Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/899989
36 NOV. 20, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED third-down conversion rate through eight games put the offense on pace for its worst performance in three seasons. Notre Dame's pass defense yielded a lot of yards in the first nine games, ranking 90th in the land at 245.3 yards allowed per contest. A deeper look into those numbers shows that Notre Dame's yards surrendered during that stretch were largely due to the team having so many big leads. The Fighting Irish pass defense ranked 19th in the country in yards allowed per completion (11.0) and 21st in yards allowed per attempt (6.2). Notre Dame picked off nine passes in the first nine games and ranked 37th in the country in pass efficiency defense (116.8 rating). Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. NAVY RUN DEFENSE Through nine games, the Notre Dame offense was one of the nation's premier units. The Irish were No. 3 in the country in offensive efficiency according to the Fremeau Efficiency Index (FEI), and ranked seventh in the land in scoring offense (41.3 points per game) and 13th in total offense (495.1 yards per game). The driving force behind it was the nation's most explosive ground attack. After 10 weeks of the reg- ular season, the Irish ranked fifth in the nation in rushing yards per game (324.8) and led the country in yards per rush (7.04). Notre Dame rushed for at least 318 yards in seven of its first nine games. Junior running back Josh Adams was the primary beneficiary of Notre Dame's dominant offensive line, ranking ninth in the country with 1,191 yards GAME PREVIEW: NAVY Senior linebacker D.J. Palmore made 47 stops during the Midshipmen's 5-3 start, and led the team in tackles for loss (9.5) and sacks (2.5). PHOTO COURTESY NAVY Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 6 E. St. Brown 6-5 203 Jr. 81 Miles Boykin 6-4 225 Jr. WR 83 Chase Claypool 6-4½ 228 So. 10 Chris Finke 5-9½ 181 Jr. LT 68 Mike McGlinchey 6-8 315 5th-Sr. 74 Liam Eichenberg 6-6 300 So. LG 56 Quenton Nelson 6-5 330 Sr. 75 Joshua Lugg 6-7 300 Fr. C 53 Sam Mustipher 6-2½ 305 Jr. 57 Trevor Ruhland 6-3½ 302 Jr. RG 71 Alex Bars 6-6 312 Sr. 70 Hunter Bivin 6-6 315 5th-Sr. RT 78 Tommy Kraemer 6-5½ 314 So. 72 Robert Hainsey 6-4½ 292 Fr. TE 80 Durham Smythe 6-5½ 257 5th-Sr. 86 Alizé Mack 6-5 251 Jr. WR 29 Kevin Stepherson 6-0 185 So. 15 Cameron Smith 5-10½ 202 5th-Sr. QB 7 Brandon Wimbush 6-2 228 Jr. 12 Ian Book 6-0 208 So. RB 33 Josh Adams 6-2 225 Jr. 2 Dexter Williams 5-11 215 Jr. or 34 Tony Jones Jr. 5-11 225 So. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. Drop 9 Daelin Hayes 6-4 258 So. 42 Julian Okwara 6-4½ 240 So. DT 55 Jonathan Bonner 6-4 291 Sr. 95 M. Tagovailoa-Amosa 6-2½ 293 Fr. NG 99 Jerry Tillery 6-7 306 Jr. 41 Kurt Hinish 6-2 298 Fr. DE 93 Jay Hayes 6-3½ 290 Sr. or 98 Andrew Trumbetti 6-4 263 Sr. Buck 4 Te'von Coney 6-1 240 Jr. or 48 Greer Martini 6-3½ 236 Sr. Mike 5 Nyles Morgan 6-1 235 Sr. 44 Jamir Jones 6-3 240 So. Rover 23 Drue Tranquill 6-2 231 Sr. 22 Asmar Bilal 6-2 230 Jr. CB 27 Julian Love 5-11 193 So. 20 Shaun Crawford 5-9 176 Jr. Stud 24 Nick Coleman 6-0 192 Jr. 17 Isaiah Robertson 6-1½ 195 Fr. Whip 21 Jalen Elliott 6-0½ 205 So. or 14 Devin Studstill 6-0 195 So. CB 7 Nick Watkins 6-1 207 Sr. 18 Troy Pride Jr. 5-11½ 187 So. NOTRE DAME DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 19 Justin Yoon 5-10 192 Jr. or 39 Jonathan Doerer 6-3 193 Fr. PK 19 Justin Yoon 5-10 192 Jr. 39 Jonathan Doerer 6-3 193 Fr. P 85 Tyler Newsome 6-2½ 210 Sr. 42 Jeff Riney 5-10 180 Jr. H 4 M. VanGorder 6-1 222 Sr. 85 Tyler Newsome 6-2½ 210 Sr. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. LS 54 John Shannon 6-2 230 So. 82 Nic Weishar 6-5 243 Sr. PR 10 Chris Finke 5-9½ 181 Jr. 3 C.J. Sanders 5-8 181 Jr. KR 3 C.J. Sanders 5-8 181 Jr. 87 Michael Young 5-10 190 Fr. Special Teams