Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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42 NOV. 7, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: BOSTON COLLEGE 11. Palano won the Bronko Nagurski National De- fensive Player of the Week award for his 9-tackle, 2-interception game in a victory over Rutgers. If the Eagles want any chance of slowing down a Notre Dame run game that has steadily improved throughout the season, Palano will have to play out of his mind. The key to Notre Dame's run game has been, as it usually is, winning all over the line of scrim- mage. The Irish have found success with split zone, where the tight end crosses the formation to block the backside edge defender, and counter, where one puller kicks out and another leads through the hole. Neither concept works without wins at the point of attack, whether it's the interior line creating space for the tight end's insert block or the play-side tackle forcibly removing his defender from the gap. So how do BC's defensive linemen measure up? Not bad on the edge, but concerning up the mid- dle. No defensive tackle has more than 5 defensive stops through seven games, and the leader of that group, KJ Sampson, has a 37.8 PFF run defense grade. Notre Dame's offensive line should take care of business, clearing space for the likes of Nolan James Jr. and Jonaz Walton to run wild. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. BOSTON COLLEGE PASS DEFENSE Continuing with the "in the realm of average" theme, Boston College ranks 66th in the country Junior linebacker Anthony Palano [No. 1], who led the Eagles with 60 tackles and 7.5 tackles for loss through seven contests, ranked third in run stops (26) among Power Four players through Week 8. PHOTO COURTESY BOSTON COLLEGE OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 6 Jordan Faison 5-11 185 Sr. 33 Matt Jeffery 5-11 195 Jr. WR 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 212 Sr. or 3 Mylan Graham 6-1 195 Jr. LT 74 Will Black 6-7 316 So. 71 Styles Prescod 6-6 304 Jr. LG 54 Anthonie Knapp 6-5 305 Jr. 57 Cam Herron 6-2 297 So. C 70 Ashton Craig 6-5 315 5th 64 Joe Otting 6-4 309 Sr. RG 75 Sullivan Absher 6-7 316 Sr. 58 Matty Augustine 6-7 315 So. RT 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 325 Jr. 71 Styles Prescod 6-6 304 Jr. TE 87 Cooper Flanagan 6-6 255 Sr. or 88 James Flanigan 6-6 253 So. WR 14 Micah Gilbert 6-2 205 Jr. 17 Elijah Burress 6-1 190 So. or 8 Jerome Bettis Jr. 6-2 207 So. QB 13 CJ Carr 6-2 215 Jr. 10 Noah Grubbs 6-4 210 Fr. or 9 Teddy Jarrard 6-4 210 Fr. RB 22 Aneyas Williams 5-10 210 Jr. or 2 Nolan James Jr. 5-10 215 So. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 5 Boubacar Traore 6-5 253 Sr. 10 Loghan Thomas 6-3 221 Jr. DT 88 Armel Mukam 6-3 300 Sr. 7 Francis Brewu 6-1 285 Jr. NT 0 Tionne Gray 6-5 320 Jr. or 7 Francis Brewu 6-1 285 Jr. DE 95 Bryce Young 6-6 260 Jr. 11 Keon Keeley 6-5 275 Sr. WLB 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-1 226 Sr. 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 227 5th MLB 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 234 Sr. 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 234 Jr. or 19 Madden Faraimo 6-2 235 So. NICKEL 29 Christian Gray 6-0 196 Sr. 1 Dallas Golden 6-0 195 So. or 12 Jayden Sanders 6-0 195 So. CB 15 Leonard Moore 6-2 197 Jr. 24 Mark Zackery IV 5-10 190 So. BOUND 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 205 Sr. 22 Ethan Long 6-2 205 So. FIELD 28 Luke Talich 6-4 222 Sr. 20 Joe O'Brien 6-5 200 Fr. CB 12 Jayden Sanders 6-0 195 So. 13 Ayden Pouncey 6-3 189 Fr. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 36 Micah Drescher 6-5 196 Fr. or 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 211 So. PK 35 Spencer Porath 6-0 200 Jr. 36 Micah Drescher 6-5 196 Fr. P 39 Jasper Scaife 6-6 222 Fr. 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 211 So. LS 96 Joseph Vinci 6-4 233 Jr. 49 Andrew Kros 6-4 227 Sr. H 39 Jasper Scaife 6-6 222 Fr. PR 6 Jordan Faison 5-11 185 Sr. 1 Dallas Golden 6-0 195 So. KR 22 Aneyas Williams 5-10 210 Jr. or 2 Nolan James Jr. 5-10 215 So. 20 Jonaz Walton 5-10 214 Fr. or 21 Kedren Young 5-11 234 Jr. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH DEPTH CHART