Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 7, 2024 39 GAME PREVIEW: NORTHERN ILLINOIS Hammock said his team's success against the pass starts up front, though, which is also what anyone at Notre Dame would say. And it starts up front with the same guy who's best against the run. Defensive end Raishein Thomas had 21 quarterback hurries in 2023 per PFF. The only Notre Dame players with more than that were Howard Cross III and Javontae Jean-Baptiste with 31 and 22, respectively. Thomas can get after quarterbacks. He'll be happy to go against a Notre Dame offensive line that is so inexperienced at the tackle positions with freshman Anthonie Knapp and junior Aamil Wagner. He won't be happy to go against an offensive coordinator in Mike Denbrock who can scheme around a player like Thomas by getting the ball out quickly to pass catch- ers via run-pass options and other quick-game looks. Northern Illinois' corners are good, and so are the big men on the front lines. But the Irish have a senior quarterback in Riley Leonard who will have them on their heels because of his legs, and he can certainly hurt them with his arm as well. Think about this like the Central Michigan game from last year. Notre Dame's passing offense was not great in 2023, but the Irish still had enough fire- power to pass for 442 yards against that Mid-Amer- ican Conference opponent. Another big day through the air on tap versus this MAC foe? Perhaps. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Tom Foley returns for his third season as NIU's pri- mary punter. He averaged just more than 40 yards per punt in his first two campaigns. Notre Dame counters with Australian punter James Rendell in his first sea- son playing American football. He might be able to average closer to 50 yards per punt, though, given his big rugby leg, so the Irish have an edge there. The Irish also presumably have an edge in the placekicking game. South Carolina transfer Mitch Jeter never missed a field goal attempt inside 50 yards as a Gamecock. He was a perfect 20 of 20. Northern Illinois used a tandem of Kanon Woodill and Jake Seibert last season, meanwhile, and they combined to go 13 of 22 (59.1 percent) overall. Notre Dame blocked three kicks/punts in 2023. Northern Illinois did not block any. If you're looking for a miscellaneous X-Factor, Irish special teams coordinator Marty Biagi might have one. Notre Dame kick returner Jayden Harrison is not a miscellaneous X-Factor. He's just an X-Factor. The 2023 All-American is always a threat to take a kick return to the house. He's one of many reasons why the Irish should feel fine about their special teams in the home opener. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING Thomas Hammock has been at this a while. He's in his third season as the Huskies' head coach in a ten- ure that's been more topsy-turvy roller coaster than smooth cruise. He has an overall record of 24-33, made one game better with a 7-6 finish and a win over Arkansas State in the Camellia Bowl last season. Notre Dame's Marcus Freeman, meanwhile, was one game better in year two than he was in year one, going from a record of 9-4 to 10-3. In both of those campaigns, he led the Irish to a bowl game victory. He's 1-1 in home openers, though, because of a devastating loss to Marshall in 2022. Freeman has more experience at his disposal in the form of coordinators than ever before. Al Golden is back for his third season in South Bend on the defensive side, and Mike Denbrock is in Year 1 of his third stint in South Bend on offense. If Freeman didn't have a big enough leg up over Hammock on his own, he gets a boost from Golden outclassing NIU's DC, Nick Benedetto, and Den- brock being in another league than the Huskies' OC, Wesley Beschorner. Never heard of them? Exactly. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Notre Dame had two-year trouble with home openers before playing an FCS school for the first time in program history. The Irish needed a late comeback to beat Toledo 32-29 in 2021 and they lost to Marshall 26-21 in 2022. Northern Illinois isn't an FCS school, but the final score Saturday might be resemblant of the Huskies being one. It's just hard to fathom no matter what hap- pened in College Station the Irish coming home and laying an egg like they did after returning from Columbus two years ago. Marcus Freeman will have the team ready. Riley Leonard will want to ball out in his first game at Notre Dame Stadium. The fans will be packed in to enjoy late-summer South Bend weather. All signs point to a big Irish win. Advantage: Notre Dame Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 0 Cam Thompson 6-0 198 R-So. 16 Jalen Johnson 6-3 205 R-So. WR 19 Andrew McElroy 6-3 192 Sr. 84 George Dimopoulus 6-2 195 Fr. LT 54 Evan Malcore 6-6 298 R-So. 77 Izzy Ozoh 6-4 263 R-Sr. LG 79 J.J. Lippe 6-5 311 R-Sr. 53 Luke Skartvedt 6-3 325 R-Fr. C 65 Logan Zschernitz 6-3 305 R-Sr. 64 Matt Schooley 6-2 298 R-Sr. RG 76 John Champe 6-4 321 Sr. 55 Abiathar Curry 6-3 301 R-Fr. RT 60 Evan Buss 6-6 312 Sr. 75 Thomas Paasch 6-5 306 R-Fr. TE 81 Grayson Barnes 6-5 225 Sr. 80 Jake Appleget 6-4 245 R-So. WR 3 Trayvon Rudolph 5-10 187 R-Sr. 8 Dane Pardridge 5-11 175 R-So. QB 14 Jalen Macon 6-5 230 R-Jr. or 2 Ethan Hampton 6-3 216 R-Jr. RB 1 Antario Brown 5-10 219 Sr. 21 Gavin Williams 5-11 209 R-Sr. FB/TE 49 Brock Lampe 6-1 252 Sr. 82 Tristen Tewes 6-3 251 R-Sr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 4 Raishein Thomas 6-4 262 Sr. 11 Jalonnie Williams 6-4 286 R-Jr. DT 8 Devonte O'Malley 6-2 293 Sr. 0 Skyler Gill-Howard 6-1 285 R-Jr. DT 51 Cade Haberman 6-2 300 Sr. 10 Demond Taylor Jr. 6-2 308 R-Sr. DE 97 Roy Williams 6-6 251 Jr. 52 Ivan Davis 6-3 254 Sr. LB 26 Jaden Dolphin 6-2 220 Sr. 25 Jake Gassaway 6-0 225 R-So. LB 44 Christian Fuhrman 6-1 235 Sr. 32 Quinn Urwiler 6-0 226 R-Sr. N 1 Jashon Prophete 5-11 187 Sr. 13 Ty Myles 5-10 186 R-Jr. CB 2 JaVaughn Byrd 6-0 191 Sr. 12 Cam'Ron Dabney 5-11 186 Sr. S 15 Santana Banner 6-3 202 R-Fr. 6 Muhammed Jammeh 6-1 196 R-Jr. S 9 Nate Valcarcel 6-1 192 Sr. 22 Cyrus McGarrell 6-2 197 R-Jr. CB 5 Amariyun Knighten 6-0 174 R-So. 3 Jacob Finley 5-11 176 R-So. Special Teams Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. K 92 Kanon Woodill 5-11 167 Sr. 99 Austin Bullock 5-10 195 Fr. P 98 Tom Foley 6-4 234 R-Sr. 90 Danny Vuckovic 6-1 206 R-Fr. LS 91 Isaac Hatfield 6-2 227 R-Jr. 93 Sean Weigand 6-2 210 Fr. H 98 Tom Foley 6-4 234 R-Sr. PR 8 Dane Pardridge 5-11 175 R-So. 0 Cam Thompson 6-0 198 R-So. KR 3 Trayvon Rudolph 5-10 187 R-Sr. 28 Jaylen Poe 5-10 207 R-Fr. NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIES DEPTH CHART