Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 20, 2017

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/899989

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 36 of 55

www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 20, 2017 37 and third with an average of 8.69 yards per carry. And he put up those numbers despite missing 10 full quarters due to either an injury or the team having a large lead. Junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush thrived on the ground as well, racking up 639 yards in his first eight starts. Wimbush missed Notre Dame's matchup against North Carolina, but still ranked 23rd in the country in yards per rush (6.3) and was tied for eighth with 13 rushing touchdowns. Navy ranked 61st in the country in run defense, giving up an average of 165.9 yards through its first eight contests. The Midshipmen largely struggled against op- ponents ranked in the top 30 in rushing offense. It held Florida Atlantic — the nation's No. 7 rushing offense through 10 weeks — to just 40 yards, but the four other opponents Navy faced that ranked in the top 30 in rushing offense averaged 251.8 yards per game. Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. NAVY PASS DEFENSE Notre Dame ranked just 108th in passing offense (170.3 yards per game) through nine outings, and was 103rd in pass efficiency (117.9). After missing the North Carolina start, Wimbush began to play better football. In the next three con- tests, he had a passer efficiency rating of 136.52 and threw for five touchdowns while not turning the ball over. The return of sophomore wideout Kevin Stepher- son prior to the USC game Oct. 21 and the emer- gence of sophomore wide receiver Chase Claypool provided a boost to the aerial attack. Stepherson had 11 touches (rushing attempts and catches) for 170 yards in the games against USC, North Carolina State and Wake Forest, providing the offense with big-play ability. Claypool had a career-best performance in the 48-37 win over Wake Forest, setting personal bests for receptions (nine) and receiving yards (180). Navy ranked 88th in passing defense through eight contests, but it also was 112th in comple- tion percentage against (63.8), 112th in yards per completion allowed (13.7), 113th in passes inter- cepted (four), 121st in yards per attempt allowed (8.8) and 121st in team pass efficiency defense (157.73 rating). The Midshipmen were permitting 213.3 yards per game through four weeks, but their next four opponents racked up 271.3 yards per game and 10 touchdown passes. Navy had just nine sacks in its first eight games, and that inability to pressure the quarterback di- rectly resulted in its struggles to force turnovers and incompletions. Advantage: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS Navy put together quality performances through its first eight games, ranking 15th in the land in kick- off coverage and 53rd in punt coverage. Sophomore kick returner Malcolm Perry averaged 24.5 yards on his first 13 returns, which ranked 37th in the land. Notre Dame ranked lower than Navy in kick re- turn average, kick coverage average, punt coverage and punt returns, but due to playing against better competition, the Irish ranked 47th in the land in special teams efficiency according to the FEI, while Navy was just 64th. Notre Dame's advantage in athleticism and com- petition gives it the edge in this matchup. Advantage: Notre Dame COACHING There are two ways to look at the coaching com- parison between Notre Dame's Brian Kelly and Navy's Ken Niumatalolo. One is to grade it on who gets the most out of their talent, and considering Niumatalolo had a career record of 82-45 (.646 winning percentage) through the first nine seasons of his career, that edge would go to him. Kelly has had his share of maximizing talent as well, putting together a 34-6 record in three sea- sons at Cincinnati (2007-09), the best three-year mark in school history. In 2004, Kelly took over a Central Michigan team coming off a 3-9 season and led them to a MAC championship by his third season. Kelly led Notre Dame to the BCS National Cham- pionship Game in 2012, the Fiesta Bowl in 2015 and into College Football Playoff contention through its first nine games of this season. Notre Dame had lost two of its last three games against Navy when Kelly arrived, and the Irish dropped their first matchup against the Midship- men under him. Since then, though, Notre Dame has won six of eight games — with four coming by double digits — which is where Kelly holds the advantage. Advantage: Even INTANGIBLES Notre Dame will enter this matchup with the bigger, more experienced and more talented team. The Fighting Irish are also putting together a better season than Navy. Those factors give Notre Dame the overall intan- gibles edge, but the one thing Navy has going for it is belief that it can beat Notre Dame. The Midship- men defeated the Irish 28-27 last November in Jacksonville, Fla., and took a brief fourth-quarter lead in the 2014 matchup before the Irish pulled ahead to win 49-39. Advantage: Notre Dame GAME PREVIEW: NAVY Offense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. WR 88 Tyler Carmona 6-4 227 Sr. 80 Terrence Laster 6-1 230 Sr. LT 57 Jake Hawk 6-6 295 Jr. 73 Michael Raiford 6-6 302 Sr. LG 75 Robert Lindsey 6-4 275 Sr. 68 David Forney 6-3 318 So. C 62 Parker Wade 6-2 280 Sr. 77 Bryan Barrett 6-3 330 Jr. RG 71 Evan Martin 6-3 294 Sr. 78 Laurent Njiki 6-3 306 Jr. RT 61 Andrew Wood 6-4 290 Jr. 72 Ford Higgins 6-2 250 So. WR 82 Craig Scott 6-2 189 Sr. or 87 Brandon Colon 6-4 223 Sr. SB 10 Malcolm Perry 5-9 185 So. 28 Josh Brown 5-9 189 Sr. QB 9 Zach Abey 6-2 212 Jr. 7 Garret Lewis 6-1 200 Jr. SB 29 Darryl Bonner 5-7 178 Sr. 36 Keoni-Kordell Makekau 5-11 170 Fr. FB 33 Chris High 6-0 224 Sr. 24 Joshua Walker 5-11 222 Sr. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. LE 90 Jarvis Polu 6-3 292 Jr. 96 Nizaire Cromartie 6-2 243 So. NG 99 Jackson Pittman 6-3 304 So. 97 Dave Tolentino 6-2 294 So. RE 91 Tyler Sayles 6-2 257 Sr. 92 Josh Webb 6-5 250 Jr. Star 11 Jerry Thompson 6-0 196 Sr. 5 Justin Norton 6-2 190 Sr. Mike 3 Brandon Jones 6-4 225 Sr. 42 Conner Dorris 6-2 237 Jr. Sam 44 Micah Thomas 6-1 241 Sr. 51 Winn Howard 6-2 215 Sr. Raid 45 D.J. Palmore 6-3 236 Sr. 40 Kevin McCoy 6-4 222 Sr. CB 17 Tyris Wooten 6-1 185 Sr. 15 Noruwa Obanor 6-1 188 So. SS 2 Jarid Ryan 5-11 198 Jr. 13 Juan Hailey 6-1 199 Jr. FS 6 Sean Williams 6-1 190 Jr. 18 John Gillis 5-11 179 Jr. CB 14 Elijah Merchant 5-10 196 Sr. 7 Khaylan Williams 6-0 192 Jr. NAVY DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. PK 16 Bennett Moehring 5-9 180 Jr. 4 Owen White 5-10 191 So. KO 16 Bennett Moehring 5-9 180 Jr. 4 Owen White 5-10 191 So. P 4 Owen White 5-10 191 So. 18 J.R. Osborn 6-0 184 So. Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. LS 85 Ronnie Querry 6-1 208 Sr. 44 Michael Pifer 6-3 226 So. H 8 Randy Beggs 6-0 180 Sr. PR 82 Craig Scott 6-2 189 Sr. 10 Malcolm Perry 5-9 185 So. KR 10 Malcolm Perry 5-9 185 So. 1 Reggie Hayes 5-7 165 Fr. Special Teams

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Blue and Gold Illustrated - Nov. 20, 2017