Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 13, 2017 37 against the Hurricanes, even though they held triple-option opponent Georgia Tech 121 yards below its season average. If they are going to hold down Notre Dame, the Hurricanes will need its young but talented linebacking corps to produce. Sophomores Shaq Quartermann and Michael Pinckney rank second and third on the team in tackles, while combining for 10.5 tackles for loss. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. MIAMI PASS DEFENSE Miami ranked 35th in passing yards allowed through seven games, but its average of 5.4 yards allowed per completion ranked third and its 10.7 yards allowed per attempt ranked 15th. Miami picked off 11 passes and had 39 passes broken up in its first seven games. Miami also ranked fourth in the country with 3.43 sacks per game. Its pressures came from all over, with no player having more than four QB takedowns during that stretch. Miami's best performance of the season came in its 27-19 victory over Syracuse Oct. 21. The Orange ranked 21st nationally in passing offense through its first eight games, averaging 295.4 yards per game. Miami held the Orange to just 135 yards. Syracuse quarterback Eric Dungey completed merely 13 of 41 passes in the game and was picked off four times. Notre Dame ranked 118th in passing offense through its first eight outings, passing for just 150.4 yards per game. Its average of 5.7 yards per attempt ranked 120th and its average of 11.1 yards per completion ranked 104th. Junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush threw for only 1,006 yards in his first seven games while completing a modest 51.8 percent of his passes. He has improved during the season, although it hasn't been reflected in his overall numbers. Wimbush passed for just 224 yards in wins over USC and North Carolina State, but his ability to find the end zone early helped take pressure off the run game. Wimbush threw three first-quarter touchdown passes and a had second-quarter scor- ing toss in those victories. Heading into Notre Dame's Nov. 4 matchup against Wake Forest, Wimbush had not turned the ball over in his last four starts. Advantage: Miami SPECIAL TEAMS What gives Miami the advantage here is its domi- nance in the punt game. The Hurricanes rank ninth in the land in punt return average (16.0 yards per runback), and its punt coverage has been excellent. Freshman punter Zach Feagles averaged what seems like a disappointing 38.4 yards per punt through Miami's first seven games, but opponents returned just two of his punts for zero yards. Notre Dame senior punter Tyler Newsome had a more impressive average of 44.4 yards per punt through his first eight games, but opponents aver- aged 9.24 yards per return. Senior Michael Badgley is one of the top place- kickers in the ACC, making 12 of 14 field goal at- tempts through seven games. Advantage: Miami COACHING Miami head coach Mark Richt is in his second season with the Hurricanes, compiling a 16-4 re- cord through his first 20 games. That was after posting a 145-51 record in 15 years as the man in charge of the Georgia Bulldogs. Richt led Georgia to a pair of SEC titles, but his last SEC crown was 2005, and it was the inability to win the league in his final 10 seasons that ulti- mately led to the Bulldogs moving on. He's orchestrated a quick turnaround at Miami, putting together a 12-game win streak that began after losing at Notre Dame last season. Kelly has compiled a 66-32 record in his eight sea- sons at Notre Dame and a 120-54 record in 15 years at the FBS level. His overall record, which includes 13 years at Division II Grand Valley State, is 238-89-2. Last season's meeting was the first between Kelly and Richt, and despite being in the midst of his worst season as a head coach, Kelly was able to lead the Irish to a 30-27 victory. Advantage: Even INTANGIBLES Normally a team playing on the road against an opponent that was the No. 10 team in the initial College Football Playoff rankings would hold an intangibles advantage in a game at home. That is not the case with the Hurricanes in a matchup against the Irish. Notre Dame matches up very well with Miami, and the Fighting Irish have won four straight contests against the Hurricanes, including three under Kelly. Miami hasn't received much home support, hav- ing sold out just one time in the last three seasons. A large Notre Dame contingent is expected for the game, which should make it a bit more hospitable for the visitors. Advantage: Notre Dame GAME PREVIEW: MIAMI (FLA.) Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. X 82 Ahmmon Richards 6-1 190 So. 81 Darrell Langham 6-4 220 R-Jr. Y 8 Braxton Berrios 5-9 186 Sr. 4 Jeff Thomas 5-10 175 Fr. or 13 Deejay Dallas 5-10 211 Fr. LT 52 Kc McDermott 6-7 300 Sr. 57 Kai-Leon Herbert 6-5 285 Fr. LG 73 Trevor Darling 6-4 300 Sr. 62 Hayden Mahoney 6-5 295 R-So. C 74 Tyler Gauthier 6-5 305 Jr. 65 Corey Gaynor 6-4 285 Fr. RG 55 N. Donaldson 6-6 350 Fr. 62 Hayden Mahoney 6-5 295 R-So. RT 78 Tyree St. Louis 6-5 305 Jr. 70 George Brown Jr. 6-7 300 R-So. TE 23 C. Herndon IV 6-4 252 Sr. 87 Michael Irvin II 6-3 248 So. Z 3 Mike Harley 5-9 160 Fr. or 84 Dionte Mullins 5-10 200 So. QB 12 Malik Rosier 6-1 216 R-Jr. 16 Evan Shirreffs 6-5 216 R-So. RB 24 Travis Homer 5-11 195 So. 32 Trayone Gray 6-2 234 R-Jr. or 28 Crispian Atkins 5-9 185 Jr. or 13 DeeJay Davis 5-10 200 Fr. or 22 Robert Burns 5-11 215 Fr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DE 9 Chad Thomas 6-6 275 Sr. 33 Trent Harris 6-2 248 Sr. DT 7 Kendrick Norton 6-3 312 Jr. 95 Anthony Moten 6-4 315 Sr. DT 80 RJ McIntosh 6-4 293 Jr. 93 Pat Bethel 6-3 272 So. DE 99 Joe Jackson 6-5 258 So. 31 Demetrius Jackson 6-3 265 R-Jr. SLB 53 Zach McCloud 6-2 230 So. 34 Charles Perry 6-1 230 Jr. or 11 De'Andre Wilder 6-3 202 Fr. MLB 55 Shaq Quarterman 6-1 240 So. 35 Mike Smith 6-1 236 R-Jr. WLB 56 Michael Pinckney 6-1 228 So. 58 Darrion Owens 6-3 240 R-Jr. CB 3 Dee Delaney 6-1 193 5th-Sr. 2 Trajan Bandy 5-9 180 Fr. or 6 Jhavonte Dean 6-2 185 Jr. S 4 Jaquan Johnson 5-11 190 Jr. 20 Robert Knowles 6-1 198 R-So. S 22 Sheldrick Redwine 6-1 195 Jr. 30 Romeo Finley 6-1 205 So. or 5 Amari Carter 6-2 197 Fr. CB 12 Malek Young 5-9 180 So. 28 Michael Jackson 6-1 200 Jr. MIAMI (FLA.) DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. PK 15 Michael Badgley 5-10 178 Sr. KO 15 Michael Badgley 5-10 178 Sr. P 18 Zach Feagles 6-2 210 Fr. 43 Jack Spicer 6-3 210 R-So. LS 39 Jordan Butler 5-9 190 Jr. 50 Sam York 6-1 198 R-Jr. H 43 Jack Spicer 6-3 210 R-So. 18 Zach Feagles 6-1 210 Fr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. PR 8 Braxton Berrios 5-9 186 Sr. 12 Malek Young 5-9 180 So. or 4 Jeff Thomas 5-10 175 Fr. or 13 DeeJay Dallas 5-10 211 Fr. KR 24 Travis Homer 5-11 195 So. or 12 Malek Young 5-9 180 So. or 4 Jeff Thomas 5-10 175 Fr. Special Teams