Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/871976
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 18, 2017 39 cornerback John Johnson to the NFL sapped Boston College of its best cover man, which hurts a second- ary that ranked 111th in touchdown passes allowed (28) and 74th in yards per catch allowed (12.6) in 2016. Notre Dame's pass offense ranked 48th in the country a season ago in terms of yards, but the Irish were 29th in yards per completion (13.6) and 35th in yards per attempt (7.9). Wimbush replaced 2016 starter De- Shone Kizer, who is now the No. 1 signal-caller for the NFL's Cleveland Browns. Wimbush passed for 184 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start, versus Temple. He will have a number of experi- enced weapons to throw to this sea- son, including highly reliable junior Equanimeous St. Brown (four recep- tions for 80 yards and one touchdown versus Temple), fifth-year senior wideout Cameron Smith (a team- leading 63 career catches), fifth-year senior tight end Durham Smythe and junior tight end Alizé Mack. Crucial to Notre Dame is whether or not its offensive line can contain Landry and Allen, who combined for 22 sacks last fall. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Based on 2016 numbers, the Ea- gles hold the advantage over Notre Dame on special teams. Boston Col- lege ranked 12th nationally in punt return average, 24th in kick coverage, 26th in punt coverage and 33rd in kick returns last season. Sophomore placekicker Colton Li- chtenberg entered the 2017 season just 3 of 8 on field goals in his first two seasons, but he was clutch in Boston College's season-opening victory over Northern Illinois. Lich- tenberg made field goals of 42 and 32 yards in the first quarter, and his 37-yard field goal with 2:13 left in the game proved to be the difference in Boston College's 23-20 victory. Notre Dame's special teams per- formed well in the opener against Temple, but the Irish still have a lot to prove under new coordinator Brian Polian. His special teams units will have to play sound football against an Eagles group that plays with pas- sion and discipline. Advantage: Boston College COACHING After beating Temple in the opener, head coach Brian Kelly improved to 60- 31 at Notre Dame and 231-88-2 for his career. A native of Massachusetts, Kelly has gone 4-1 against the Eagles, with his lone loss coming in 2006 when he was the head coach at Central Michigan. Boston College head coach Steve Addazio has a 38-38 career record and a 25-27 mark with the Eagles, who have never been better than 7-6 under his leadership. Elko has plenty of experience against Boston College, having coached against the Eagles in each of his three seasons at Wake Forest. Elko's defense held Boston College to 167 yards of offense (2.7 per play) last season and only 270 yards (3.7 per play) in 2015. Advantage: Notre Dame INTANGIBLES Notre Dame has won five straight contests against Boston College, though all but one game was com- petitive. Notre Dame beat Boston College 31-13 in Kelly's first season, but the Irish won by just two points, three points and 15 points in its next three matchups. Boston College is easy to overlook, but the Eagles are a tough, blue-collar team that always seem to play at its best against Notre Dame. Ironically, the last two games played in Chestnut Hill, Mass., resulted in a pair of dou- ble-digit victories for Notre Dame. In an overall nutshell, Notre Dame has too much size, too much speed and too much talent for Bos- ton College. Advantage: Notre Dame GAME PREVIEW: BOSTON COLLEGE Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. LT 67 Aaron Monteiro 6-7 315 Jr. 69 Austin Stevens 6-3 295 Jr. LG 70 John Phillips 6-6 310 So. or 73 Sam Schmal 6-7 310 Sr. C 77 Jon Baker 6-3 300 Sr. 72 Alec Lindstrom 6-4 260 Fr. RG 75 Chris Lindstrom 6-4 305 Jr. or 70 John Phillips 6-6 310 So. RT 74 Marcell Lazard 6-6 310 5th-Sr. or 75 Chris Lindstrom 6-4 305 Jr. X 83 Charlie Callinan 6-4 235 5th-Sr. 1 Elijah Robinson 6-2 200 Jr. A 19 Ben Glines 6-2 210 So. or 3 Michael Walker 6-0 195 Jr. FB 86 Ray Marten 6-3 260 So. 47 Colton Cardinal 6-3 235 Jr. RB 32 Jon Hilliman 6-0 220 Jr. 2 AJ Dillon 6-0 240 Fr. or 16 Davon Jones 5-10 220 So. or 38 Richard Wilson 5-10 225 Jr. or 35 Travis Levy 5-11 195 Fr. QB 13 Anthony Brown 6-1 210 R-Fr. 4 Darius Wade 6-0 215 5th-Sr. TE 89 Tommy Sweeney 6-5 255 Jr. 81 Chris Garrison 6-3 240 So. Z 6 Jeff Smith 6-1 190 Jr. 9 Kobay White 6-1 200 R-Fr. or 18 Thadd Smith 5-9 180 Sr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DE 2 Zach Allen 6-5 285 Jr. 48 Tanner Karafa 6-3 265 So. or 90 Bryce Morais 6-4 275 R-Fr. DT 94 Noa Merritt 6-0 290 Sr. 98 Jack Kenny 6-3 275 Sr. NT 96 Ray Smith 6-1 305 Jr. 92 Kevin Cohee 6-2 275 Jr. DE 7 Harold Landry 6-3 250 Sr. 11 Wyatt Ray 6-3 250 Jr. SLB 13 Connor Strachan 6-0 230 Sr. 49 Kevin Bletzer 6-2 220 Jr. or 55 Isaiah McDuffie 6-2 200 Fr. MLB 14 Max Richardson 6-0 230 So. 28 John Lamot 6-0 235 R-Fr. WLB 10 Ty Schwab 6-0 240 Sr. 28 John Lamot 6-0 235 R-Fr. or 46 Jimmy Martin 5-11 220 So. or 51 Isaiah Miranda 6-0 235 R-Fr. LC 20 Isaac Yiadom 6-1 190 Sr. 24 Taj-Amir Torres 5-9 180 Jr. SS 8 Will Harris 6-2 210 Jr. 25 Medhi El Attrach 6-0 200 So. FS 21 Lukas Denis 5-11 185 Jr. 37 Gabriel McClary 6-3 210 Sr. RC 5 Kamrin Moore 5-11 200 Sr. 4 Hamp Cheevers 5-10 165 So. BOSTON COLLEGE DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. KO 91 Max Schulze-Geisthovel 6-2 190 Sr. FG 99 Colton Lichtenberg 5-10 190 Jr. 98 Mike Knoll 6-0 200 Sr. or 91 Max Schulze-Geisthovel 6-2 190 Sr. P 98 Mike Knoll 6-0 200 Sr. 95 Grant Carlson 6-0 190 R-Fr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. KR 3 Michael Walker 6-0 195 Jr. 24 Taj-Amir Torres 5-9 180 Jr. PR 3 Michael Walker 6-0 195 Jr. 4 Hamp Cheevers 5-10 165 So. LS 46 Jimmy Martin 5-11 220 So. 49 Kevin Bletzer 6-2 220 Jr. Special Teams