Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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70 PRESEASON 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Notre Dame gave up just 139.3 rushing yards per game against non-option opponents after the fourth game, which was VanGorder's last. Advantage: Temple TEMPLE PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Temple returns one of the best wide receiver units that Notre Dame will face this season. It's a productive and seasoned group, led by athletic junior Ventell Bryant, who led the Owls with 54 receptions and 895 yards last fall. Seniors Keith Kirkwood (42 receptions for 648 yards) and Adonis Jennings (27 grabs for 474 yards) provide good size and depth on the outside. Jen- nings set a career high with seven catches for 154 yards and two scores against Wake Forest in the Military Bowl. Temple had some issues protecting four-year starting quarterback P.J. Walker last season and gave up 29 sacks, which ranked 62nd in the land. Walker is gone and so is left tackle Dion Dawkins, who was a second-round pick of the Buffalo Bills. There is a four-man battle raging for the start- ing quarterback position, but whoever opens the season will lack experience and will be making his first career start on the road against Notre Dame. Notre Dame ranked 21st in passing yards allowed per game (196.4) last season, but that number is a bit skewed by the fact it struggled so mightily at stopping the run and faced two triple-option teams that ranked 125th and 128th in passing of- fense. Notre Dame ranked 88th in yards allowed per attempt (7.5) and opponents completed 61.7 percent of their passes. The Irish return five cornerbacks with starting ex- perience and are poised to match up with Temple's talented receiving corps, but its safeties are a dif- ferent story. Vital to Notre Dame is getting pressure on the new Temple quarterbacks. Notre Dame had just 14 sacks last season, but that number should take a jump under Elko, whose Wake Forest defense registered 41 sacks last season (including four in its win over Temple). Advantage: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. TEMPLE RUN DEFENSE Temple ranked 25th nationally in rushing defense last fall, and its 3.6 yards per attempt allowed ranked 21st. That is the good news for the Owls. The bad news is that it must replace six of its front seven starters, including first-round pick Haason Reddick at defensive end. Under Geoff Collins, the Florida defense ranked 38th in rushing defense last season, but it had is- sues in the final eight games of the season. Florida gave up 265 yards to Missouri, 223 yards to Arkan- sas, 219 yards to LSU, 249 yards to Florida State and 234 yards to Alabama. Notre Dame ranked just 80th in rushing offense (163.3 yards per game) last season, but expect the Irish to take major steps forward this season. GAME PREVIEW: TEMPLE 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. 11 Freddy Canteen 6-0 194 Sr. 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 Sr. RT 78 Tommy Kraemer 6-5½ 314 So. 72 Robert Hainsey 6-4½ 290 Fr. TE 80 Durham Smythe 6-5½ 257 5th-Sr. 86 Alizé Mack 6-5 251 Jr. WR 15 Cameron Smith 5-10½ 202 5th-Sr. 10 Chris Finke 5-9½ 181 Jr. QB 7 Brandon Wimbush 6-2 228 Jr. 12 Ian Book 6-0 208 So. RB 33 Josh Adams 6-2 225 Jr. 34 Tony Jones Jr. 5-11 225 So. Defense Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Cl. DE 93 Jay Hayes 6-3½ 290 Sr. 53 Khalid Kareem 6-4 266 So. DT 55 Jonathan Bonner 6-4 291 Sr. 97 M. Dew-Treadway 6-4 305 Jr. NT 99 Jerry Tillery 6-7 306 Jr. 41 Kurt Hinish 6-2 298 Fr. Drop 9 Daelin Hayes 6-4 258 So. 98 Andrew Trumbetti 6-4 263 Sr. Mike 5 Nyles Morgan 6-1 235 Sr. 44 Jamir Jones 6-3 240 So. Buck 48 Greer Martini 6-3½ 236 Sr. 4 Te'von Coney 6-1 240 Jr. 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. 14 Devin Studstill 6-0 195 So. Whip 21 Jalen Elliott 6-0½ 205 So. 17 Isaiah Robertson 6-1½ 195 Fr. CB 7 Nick Watkins 6-1 207 Sr. 8 Donte Vaughn 6-3 206 So. NOTRE DAME DEPTH CHART Pos. No. Name Ht. Wt. Yr. PK 19 Justin Yoon 5-10 192 Jr. 29 Sam Kohler 6-0 193 Sr. P 85 Tyler Newsome 6-2½ 210 Sr. 39 Jonathan Doerer 6-3 193 Fr. KO 39 Jonathan Doerer 6-3 193 Fr. 19 Justin Yoon 5-10 192 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. 87 Michael Young 5-10 190 Fr. KR 3 C.J. Sanders 5-8 181 Jr. 2 Dexter Williams 5-11 215 Jr. Special Teams Senior defensive end Jacob Martin has been a key rotation figure for Temple, but in 2017 he is expected to become the Owls' top pass rusher. PHOTO BY JOSEPH V. LABOLITO/COURTESY TEMPLE