Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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44 PRESEASON 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: TEXAS A&M While this group is still strong — sophomore line- backer Taurean York finished second on the Aggies with 33 run stops as a true freshman in 2023, and he's back — it does lack some of the teeth that made it so good last year. Reports out of spring practice indicate Florida redshirt junior transfer linebacker Scooby Williams is set for a big season. But without a renowned run stopper at defensive tackle, A&M might be vulner- able up the middle. That's good news for a Notre Dame team that might be best-advised to play smash-mouth foot- ball and avoid third-and-longs in this matchup. There is ample reason to be excited about the running back tandem of sophomore Jeremiyah Love and junior Jadarian Price, and if the Irish win the line of scrimmage, their explosiveness could create chunk plays. Regarding the line of scrimmage, junior interior linemen Ashton Craig and Billy Schrauth graded well as run blockers in 2023 and flashed potential to be road-grading studs. Notre Dame's most significant advantage in the run game, however, might be senior quarterback Riley Leonard. Standing at 6-foot-4, 216 pounds with top-tier athleticism and running back-quality vision, Leonard is a pain to bring down in the open field. When we say "smash-mouth football," we don't mean the "feed Audric Estimé, figure out the rest later" approach that got the Irish in trouble against elite defenses last season. A multi-faceted run game with Love, Price and Leonard might prove more effective. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. TEXAS A&M PASS DEFENSE Texas A&M's strength is its edge rushers, and that matches up with Notre Dame's biggest con- cern. On the Aggies' side, Purdue transfer Nic Scourton led the Big Ten with 10 sacks in 2023. He also to- taled 42 pressures, including 13 over his final three games. He's listed at 6-foot-4, 285 pounds, but he moves like and has the pass-rush arsenal of some- one who's 240 pounds. To see that high-stepping and spin-moving around your offensive tackle can't be pleasant for a quarterback. A&M also acquired redshirt junior Bowling Green transfer Cashius Howell, who picked up 9.5 sacks last year and probably won't even start. Junior Shemar Stewart will, and Aggies head coach Mike Elko believes he has NFL potential. On the inside, senior Shemar Turner is a menace with 36 pressures and 6 sacks this past season. He'll take on more of an interior role after lining up on the edge most of the time in 2023, which gives Elko options and should make A&M even tougher to block. Notre Dame was confident Jagusah will be a strong pass-protecting left tackle. He is now out for Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR (W) 83 Jayden Thomas 6-2 218 Sr. 5 Beaux Collins 6-3 202 Sr. WR (Y) 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 So. 2 Jayden Harrison 5-10 198 Gr. LT 79 Tosh Baker 6-8 320 Gr. 54 Anthonie Knapp 6-4 291 Fr. LG 78 Pat Coogan 6-5 310 Sr. or 50 Rocco Spindler 6-5 331 Sr. C 70 Ashton Craig 6-4 308 Jr. 72 Sam Pendleton 6-4 305 So. RG 74 Billy Schrauth 6-5 315 Jr. 75 Sullivan Absher 6-7 321 So. RT 59 Aamil Wagner 6-6 290 Jr. 77 Ty Chan 6-5 327 Jr. or 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 318 Fr. TE 88 Mitchell Evans 6-5 260 Sr. 9 Eli Raridon 6-7 250 Jr. WR (X) 10 Kris Mitchell 6-0 183 Gr. 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 182 So. QB 13 Riley Leonard 6-4 216 Sr. 18 Steve Angeli 6-2 205 Jr. RB 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 206 So. 24 Jadarian Price 5-10 203 Jr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. VYP 12 Jordan Botelho 6-3 258 Gr. 5 Boubacar Traore 6-4 240 So. NT 56 Howard Cross III 6-1 288 Gr. 41 Donovan Hinish 6-2 274 Jr. DT 99 Rylie Mills 6-5 295 Gr. 47 Jason Onye 6-5 289 Sr. FE 9 RJ Oben 6-3 262 Gr. 40 Joshua Burnham 6-4 247 Jr. WILL 24 Jack Kiser 6-2 231 Gr. 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 222 Jr. MIKE 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 239 So. or 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 240 Fr. ROV 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 222 Jr. 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 216 So. CB 20 Benjamin Morrison 6-0 190 Jr. 18 Chance Tucker 6-0 189 Sr. SS 2 Rod Heard II 5-11 195 Gr. 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 200 So. FS 0 Xavier Watts 6-0 203 Gr. 28 Luke Talich 6-4 208 So. CB 7 Jaden Mickey 6-0 178 Jr. or 29 Christian Gray 6-0 187 So. NIC 1 Jordan Clark 5-10 181 Gr. 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 216 So. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. K 98 Mitch Jeter 5-11 195 Gr. 48 Marcello Diomede 6-0 190 So. KO 98 Mitch Jeter 5-11 195 Gr. 92 Zac Yoakam 5-8 192 Jr. P 16 James Rendell 6-6 219 Gr. 90 Eric Goins 6-2 207 Gr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. H 26 Chris Salerno 5-11 208 Sr. 91 William Bartel 5-10 181 Gr. LS 39 Rino Monteforte 5-7 198 Jr. 49 Andrew Kros 6-3 222 So. PR 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 182 So. 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 So. KR 2 Jayden Harrison 5-10 198 Gr. 24 Jadarian Price 5-10 203 Jr. Special Teams Senior defensive tackle Shemar Turner is part of a talented and deep Texas A&M defensive front. Last year, he produced 36 pressures and 6 sacks for the Aggies. PHOTO COURTESY TEXAS A&M