre Dame 45, Toledo 10 As far as paycheck games go, Toledo is a solid opponent. The Rockets are one of the MAC's most consistent programs and haven't had a losing season since 2009. They'll be one of the most experienced teams in college football this year, with 16 "super seniors." They return 89 percent of their production from last sea- son (20th nationally). At the same time, this is Notre Dame against a MAC team. The Irish should have little trouble. Tyler Horka: Notre Dame 38, Toledo 10 Irish offensive coordinator Tommy Rees is still going to be working out some kinks with graduate student quarterback Jack Coan and the rest of the Notre Dame offense. I wouldn't expect anything upward of 50 points from the Irish, but the defense is once again going to be lights out. Through two weeks of the season, it'll be evident defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman and company could have something special. Mike Singer: Notre Dame 42, Toledo 9 While Toledo is typically one of the stron- ger teams in the Group of Five, the Rockets shouldn't provide much of a challenge to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish will be ready for its home opener — despite the shortened week after playing Florida State six days before — and will win big against Toledo.