Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1530431
38 JANUARY 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED QUARTERFINAL PREVIEW: GEORGIA C O L L E G E F O O T B A L L P L A Y O F F We're giving the nod to the team that's been as good against the pass this season as any other. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. GEORGIA RUN DEFENSE Where do we begin with this Notre Dame rush- ing attack? Maybe just with the basics. Entering the playoff, the Fighting Irish had the 10th-best running game in college football in terms of yards gained per game (224.83). That's the program's best mark since averaging 269.31 in 2017. It all starts up front for Notre Dame. An inexpe- rienced offensive line to begin with that lost a pair of starters and replaced them with seniors in Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler who were season-long starters in 2023 has gotten better as the season's gone on. Once you give the line its due, though, you end up spending much more time praising Notre Dame's ball carriers, namely the top-three trio of sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love, senior quarterback Riley Leonard and junior running back Jadarian Price. Their stat lines are all too impres- sive not to share in totality. Entering the playoff, Love had 134 carries for 949 yards and 15 touchdowns. Leonard had 124 carries for 721 yards and 14 touchdowns. Price was at 89 carries for 651 yards and 7 touchdowns. That's 7.3 yards per rush for Price, 7.1 for Love and 5.8 for Leonard. Only three teams in the FBS caused more missed OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR-X 86 Dillon Bell 6-1 210 Jr. 2 Nitro Tuggle 6-1 190 Fr. WR-Z 11 Arian Smith 6-0 185 R-Sr. 16 London Humphreys 6-2 200 So. WR-Y 6 Dominic Lovett 5-10 187 Sr. 5 Anthony Evans III 5-11 170 So.4 LT 57 Monroe Freeling 6-7 315 So. 71 Earnest Greene III 6-3 320 R-So. LG 53 Dylan Fairchild 6-5 315 R-Jr. 56 Micah Morris 6-4 330 R-Jr. C 55 Jared Wilson 6-3 310 R-Jr. 74 Drew Bobo 6-5 305 R-So. RG 69 Tate Ratledge 6-6 320 R-Sr. 70 Daniel Calhoun 6-6 325 Fr. RT 73 Xavier Truss 6-7 320 R-Sr. 59 Bo Hughley 6-7 295 R-Fr. TE 84 Ben Yurosek 6-4 245 Gr. 4 Oscar Delp 6-5 245 Jr. QB 15 Carson Beck 6-4 220 R-Sr. or 14 Gunner Stockton 6-1 215 R-So. RB 1 Trevor Etienne 5-9 205 Jr. 3 Nate Frazier 5-10 210 Fr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 13 Mykel Williams 6-5 265 Jr. 93 Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins 6-5 280 R-Jr. NT 78 Nazir Stackhouse 6-3 320 Sr. 55 Jamaal Jarrett 6-5 350 So. DT 97 Warren Brinson 6-4 310 Sr. 52 Christen Miller 6-4 305 R-So. Jack 32 Chaz Chambliss 6-2 250 Sr. 10 Damon Wilson II 6-4 250 So. SLB 11 Jalon Walker 6-2 245 Jr. 18 Chris Cole 6-3 235 Fr. MLB 3 CJ Allen 6-1 235 So. 19 Justin Williams 6-2 220 Fr. WLB 2 Smael Mondon Jr. 6-3 235 Sr. 5 Raylen Wilson 6-1 235 So. LCB 6 Daylen Everette 6-1 190 Jr. 1 Ellis Robinson IV 6-0 180 Fr. SS 17 Dan Jackson 6-1 195 R-Sr. 31 Kyron Jones 6-0 205 R-Fr. FS 4 KJ Bolden 6-0 185 Fr. 9 Justyn Rhett 6-1 200 R-Fr. RCB 7 Daniel Harris 6-3 195 So. 15 Demello Jones 6-1 185 Fr. NB 24 Malaki Starks 6-1 205 Jr. 8 Joenel Aguero 5-11 205 So. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 91 Peyton Woodring 5-10 185 So. 95 Charlie Ham 6-2 200 Gr. KO 91 Peyton Woodring 5-10 185 So. 95 Charlie Ham 6-2 200 Gr. P 90 Drew Miller 6-2 210 Fr. 98 Noah Jones 6-0 180 Jr. LS 60 Beau Gardner 6-5 250 Gr. 51 Will Snellings 6-2 220 R-Fr. H 15 Carson Beck 6-4 220 R-Sr. or 14 Gunner Stockton 6-1 215 R-So. PR 5 Anthony Evans III 5-11 170 So. 24 Malaki Starks 6-1 205 Jr. KR 5 Anthony Evans III 5-11 170 So. 32 Cash Jones 6-0 182 R-Jr. GEORGIA DEPTH CHART Sophomore middle linebacker CJ Allen recorded 72 total stops, 3 tackles for loss and an interception during the 2024 campaign. PHOTO COURTESY GEORGIA