Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 16, 2024 39 GAME PREVIEW: VIRGINIA of its other phases, does not have that type of power. The Cavaliers allowed 506 rushing yards and 7 touchdowns on 4.7 yards per carry in a three-game losing streak to Louisville, Clemson and North Carolina. If those teams can prey on UVA, so can the Fight- ing Irish. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS This section has to start with an old friend — former Notre Dame speedster and Virginia native Chris Tyree. Once a two-phase staple for the Irish, Tyree is the Cavaliers' primary kick returner. In eight games, he returned 6 kicks for 137 yards for an average of 22.8 yards per return. UVA, though, has one kick return for more than 30 yards all sea- son and it was not from Tyree. It was Xavier Brown way back in the season opener versus Richmond. The strength of Virginia's special teams is place- kicker Will Bettridge. He made all 18 of his extra points in UVA's first eight games of the year. He was also 16 of 18 on field goals with a long of 47. One of his misses was in the 30- to 39-yard range while the other was in the 40- to 49-yard range. Nine of his connections came from 29 yards and in. Notre Dame showing up on special teams is not a sure bet, but there is something about these November primetime games in South Bend that brings the best out of the Irish in this phase. They blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown against Clemson in 2022. Jadarian Price returned a kickoff for a touchdown against USC last year. What's coming this time? Gotta be something. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING It's not great when winning four games is prog- ress, but that's where Tony Elliott is at in his third year at the helm in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers won three games in 2022 and then three in 2023. They began 2024 with a 4-1 record, but it was a hollow mark. Wins over Richmond, Wake Forest, Coastal Carolina and Boston College don't really move the needle. Especially with a two-touchdown loss to Maryland in the middle. Marcus Freeman can't say much about hollow records. Notre Dame doesn't exactly have the toughest schedule this season. The Irish's best win got much worse when Texas A&M lost to South Carolina by 24 points in Week 10. But there is still something to be said for ab- solutely obliterating opponents, and that's what Notre Dame did in the six games following the shocking defeat to Northern Illinois in Week 2. In rattling off half a dozen victories in succession, Notre Dame won those games by an average mar- gin of 31.3 points. Al Golden has become one of the best defensive coordinators in college football. Mike Denbrock looks like a genius for essentially saying in August, "Catch us in late October and November" to get a real grasp of what this offense can be. His side of the ball has seen steady improvement. The Irish have a lot to like in terms of who's call- ing the shots all around. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Notre Dame is 4-0 after bye weeks in the Marcus Freeman era. You can point to the opponents as the main reason for the success. Here they are in addition to their final records in the season the Irish caught them coming out of an ND off week: BYU (8-5), Pittsburgh (3-9), Wake Forest (4-8) and Stanford (2-7). Outside of a close 28-20 game at Allegiant Sta- dium in Las Vegas, though, Freeman's teams have absolutely waxed the competition with an extra week to prepare. The Irish beat those three other opponents by an average margin of 43.7 points. That's a wide spread no matter who you face. Freeman says all the time that Notre Dame Sta- dium is a good place to be. A safe space if you will. He's won enough there — even mixed in with some confounding losses — to believe him. Advantage: Notre Dame Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 5 Beaux Collins 6-2 206 Gr. or 83 Jayden Thomas 6-2 218 Sr. WR 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 So. or 2 Jayden Harrison 5-10 198 Gr. LT 54 Anthonie Knapp 6-4 294 Fr. 79 Tosh Baker 6-8 325 Gr. LG 72 Sam Pendleton 6-4 310 So. 75 Sullivan Absher 6-7 321 So. C 78 Pat Coogan 6-5 310 Sr. 72 Sam Pendleton 6-4 310 So. RG 50 Rocco Spindler 6-5 325 Gr. 72 Sam Pendleton 6-4 310 So. RT 59 Aamil Wagner 6-6 291 Jr. 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 323 Fr. TE 88 Mitchell Evans 6-5 260 Sr. 87 Cooper Flanagan 6-6 257 So. or 9 Eli Raridon 6-7 250 Jr. WR 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 184 So. or 10 Kris Mitchell 6-0 186 Gr. or 11 KK Smith 6-0 178 So. QB 13 Riley Leonard 6-4 216 Sr. 18 Steve Angeli 6-2 208 Jr. RB 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 210 So. or 24 Jadarian Price 5-10 206 Jr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. VYP 40 Joshua Burnham 6-4 251 Jr. 44 Junior Tuihalamaka 6-2 246 Jr. DT 99 Rylie Mills 6-5 295 Gr. 97 Gabriel Rubio 6-5 316 Sr. NT 56 Howard Cross III 6-1 288 Gr. 41 Donovan Hinish 6-2 278 Jr. DE 9 RJ Oben 6-3 265 Gr. 30 Bryce Young 6-7 258 Fr. or 40 Joshua Burnham 6-4 251 Jr. WILL 24 Jack Kiser 6-2 231 Gr. 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 216 So. or 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 240 Fr. MIKE 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 239 So. 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 240 Fr. ROV 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 224 Jr. 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 216 So. CB 15 Leonard Moore 6-2 191 Fr. 16 Tae Johnson 6-2 188 Fr. SS 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 200 So. 28 Luke Talich 6-4 211 So. or 23 Kennedy Urlacher 5-11 196 Fr. FS 0 Xavier Watts 6-0 203 Gr. 2 Rod Heard II 5-11 195 Gr. CB 29 Christian Gray 6-0 189 So. 21 Karson Hobbs 6-1 192 Fr. NIC 1 Jordan Clark 5-10 182 Gr. 21 Karson Hobbs 6-1 192 Fr. Special Teams Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 98 Mitch Jeter 5-11 195 Gr. K 98 Mitch Jeter 5-11 195 Gr. P 16 James Rendell 6-6 224 Gr. 90 Eric Goins 6-2 209 Gr. LS 49 Andrew Kros 6-3 220 So. or 96 Joseph Vinci 6-4 232 Fr. SS 39 Rino Monteforte 5-7 200 Jr. 96 Joseph Vinci 6-4 232 Fr. H 26 Chris Salerno 5-11 208 Sr. 81 Jack Polian 6-0 183 Sr. PR 37 Max Hurleman 5-11 202 Gr. or 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 184 So. or 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 So. KR 2 Jayden Harrison 5-10 198 Gr. or 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 210 So. or 24 Jadarian Price 5-10 206 Jr. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART