First, thanks for letting me join and chime in on this Sunday's game from a Notre Dame perspective. Yes, there are some ND fans (not unlike any fanbase) that think we shouldn't have a problem beating Miami on Sunday. I've read similar posts from Miami fans on this message board - we're all fans and support our guys - that's who we are and what makes this fun: tribalism.
Second, I'll tell you the mindset of educated ND Fans and where we're coming from - why there's reason for us to be confident in certain areas and why we're hoping for the best in others. I've seen some other posts here that give grades/analysis by position group, which is how my mind works as well, but I won't compare our position groups to your opposing groups (EX: ND RBs vs. Miami DL/LBs). I think all positions rooms are interconnected in the success of collective group - it's not quite that binary to me. Forgive me, this will be heavy on Notre Dame insight. I know a decent amount about Miami, but obviously my Notre Dame intel is far greater.
Finally, I have no idea what's going to happen on Sunday night. I believe it'll be a good game, and probably pretty low scoring. I do know this Notre Dame team is not going to be intimidated by the environment (except maybe CJ since it's his first start). Freeman is the real deal and this is a team full of players who played at A&M last year in front of 107k (I was there) and made it to all the way to the national championship game last year (I was there as well). That's really good experience to draw on.
RB: We believe this to be the most talented and deepest RB room in America. Jeremiyah Love is a different caliber of player, one we haven't seen in South Bend in a long time. We also believe his #2, Jadarian Price, is an NFL-caliber back. I think we'll see some different looks from ND's offense this year with both on the field, and possibly splitting out Love into the slot to force 1:1 coverage with a LB or Safety. That's a matchup we would like very much. This is an A++ room, no doubt.
OL: There were a lot of people considering the Notre Dame OL as the preseason favorite for the Joe Moore award this year. I think they'd be a contender if Charles Jagusah was healthy all year, but even then, I have questions. They return a lot from last year, but we also struggled in run block and pass pro against the better teams we played. Does Bain switch sides? I'd guess he'd have more success against our LT, Anthonie Knapp, who is undersized for the position. RT, Aamil Wagner, is much larger and has been mentioned in All-America conversations. There's lots more to say on this Miami DL/ND OL matchup. Overall: I think ND's floor in this room is a B+, but could be an A-. Need to see more.
WR/TE: We believe we've upgraded the WR room since last year, pretty significantly. I don't know that we have the 'homerun hitter' we've been missing for a long time, but I think this is a very solid group. Greathouse showed he can be depended on in the playoff and we added Malachi Fields from UVA and Will Pauling from Wisconsin. There's a good amount of young talent as well. Eli Raridon at TE could be a matchup nightmare and should be CJ Carr's best friend. 6'7"/250 and can move. It'll be interesting to see this matchup with an overhauled Miami secondary. Overall, I give this group a B+.
QB: Honestly, who knows ... CJ has a lot of talent and the ceiling is high, but he's obviously young. Having your first game on the road against a good Miami team is a tough spot. He's a gun-slinger and rumor is he presses. With that comes some amazing throws, but also silly mistakes. My hope is the game plan and Miami-specific installs limit those and he throws less than 2 INTs on Sunday. I tend to think he'll get a lot better throughout the year and I certainly wish he'd get 2 or 3 cupcakes before Miami. Hopefully it's a B.
DL: Not having Jordan Bothelo for Miami hurts. He sets the edge really well and is extremely valuable in the run game. Luckily, there's depth at DE, and ND will run this by committee. A name to keep an eye on is, Bryce Young. He's true sophomore and he's 6'7"/275. We're pretty high on him and expect a lot of production this year. The interior DL was our concern pre-camp, but we might be okay here. We've heard really good things about Jason Onye at DT (long story with him over the years). So, here's an area we're 'hoping' is solid - we'll have to see. This is another area ND will run by committee to keep a less talented IDL fresh. Edge: A- / IDL: B.
LB: We're really good here. Not going to blow you away like Saban's LBs or Georgia's LBs when they've been really good, but probably the best LB group ND has had since the 90s? Might be. No super stars (hopefully 'yet'), but we have four really good ones (Drayk Bowen is the highest PFF returning starter at LB in college football). We blitz them a lot to pressure the QB, which we absolutely need to do to win this game. Beck is outstanding when he has time, but he was one of the worst in the Power 4 last year when pressured. We have the ability to do this because of our secondary (see below). Overall: A- (could be A)
Secondary: Here's a group we're pretty confident in. Leonard Moore is a pre-season first team All-American and the #1 PFF ranked CB in America. Opposite him, is Christian Gray, who's a very good college corner. Sometimes he gets picked on because Moore has taken away half the field. Miami has young talent, and these guys have to do their job, so the DL and LBs can focus on stopping the run. Adon Shuler, at Safety, is a guy we like a lot. He's going to be more of a roamer in the outfield this year, whereas last year he played a lot of underneath. We run a 4-2-5 with a lot of pressure and we brought in Devonta Smith, Alabama's starting nickel from last year to play the slot position. Expect to see him on blitzes as well. Overall: this group is an A.
As you can tell - this comes down to QB play for us. There's a lot to like about this team and as long as they stop the run and take care of the ball on Sunday, we'll have a great opportunity to win. Miami has some dudes. As I said before, I expect a low scoring game and it likely coming down to the 4th quarter. Sorry for the long post - couldn't get to everything, but happy to interact.
