Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1547006
38 OCT. 10, 2026 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: BYU dominant run defender, but they have a few that make them tough to deal with. The biggest name is Cal transfer linebacker Cade Uluave, who is tied for the team lead in tackles with 14. Fifth-year linebacker Isaiah Glasker is a playmaker for the Cougars, too. But fifth-year nose tackle Keanu Tanuvasa is also a rock up the middle. He doesn't make many stops himself, but he will often do the dirty work to eat up double teams and free up the linebackers to make plays. Other key run defenders include two defensive backs, nickel Cannon DeVries and safety Faletau Satuala. The Cougars will play a ton of nickel be- cause they trust DeVries to stick his nose into the fray against the run, and they will play Satuala ab- solutely everywhere. He is a 6-foot-4 freak whose style of play is almost Hamiltonian. Notre Dame has struggled accounting for aggres- sive defensive backs in the run game. If we know this, and you now know this, then BYU definitely knows this. Expect Satuala and DeVries to be ex- tremely involved in the Cougars' plan for Aneyas Williams and Nolan James Jr. James (versus Michigan State) and Williams (against Purdue) have each had good games re- cently, and Notre Dame is slowly but surely honing its scheme to match what it does well. Their jobs will be easier if the interior offensive line can push the likes of Tanuvasa back and climb up to the linebackers and defensive backs. Can Anthonie Knapp, Ashton Craig and Sullivan Absher do that? Only time will tell. Advantage: BYU OFFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. WR 6 Jordan Faison 5-11 185 Sr. 33 Matt Jeffery 5-11 195 Jr. WR 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 Sr. or 3 Mylan Graham 6-1 195 Jr. LT 74 Will Black 6-7 316 So. 68 Charlie Thom 6-7 295 Fr. or 65 Grayson McKeogh 6-7 303 Fr. LG 54 Anthonie Knapp 6-5 305 Jr. 57 Cam Herron 6-2 297 So. C 70 Ashton Craig 6-5 315 5th 64 Joe Otting 6-4 309 Sr. RG 75 Sullivan Absher 6-7 320 Sr. or 71 Styles Prescod 6-6 304 Jr. RT 76 Guerby Lambert 6-7 325 Jr. 78 Owen Strebig 6-8 318 So. or 68 Charlie Thom 6-7 295 Fr. TE 87 Cooper Flanagan 6-6 255 Sr. or 88 James Flanigan 6-6 253 So. WR 14 Micah Gilbert 6-2 205 Jr. 17 Elijah Burress 6-1 190 So. or 8 Jerome Bettis Jr. 6-2 207 So. QB 13 CJ Carr 6-2 215 Jr. 10 Noah Grubbs 6-4 210 Fr. or 9 Teddy Jarrard 6-4 210 Fr. RB 22 Aneyas Williams 5-10 210 Jr. or 2 Nolan James Jr. 5-10 215 So. DEFENSE Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. DE 5 Boubacar Traore 6-5 253 Sr. 10 Loghan Thomas 6-3 221 Jr. DT 88 Armel Mukam 6-3 300 Sr. 7 Francis Brewu 6-1 285 Jr. NT 0 Tionne Gray 6-5 320 Jr. or 7 Francis Brewu 6-1 285 Jr. DE 95 Bryce Young 6-6 260 Jr. 11 Keon Keeley 6-5 275 Sr. WLB 4 Jaiden Ausberry 6-1 226 Sr. 3 Jaylen Sneed 6-1 227 5th MLB 34 Drayk Bowen 6-2 234 Sr. 27 Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa 6-3 234 Jr. or 19 Madden Faraimo 6-2 235 So. NB 29 Christian Gray 6-0 196 Sr. 1 Dallas Golden 6-0 195 So. or 12 Jayden Sanders 6-0 195 So. CB 15 Leonard Moore 6-2 197 Jr. 24 Mark Zackery IV 5-10 190 So. BOUND 8 Adon Shuler 6-0 205 Sr. 22 Ethan Long 6-2 205 So. FIELD 28 Luke Talich 6-4 222 Sr. 20 Joey O'Brien 6-5 200 Fr. CB 2 DJ McKinney 6-1 190 5th 12 Jayden Sanders 6-0 195 So. SPECIAL TEAMS Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. KO 36 Micah Drescher 6-5 196 Fr. or 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 211 So. PK 35 Spencer Porath 6-0 200 Jr. 36 Micah Drescher 6-5 196 Fr. P 39 Jasper Scaife 6-6 222 Fr. 18 Erik Schmidt 6-2 211 So. LS 96 Joseph Vinci 6-4 233 Jr. 49 Andrew Kros 6-4 227 Sr. H 39 Jasper Scaife 6-6 222 Fr. PR 6 Jordan Faison 5-11 185 Sr. 1 Jaden Greathouse 6-1 215 Sr. or 22 Aneyas Williams 5-10 210 Jr. KR 22 Aneyas Williams 5-10 210 Jr. or 2 Nolan James Jr. 5-10 215 So. 20 Jonaz Walton 5-9 214 Fr. or 21 Kedren Young 5-11 234 Jr. NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH TWO-DEEP DEPTH CHART Junior safety Faletau Satuala (top left) earned second-team All-America honors from the Football Writers Association of America in 2025 after recording 3 interceptions and 7.5 tackles for loss. PHOTO COURTESY BYU ATHLETICS