Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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46 PRESEASON 2025 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: MIAMI Up the middle, Miami should also be solid. Red- shirt junior nose tackle Ahmad Moten Sr. is the Hurricanes' version of Gabriel Rubio, a rotational run defense specialist who will get his shot to start. Louisiana Tech transfer David Blay Jr. (first- team All-Conference USA) and former five-star sophomore Justin Scott round out the main group at defensive tackle. Linebacker is more of a question mark for the Hurricanes. Replacing Francisco Mauigoa (Francis' brother) and his 34 run stops (which are tackles that result in a failure for the offense and ranked T-25th nationally) will be difficult. Returning starter Wesley Bissainthe brings 16 run stops and ample experience, but he can't do it alone. Miami needs spring portal addition Mohamed Toure, an honorable mention All-Big Ten linebacker at Rutgers in 2023, to step up. The issue is Toure missed all of 2024 due to injury, so he needs to prove he can get back to what he was. When healthy, he was a do-it-all backer with 25 quarter- back pressures and 36 defensive stops. All of this screams "strong unit but might take a few games to jell," particularly with a new defen- sive coordinator in former Minnesota DC Corey Hetherman. That might not be great news against Notre Dame's run game, which is phenomenal. Ju- nior running back Jeremiyah Love and senior run- ning back Jadarian Price both return, and their of- fensive line should be better than it was a year ago. The Irish proved last season they have no is- sue going on the road and running the ball, even when the passing game isn't working. The Hurri- canes' run defense won't be bad this season by any stretch, but Notre Dame wins this round. Advantage: Notre Dame Notre Dame Passing Game Vs. Miami Pass Defense Miami's pass defense was its downfall down the stretch last season. In Week 14 against Syracuse, the Hurricanes had to win in order to finish 11-1, which probably would have sent them to the Col- lege Football Playoff. Instead, they allowed 380 passing yards on 36 attempts (10.6 yards per at- tempt) in a crushing 42-38 loss. In response, Miami completely revamped its secondary and its defensive coaching staff. Four out of the Hurricanes' five projected starters in the secondary are transfer additions, and while again, they could take some time to jell, this is a talented group. The one returner is sophomore cornerback OJ Frederique Jr., a Freshman All-American in 2024. Also a Freshman All-American was Jacksonville State transfer safety Zecharaiah Poyser, who has the Canes very excited about his potential. Miami nearly upended college football to acquire Wiscon- sin "transfer" cornerback Xavier Lucas; the Badgers refused to enter his name into the portal because he had signed a contract with them, and they are currently suing the Hurricanes for tampering. So, you know, he better be good. All three of those players are sophomores, but Miami also added veteran support in former Ten- nessee safety Jakobe Thomas and ex-Auburn nickel OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR-W 0 Malachi Fields 6-4 222 Gr. 14 Micah Gilbert 6-2 204 So. WR-X 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 185 Jr. 11 KK Smith 6-0 176 Jr. LT 54 Anthonie Knapp 6-4 300 So. 71 Styles Prescod 6-6 292 So. LG 74 Billy Schrauth 6-4 310 Sr. 77 Peter Jones 6-5 312 So. C 70 Ashton Craig 6-5 310 Sr. 64 Joe Otting 6-4 308 Jr. RG 75 Sullivan Absher 6-8 327 Jr. 55 Chris Terek 6-6 322 Jr. RT 59 Aamil Wagner 6-6 300 Sr. 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 335 So. TE 9 Eli Raridon 6-7 252 Sr. 84 Kevin Bauman 6-5 250 Gr. or 7 Ty Washington 6-4 248 Sr. or 85 Jack Larsen 6-3 250 So. WR-Y 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 Jr. 2 Will Pauling 5-10 190 Gr. QB 8 Kenny Minchey 6-2 208 Jr. or 13 CJ Carr 6-3 210 So. RB 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 214 Jr. 24 Jadarian Price 5-11 210 Sr. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 5 Boubacar Traore 6-4 250 Jr. 44 Junior Tuihalamaka 6-2 255 Sr. NT 41 Donovan Hinish 6-2 277 Sr. 93 Jared Dawson 6-1 288 Gr. DT 97 Gabriel Rubio 6-5 321 Gr. 47 Jason Onye 6-5 302 Gr. DE 40 Joshua Burnham 6-4 260 Sr. 95 Bryce Young 6-7 271 So. MIKE 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 235 Jr. 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 230 So. WILL 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-2 230 Sr. 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-2 228 Jr. CB 15 Leonard Moore 6-2 195 So. 14 Dallas Golden 6-0 187 Fr. SS 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 205 Jr. 9 Tae Johnson 6-2 192 So. FS 28 Luke Talich 6-4 210 Jr. 7 Jalen Stroman 6-1 201 Gr. CB 6 Christian Gray 6-0 190 Jr. 20 Cree Thomas 6-1 189 Fr. NIC 0 DeVonta Smith 5-11 195 Gr. 21 Karson Hobbs 6-1 189 So. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 98 Noah Burnette 5-10 185 Gr. 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 210 Fr. KO 98 Noah Burnette 5-10 179 Gr. 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 210 Fr. P 16 James Rendell 6-6 225 Gr. 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 210 Fr. LS 96 Joseph Vinci 6-4 232 So. 49 Andrew Kros 6-4 225 Jr. H 10 Tyler Buchner 6-1 206 Sr. PR 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 Jr. 6 Jordan Faison 5-10 185 Jr. KR 24 Jadarian Price 5-11 210 Sr. or 4 Jeremiyah Love 6-0 214 Jr. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART Sophomore wide receiver Joshisa "JoJo" Trader earned his first start in the 2024 Pop-Tarts Bowl against Iowa State and finished with 3 catches, a career-high 61 yards and career-long 40-yard touchdown. PHOTO COURTESY MIAMI ATHLETICS