Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 3, 2016 39 COACHING Babers (55) is actually older than Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly (54), but he did not get his first head coaching job until 2012. He quickly rose to prominence, leading Eastern Illinois to a 12-2 season and back-to-back trips to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs. After two years with the Panthers, Babers was hired by Bowling Green, where he went on to lead the Falcons to an 18-9 record that included a 2015 Mid-American Conference championship. Babers has a 38-18 record in just over four years as a head coach — but he cannot match the ex- perience of Kelly, who is in his 27th season as a head coach. Kelly leads all active coaches with 227 career victories, with 56 coming during his seven seasons at Notre Dame. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Babers has won everywhere he has coached, including his stint as an assistant coach under Art Briles at Baylor (2008-11). Babers helped the Bears go from 4-8 in 2008 to 10-3 in his final season. His potent offense should allow the Orange to be competitive against the Irish, but his Syracuse team lacks the depth and defense to be on the same level as Notre Dame this season. This game is technically a home game for Syra- cuse, but it will be played at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., which is almost four hours away from Syracuse, N.Y. That takes away some of the home-field advantage it would have otherwise had against the Irish. Advantage: Notre Dame GAME PREVIEW: SYRACUSE Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 8 Steve Ishmael 6-2 210 Jr. 13 Devin Butler 6-3 195 Fr. WR 3 Ervin Philips 5-11 176 Jr. 1 Brisly Estime 5-9 183 Sr. LT 60 Cody Conway 6-6 287 So. 73 Jon Burton 6-8 310 R-Jr. LG 59 Aaron Roberts 6-4 280 R-So. 61 Samuel Clausman 6-3 317 R-Fr. C 78 Jason Emerich 6-3 293 5th-Sr. 64 Colin Byrne 6-5 312 R-Fr. RG 57 Omari Palmer 6-3 315 R-Sr. 63 Evan Adams 6-6 333 R-Fr. RT 65 Jamar McGloster 6-7 328 R-Jr. 67 Michael Lasker 6-5 312 5th-Sr. TE 90 Cam. MacPherson 6-3 250 Sr. 87 Kendall Moore 6-5 245 Sr. WR 84 Amba Etta-Tawo 6-2 202 5th-Sr. 82 Alvin Cornelius 6-1 190 5th-Sr. QB 2 Eric Dungey 6-3 207 So. 16 Zack Mahoney 6-2 206 Jr. RB 4 Dontae Strickland 5-11 199 So. 21 Moe Neal 5-11 169 Fr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DE 95 Chris Slayton 6-4 296 R-So. 99 Jake Pickard 6-5 256 R-Fr. NT 72 Steven Clark 6-2 287 So. 98 McKinley Williams 6-4 253 Fr. DT 52 Kayton Samuels 6-0 314 R-So. 79 Anthony Giudice 6-1 273 So. DE 55 Kendall Coleman 6-3 252 Fr. 93 De'Jon Wilson 6-3 250 5th-Sr. WLB 30 Parris Benne 6-0 208 Jr. 33 Marqez Hodge 5-11 219 Sr. MLB 4 Zaire Franklin 6-0 230 Jr. 39 Troy Henderson 5-11 216 R-Fr. SLB 23 Jonathan Thomas 6-1 209 Jr. 37 Ted Taylor 6-1 217 Sr. CB 11 Corey Winfi eld 6-1 191 R-Jr. 28 Christopher Fredrick 5-11 189 R-Fr. FS 6 Rodney Williams 5-10 186 R-So. 21 Chauncey Scissum 6-2 201 R-Jr. SS 25 Kielan Whitner 6-0 197 So. 19 Daivon Ellison 5-8 177 So. CB 20 Cordell Hudson 5-11 183 R-So. 16 Carl Jones 6-1 177 Fr. SYRACUSE DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. KO 48 Cole Murphy 6-3 200 Jr. 10 Sterling Hofrichter 5-9 183 R-Fr. PK 48 Cole Murphy 6-3 200 Jr. 38 Alex Grossman 5-9 155 Sr. P 10 Sterling Hofrichter 5-9 183 R-Fr. 92 Nolan Cooney 6-3 187 Fr. LS 47 Matt Keller 5-11 222 So. 53 Nathan Hines 6-6 248 Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. H 10 Sterling Hofrichter 5-9 183 R-Fr. 16 Zack Mahoney 6-2 206 Jr. KR 10 Sean Riley 5-8 151 Fr. 22 Jordan Fredericks 5-10 209 So. PR 10 Sean Riley 5-8 151 Fr. 1 Brisly Estime 5-9 183 Sr. Special Teams Senior punt returner Brisly Estime ranked No. 2 nationally with an 18.1-yard average and brought two back for touchdowns in 2015. PHOTO COURTESY SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS