Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1507383
BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 16, 2023 41 GAME PREVIEW: CENTRAL MICHIGAN comment, Florida and its coach mutually agreed to part ways. A Florida source's comments to ESPN caught a lot of peoples' attention at the time. "It was never the right fit," the source told ESPN reporters Edward Aschoff and Mark Schlabach. "It was an odd fit from the beginning. He never embraced being here and being part of a team." While McElwain has had two winning seasons in four years at Central Michigan, his Florida tenure is difficult to live down. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Notre Dame has the more experienced quar- terback by more than 45 starts. As Freeman has stressed to reporters many times, that absolutely matters. Vibes were excellent in South Bend in the first two weeks, with Freeman claiming that the 2023 team might be the closest he's been a part of, while Central Michigan is coming off a 4-8 season and a blowout loss to Michigan State. The only advantage the Chippewas might have is the trap game element. Notre Dame is coming off a difficult road game against North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C., and is well aware of what comes after Central Michigan: Ohio State. Could the Irish get caught relaxing after NC State and/or get caught looking ahead to Ohio State? Maybe, but if Freeman's constant "one play, one life" preaching is any indication, they won't make the mistakes they did last season against Marshall and Stanford. Notre Dame should run away with this one. Advantage: Notre Dame OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LT 75 Davis Heinzen 6-5 300 R-So. 78 Vashon Bailey 6-7 315 Jr. LG 72 Cade Klimczak 6-1 285 Jr. 59 Brady Ploucha 6-5 295 R-Fr. C 63 Dominic Serapiglia 6-1 325 Sr. 55 Ryan Blum 6-1 295 Fr. RG 65 Deiyantei Powell-Woods 6-5 300 Sr. 77 Keegan Smith 6-3 295 R-So. RT 68 Brayden Swartout 6-7 300 Jr. 76 Martin Koivisto 6-7 310 R-Fr. QB 3 Bert Emanuel Jr. 6-3 220 R-Fr. or 8 Jase Bauer 6-3 220 R-So. 12 Tyler Pape 6-4 225 R-So. RB 26 Myles Bailey 5-10 225 Jr. or 9 Marion Lukes 5-9 200 Jr. 28 B.J. Harris 5-9 205 Jr. or 27 Sam Hicks 5-9 185 Jr. 23 Jake Tafelski 6-0 220 R-So. 36 Christian Brown 5-11 215 R-So. TE 82 Mitchel Collier 6-3 240 R-So. 86 Markus Young 6-4 250 R-So. 88 DeCorion Temple 6-5 240 R-Fr. 48 Nathan VanTimmeren 6-4 220 Fr. 87 Jacob Kaminski 6-6 245 So. WR 13 Chris Parker 6-3 195 R-So 0 Jalen McGaughy 6-4 220 Jr. WR 10 Stephan Bracey Jr. 5-10 190 Jr. 17 Jesse Prewitt III 6-0 185 Jr. or 84 Kenny Brewer III 6-0 205 Sr. WR 19 Tyson Davis 5-10 180 R-So. 81 Thomas Pannunzio 5-8 180 Sr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 44 Kade Kostus 6-2 255 R-Fr. 0 Maurice White 6-5 275 R-So. DT 10 Jacques Bristol 6-1 295 Sr. 91 Jonah Pace 6-5 270 R-So. DT 71 Robi Stuart 6-3 300 Sr. 94 Jason Williams 6-2 305 R-So. DE 97 Michael Heldman 6-4 260 R-So. 49 Keshawn Hayden 6-0 245 Fr. LB 14 Fernando Sanchez 6-3 235 R-So. 20 Ke'Shon Parker 6-1 225 Jr. LB 22 Kyle Moretti 6-2 245 Jr. 12 Jordan Kwiatkowski 6-1 235 So. LB 45 Justin Whiteside 6-0 220 Jr. 11 Dakota Cochran 6-2 225 R-So. CB 4 Donte Kent 5-11 190 Jr. 31 Marcus Badgett 6-0 195 R-Fr. SS 3 Trey Jones 6-2 215 Jr. 15 Caleb Spann 6-0 195 R-So. 5 De'Javion Stepney 6-0 190 R-So. FS 21 Elijah Rikard 6-1 195 R-So. 29 Jayden Davis 6-0 205 Jr. CB 6 La'Vario Wiley 6-1 185 Jr. 8 Jarvarius Sims 6-0 190 So. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 43 Josh Rolston 6-3 215 Jr. or 42 Tristan Mattson 6-2 180 R-Jr. KO 43 Josh Rolston 6-3 215 Jr. or 42 Tristan Mattson 6-2 180 R-Jr. P 13 Jake Walrath 6-4 210 Sr. 32 Ryan Peluso 5-9 165 R-So. H 13 Jake Walrath 6-4 210 Sr. 12 Tyler Pape 6-4 225 R-So. LS 30 Ben Pratt 6-0 235 R-So. 93 Grayson Curtis 6-1 230 R-Fr. PR 10 Stephan Bracey Jr. 5-10 190 Jr. 25 Javorian Wimberly 5-11 195 Fr. KOR 9 Marion Lukes 5-9 200 Jr. 27 Sam Hicks 5-9 185 Jr. Last season, junior cornerback Donte Kent made 51 tackles and broke up 15 passes (which tied for third in the country). PHOTO BY JACK REEBER/COURTESY CENTRAL MICHIGAN Central Michigan Chippewas Depth Chart