Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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40 SEPT. 16, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: CENTRAL MICHIGAN 6 touchdowns and no picks over six quarters of action. He looks like everything the Irish hoped for when they picked him up as a transfer from Wake Forest, and he'll have no trouble making plays downfield against the Chippewas. Up front, CMU lost pass rusher Thomas Incoom, who totaled 11.5 sacks in 2022 and recently made the Denver Broncos' roster as an undrafted free agent. Incoom accounted for about a third of Cen- tral Michigan's sack production last season, which is even more than eventual second-round pick Isa- iah Foskey did for Notre Dame. CMU has typically pressured quarterbacks well under fifth-year coach Jim McElwain, and it sacked Kim twice in Week 1. Notre Dame did not allow a sack through the first two weeks of the season, but it did give up 10 pres- sures against Tennessee State. The starting Irish guards, juniors Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler, still lack experience, but they should be up to speed by the time Central Michigan enters South Bend. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Central Michigan redshirt junior kicker Tristan Mattson has never attempted a field goal in col- lege football, but he handled kickoffs in 2021 and 2022 at Arkansas State (as a teammate of eventual Notre Dame kicker Blake Grupe). During those two seasons, 47.3 percent of his kickoffs were touchbacks, which is significantly lower than Notre Dame graduate student kicker Spencer Shrader's career 69.8 percent mark through two games this season. Shrader missed his lone field goal attempt from 42 yards through two contests, which brought his career total down to 66.7 percent. On the punting side, CMU senior and Tarlton State transfer Jake Walrath has plenty of experience, with 138 career punts through Week 1 to Irish sophomore Bryce McFerson's 2. Walrath's career long is an impres- sive 74 yards, so he has the leg. McFerson, by all accounts, has a booming right foot as well. Central Michigan's punt returner is Wisconsin transfer wide receiver Stephan Bracey Jr. He did not have a punt return in his career entering Week 2 but neither did senior Notre Dame wide receiver Chris Tyree, who looked the part through two weeks with 2 returns for 17 yards. When the players are bigger, stronger and faster at one school than they are at another, the special teams units will generally be better. That is the case at Notre Dame, which feasted on Group of Five school UNLV last season with two blocked punts. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING Notre Dame offensive coordinator Gerad Parker and defensive coordinator Al Golden have been impressive through two weeks. Parker's play-call- ing has exceeded most outside expectations thus far, and Golden has done a nice job adjusting to some unknowns that Navy and Tennessee State threw at the Irish. Wide receivers coach Chansi Stuckey, running backs coach Deland McCullough and cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens are three assistants whom Irish fans should feel very good about, with the way they've built strength and depth in their respective rooms. Irish head coach Marcus Freeman has spent a lot of time in his press conference reflecting on the areas in which he's improved as a leader, a coach and the CEO of the program since he was first promoted after Brian Kelly left for LSU. In particular, Freeman's "one play, one life" approach to focusing on one game at a time has paid off for Notre Dame in the early going. On the Central Michigan side, Jim McElwain has experience coaching at the Power Five level, but his time at Florida ended poorly and abruptly. After winning the Southeastern Conference East division in McElwain's first two seasons (2015-16), the Gators started 3-3 before a 42-7 drubbing at the hands of Georgia. Before the Georgia loss, he surprised Florida officials by abruptly claiming his players and mem- bers of his family received death threats. After considering firing McElwain for cause due to that OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 83 Jayden Thomas 6-1½ 221 Jr. 0 Deion Colzie 6-4¾ 210 Jr. WR 4 Chris Tyree 5-9½ 192 Sr. 19 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 204 Fr. LT 76 Joe Alt 6-7⅝ 322 Jr. 79 Tosh Baker 6-8 317 Sr. LG 78 Pat Coogan 6-5⅛ 303 Jr. 74 Billy Schrauth 6-4½ 311 So. C 52 Zeke Correll 6-3 306 Gr. 70 Ashton Craig 6-4¼ 307 So. RG 50 Rocco Spindler 6-4⅝ 314 Jr. 73 Andrew Kristofic 6-5¼ 305 Gr. RT 54 Blake Fisher 6-6 310 Jr. 59 Aamil Wagner 6-6 288 So. TE 88 Mitchell Evans 6-5⅛ 251 Jr. 13 Holden Staes 6-4¼ 242 So. 38 Davis Sherwood 6-3 238 Jr. WR 5 Tobias Merriweather 6-4 204 So. 17 Rico Flores Jr. 6-0⅛ 205 Fr. QB 10 Sam Hartman 6-1⅛ 212 Gr. 18 Steve Angeli 6-2⅜ 211 So. RB 7 Audric Estimé 5-11½ 233 Jr. 3 Gi'Bran Payne 5-9⅛ 208 So. or 24 Jadarian Price 5-10⅜ 206 So. or 22 Devyn Ford 5-11 200 Gr. or 12 Jeremiyah Love 5-11⅞ 197 Fr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Vyper 12 Jordan Botelho 6-2½ 264 Sr. 44 Junior Tuihalamaka 6-1⅞ 254 So. DT 99 Rylie Mills 6-5⅛ 306 Sr. 47 Jason Onye 6-4½ 294 Jr. NT 56 Howard Cross III 6-0⅞ 288 Gr. 92 Aidan Keanaaina 6-3 309 Sr. or 41 Donovan Hinish 6-1⅝ 280 So. SDE 1 Javontae Jean-Baptiste 6-4½ 260 Gr. or 31 Nana Osafo-Mensah 6-3⅛ 264 Sr. 40 Joshua Burnham 6-3½ 248 So. Will 8 Marist Liufau 6-2¼ 239 Gr. 23 Jaiden Ausberry 6-0⅛ 224 Fr. Mike 27 JD Bertrand 6-1 233 Gr. 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 234 Fr. Rover 24 Jack Kiser 6-1⅝ 232 Gr. 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1⅛ 222 So. CB 5 Cam Hart 6-2½ 207 Gr. 7 Jaden Mickey 5-11½ 180 So. LS 2 DJ Brown 6-1¼ 202 Gr. or 4 Antonio Carter II 5-11¾ 207 Gr. or 13 Thomas Harper 5-10⅝ 193 Gr. RS 0 Xavier Watts 5-11¾ 204 Sr. or 11 Ramon Henderson 6-1 196 Sr. CB 20 Benjamin Morrison 6-0¼ 185 So. 29 Christian Gray 5-11¾ 189 Fr. or 6 Clarence Lewis 5-11½ 202 Sr. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 32 Spencer Shrader 6-1⅜ 200 Gr. 92 Zac Yoakam 5-8 188 So. K 32 Spencer Shrader 6-1⅜ 200 Gr. 92 Zac Yoakam 5-8 188 So. P 14 Bryce McFerson 6-1½ 197 So. 43 Ben Krimm 6-1⅛ 204 Gr. LS 65 Michael Vinson 6-2 235 Gr. 51 Rino Monteforte 5-7 195 So. H 16 Dylan Devezin 6-1⅛ 222 So. 14 Bryce McFerson 6-1½ 197 So. PR 4 Chris Tyree 5-9½ 192 Sr. 7 Jaden Mickey 5-11½ 180 So. KR 24 Jadarian Price 5-10⅜ 206 So. 12 Jeremiyah Love 5-11⅞ 197 Fr. Notre Dame Fighting Irish Two-Deep Depth Chart