Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Notre Dame Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 12-1 overall
Head Coach: Brian Kelly, 10th year, 81-35
– CFN Preview 2019: All The Team Previews
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NOTRE DAME OFFENSE
– The offense exploded like it was supposed to under offensive coordinator Chip Long, but it took a while to get there. Everything picked up and rocked once RB Dexter Williams was off an early suspension and QB Ian Book took over the starting gig full-time. Book kept the attack moving, Williams hit the home runs, and for the second year in a row and fourth time in five years, the Irish scored over 400 points. But …
– Dexter Williams is done. So who’s next to take over and be the next Williams or Josh Adams in the Long offense? 6-1, 220-pound junior Jafar Armstrong will get the first look after finishing third on the team with 383 yards and seven scores, but the 227-pound Tony Jones can produce, too, finishing second on the team with 392 yards. A former wide receiver, Armstrong can bring the burst, but Jones is more of a pounder.
– With Brandon Wimbush transferring to UCF, it’s all Ian Book now … sort of. He’s the unquestioned starting quarterback after completing 68% of his throws for 2,628 yards and 19 scores with seven picks.
Book can come through with his legs as well as his arm, but 6-5, 225-pound sophomore Phil Jurkovec has the next-level tools and talent to push the ball down the field a bit more. Brian Kelly isn’t afraid to change quarterbacks, but Book would have to collapse to lose his job. Even so, Jurkovec will see a little time.
– Two of the top four receivers are gone, but the cupboard is hardly bare. 6-4 senior Chase Claypool has No. 1 target ability after finishing second on the team behind Miles Boykin with 50 grabs for 639 yards and four scores. He’ll work on the outside, and 5-10 senior Chris Finke is back on the inside after making 49 grabs for 571 yards.
There’s good overall size and a few good young options to work into the receiving rotation, but losing TE Alize Mack hurts. 6-6, 255-pound junior Cole Kmet is a talent – coming up with 15 grabs behind Mack – and junior Brock Wright is another big target.
– The recruiting class went heavy on big-time talent for the offensive line, but the front five is more than good enough for the moment with four starters back. 6-6, 319-pound senior Tommy Kraemer is a next-level guard who’ll work on the right side, and 6-6, 305-pound left tackle Liam Eichenberg will play on Sundays when he’s done in South Bend.
325-pound junior Aaron Banks is back at left guard, and 6-5, 298-pound Robert Hainsey returns at right tackle, but San Mustipher is done at center. It’ll be a battle for backup jobs and the spot in the middle when the freshman class gets a full fall camp, but sophomore tackle Jarrett Patterson has the inside track.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NOTRE DAME DEFENSE
– Six of the top ten tacklers and six starters return, but there’s plenty of turnover for a D that allowed 347 yards and just 18 points per game. It was terrific against the pass, good enough against the run, and solid when it had to be – even with a few shaky moments here and there. But now ..
– The linebacking corps takes a massive hit. Te’von Coney and Drue Tranquill combined to make 209 tackles in the normal 4-2-5 alignment, but they’re done. 227-pound senior Asmar Bilal worked mostly as a hybrid linebacker/safety tweener type last season, coming up with 50 tackles, and now he’ll get the first shot at replacing Coney in the middle.
Bilal’s move puts the untested 215-pound Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in the spotlight at the Rover gig, and 231-pound Jordan Genmark Heath on the outside in place of Tranquill.
– The line has to find a new Jerry Tillery at one tackle, and Jonathan Bonner is done at the other tackle spot – the interior will be a work in progress. 286-pound junior Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa missed most of last year with a broken foot, and 295-pound junior Kurt Hinish has to go from decent backup to a rock of a starter on the nose.
The outside is settled, though, with top pass rusher Julian Okwara returning on one side and backfield playmaker Khalid Kareem on the other.
– Julian Love is gone after turning in a fantastic season at corner. Notre Dame doesn’t have another one of him, but Troy Pride is a big senior who can hit at one corner. Jalen Elliott is a 6-1, 210-pound roving safety who led the team with four picks, and Alohi Gilman is the leading returning tackler after coming up with 94 stops. It’s Game On between 6-3 senior Donte Vaughn and 6-0 sophomore Houston Griffith to take over Love’s spot.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP NOTRE DAME PLAYERS
Best Notre Dame Offensive Player
QB Ian Book, Sr.
He might not be a big bomber like sophomore Phil Jurkovec, and he might not be the most dangerous runner, but he’s a baller who makes things happen. When the offense was stalling a bit too much at times early on last season under Brandon Wimbush, Book stepped in and the season took off.
His accuracy is his key. He’ll hit the downfield throws, but for this offense, completing 68% of his passes – including a brilliant early run where he hit 81% against Pitt and Navy – is what’s needed.
Great on third downs, excellent at taking off to move the chains – ask Northwestern about that – and able to take advantage of teams loading up to stop the run, he’s the veteran leader who deserves more national respect.
2. OG Tommy Kraemer, Sr.
3. OT Liam Eichenberg, Sr.
4. RB Jafar Armstrong, Jr.
5. WR Chase Claypool, Sr.
Best Notre Dame Defensive Player
S Alohi Gilman, Sr.
The star power isn’t there like it was with last year’s defense, but there are a whole slew of very good veterans who should keep the production going.
The 5-11, 201-pound Gilman is a future NFL safety with the range to come up with two picks – both against Syracuse – and break up five passes – but he’s at his best against the run with 94 stops. The former Navy transfer, is quick, active, and was the lone bright spot in the loss to Clemson with 18 tackles.
2. DE Julian Okwara, Sr.
3. DE Khalid Kareem, Sr.
4. LB Asmar Bilal, Sr.
5. S Jalen Elliott, Sr.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The Notre Dame Offense
Convert on third downs, and keep converting on third downs. It’s easy to fall in love with the home runs the Notre Dame running game can hit – those are what changed games throughout last year and all but put games away – but considering time of possession is no big whoop with this attack, just keeping the chains moving is fine, too.
That’s where QB Ian Book was so strong. Time and again throughout last year he came up with the big throw or the right scramble just when it seemed like the momentum was about to turn – and that’s part of the reason why he took over.
Notre Dame was pushed way too hard by Ball State because Brandon Wimbush couldn’t convert on third downs. When the O hit the 50% mark against good Stanford and Virginia Tech did – and against Florida State, too – there weren’t any issues in blowout wins.
Biggest Key To The Notre Dame Defense
The defensive interior has to be up to snuff. Forgetting the debacle against Clemson and excusing the game against a Navy team that could only run, the shootout against Wake Forest was the lone struggle against the run.
What was the difference over the last two years in Notre Dame’s success? There were several reasons, but the 2016 clunker allowed close to five yards per carry or more five times – all losses. The solid 2017 team allowed five yards or more just twice – going 1-1 – and last year only Navy and Clemson hit the mark.
It all worked around the interior tandem of Jerry Tillery and Jonathan Bonner. They’re gone, and while the defensive tackle situation should be fine with a slew of good options, how they all play on the road at Georgia, Michigan and Stanford should be the difference between a strong year and another special run.
The defensive tackle combination of Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Kurt Hinish matters, but …
Key Player To A Successful Season
RB Jafar Armstrong, Jr.
Tony Jones was fine. When Dexter Williams was out for the first four games, Jones ran for 118 yards in the win over Vanderbilt and came up with two scores in the 24-16 win over Ball State. But he didn’t get more than six carries in any of the last eight games – he’s not the big play runner Williams was.
That’s Armstrong.
The former wide receiver can certainly catch, and he’s got the wheels to be used on kickoff returns, but he was banged up for a stretch and his carries dwindled to almost nothing as the year went on. The 6-1, 220-pounder might not be a workhorse, but he has to be the flash the running game needs.
Key Game To The Notre Dame Season
at Georgia, Sept. 21
Want to be right back in the College Football Playoff chase again? Win this.
That’s not to totally blow off the opener at Louisville – watch out for this … really – or the date against Bob Davie and New Mexico – no, really, be very careful here in a 2018 Ball State game sort of way – but the road trip to Georgia is the big moment for the Irish.
They can afford a loss and still get into CFP contention, but with road games at Michigan and Stanford still to deal with, losing in Athens would likely be a killer. Win – Notre Dame is 0-2 against the Dawgs – and this gets fun.
– Notre Dame Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 Notre Dame Fun Stats
– 1st Quarter Scoring: Notre Dame 115 – Opponents 33
– Field Goals: Notre Dame 18-of-22 – Opponents 14-of-25
– 4th Down Conversions: Notre Dame 16-of-25 – Opponents 13-of-25 (52%)
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. NOTRE DAME WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
Last year’s team caught a few massive breaks.
The Michigan game was at home right out of the gate. Stanford wasn’t up to its normal snuff, Virginia Tech stunk, Florida State stunk, USC stunk, and beating Northwestern, Pitt and Syracuse – while solid – wasn’t that big a deal.
But if going 12-0 was so easy, everyone would do it.
This year’s team is still going to be fantastic in a whole lot of ways, but there’s no Dexter Williams, no Julian Love, no Te’von Coney, no Jerry Tillery, no Drue Tranquill, no Alize Mack, no Justin Yoon, and no Miles Boykin.
There’s plenty of talent coming back to come up with another great year, but those eight big talents were major reasons for the unbeaten regular season and the run to the College Football Playoff.
The offensive line, though, will be every bit as good as last year’s version. The secondary will be okay despite the loss of Love, the defensive ends are strong, and QB Ian Book is good enough to overcome the loss of some of the key skill guys.
Overall, though, there will be just enough of a step back to fall short of being perfect, but it’ll still be a very, very good team … with a much harder schedule.
So …
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 9
USC and Virginia Tech are home games, but both teams will be far better. Virginia is good enough to win the ACC Coastal, going to Duke and hosting Boston College will be tricky, and starting the season off at Louisville is more dangerous than it might seem.
But the three giant road games are going to be the killer – at Georgia, at Michigan, at Stanford.
The Irish will win at least one of those three, but assume two losses in good fights, and one stumble somewhere else to a USC or one of the okay ACC squads on the slate.
No, it’s not going to be another College Football Playoff season, and it’s Notre Dame, so the expectations should be at national title or bust, but nine regular season wins and a bowl victory would make it four double-digit win seasons in the last five.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
