Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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38 NOV. 21, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ranked 81st. This comes after a season in which they finished 28th nationally with an output of 207.6 yards per game. The current campaign started off well, with the Irish racking up 206 yards on the ground against Texas and 239 in a win over Nevada. In the next seven games, though, the unit averaged just 128.6 yards per outing and failed to reach the 200-yard mark each time. Sophomore running back Josh Adams led the Irish in rushing with 583 yards through nine con- tests. He averaged 5.2 yards per carry during that stretch, which is down from the 7.1 clip he had as a freshman in 2015. Virginia Tech's run defense has produced very good numbers this season, holding opponents to just 3.5 yards per attempt and 125.8 yards per game (27th nationally) through Nov. 5. The Hokies have been a bit inconsistent stopping the run. Five of Virginia Tech's first nine opponents were held to 90 yards or less on the ground. Ten- nessee gashed the Hokies to the tune of 239 yards, Duke piled up 227 rushing yards and Pittsburgh picked up 180 yards on the ground. Virginia Tech's top run defenders are redshirt ju- nior Mike linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka, sopho- more outside linebacker Tremaine Edmunds and senior nose tackle Woody Baron. Motuapuaka led the team with 71 tackles, while Edmunds and Baron shared the team lead in tackles for loss with 13 each through nine games. Advantage: Virginia Tech NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. VIRGINIA TECH PASS DEFENSE Overall, the Virginia Tech pass defense has put up very good numbers. Through the first 10 weeks of the season, the Hokies ranked 31st in passing GAME PREVIEW: VIRGINIA TECH Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 6 E. St. Brown 6-5 205 So. 81 Miles Boykin 6-3½ 222 So. WR 16 Torii Hunter Jr. 6-0 195 Sr. 3 C.J. Sanders 5-8 185 So. LT 68 Mike McGlinchey 6-7½ 310 Sr. 70 Hunter Bivin 6-5½ 308 Sr. LG 56 Quenton Nelson 6-4¾ 325 Jr. 57 Trevor Ruhland 6-3¼ 300 So. C 53 Sam Mustipher 6-2¼ 310 Jr. 75 Mark Harrell 6-4 306 5th-Sr. RG 62 Colin McGovern 6-4½ 310 Sr. 66 Tristen Hoge 6-4¼ 310 So. RT 71 Alex Bars 6-6 320 Jr. 78 Tommy Kraemer 6-4¾ 315 Fr. TE 80 Durham Smythe 6-4½ 245 Sr. 82 Nic Weishar 6-4 240 Jr. WR 29 Kevin Stepherson 6-0 181 Fr. 15 Corey Holmes 6-0½ 190 Jr. QB 14 DeShone Kizer 6-4¼ 230 Jr. 9 Malik Zaire 6-0 225 Sr. RB 33 Josh Adams 6-1½ 220 So. 25 Tarean Folston 5-9½ 214 Sr. or 2 Dexter Williams 5-10¾ 210 So. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DL 98 Andrew Trumbetti 6-3½ 255 Jr. 9 Daelin Hayes 6-3½ 250 Fr. or 93 Jay Hayes 6-3 285 Jr. DL 75 Daniel Cage 6-1 315 Jr. or 94 Jarron Jones 6-5½ 315 5th-Sr. DL 99 Jerry Tillery 6-6½ 310 So. 58 Elijah Taylor 6-2¾ 285 So. DL 90 Isaac Rochell 6-3½ 290 Sr. 55 Jonathan Bonner 6-3 286 Jr. LB 5 Nyles Morgan 6-0¾ 245 Jr. 48 Greer Martini 6-2½ 240 Jr. LB 17 James Onwualu 6-1 232 Sr. 44 Jamir Jones 6-2½ 225 Fr. LB 4 Te'von Coney 6-1 235 So. 22 Asmar Bilal 6-2 230 So. CB 27 Julian Love 5-10½ 190 Fr. 35 Donte Vaughn 6-2 200 Fr. S 23 Drue Tranquill 6-1½ 225 Jr. 21 Jalen Elliott 5-11¾ 195 Fr. S 14 Devin Studstill 6-0 198 Fr. 28 Nicco Fertitta 5-8¼ 185 So. CB 36 Cole Luke 5-11 195 Sr. 18 Troy Pride Jr. 5-11 180 Fr. NOTRE DAME DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 19 Justin Yoon 5-9¾ 190 So. 43 John Chereson 5-9 178 Sr. PK 19 Justin Yoon 5-9¾ 190 So. 85 Tyler Newsome 6-2½ 210 Jr. P 85 Tyler Newsome 6-2½ 210 Jr. 42 Jeff Riney 5-9¾ 165 So. H 4 M. VanGorder 6-0½ 215 Jr. 14 DeShone Kizer 6-4¼ 230 Jr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 61 Scott Daly 6-1½ 250 5th-Sr. 54 John Shannon 6-1¾ 220 Fr. PR 10 Chris Finke 5-9¼ 180 So. 3 C.J. Sanders 5-8 185 So. KR 3 C.J. Sanders 5-8 185 So. 10 Chris Finke 5-9¼ 180 So. Special Teams Through nine games, redshirt junior linebacker Andrew Motuapuaka was Virginia Tech's top tackler with 71 stops. PHOTO COURTESY VIRGINIA TECH