Players to watch: No. 12 Notre Dame vs. Georgia Tech
Freshman Bryce Young (left) is a rising star on special teams and defense for Notre Dame. (Photo by Jeff Douglas, Inside ND Sports)
It may be the last college football season to feature walk-ons, at least in the traditional sense, but it’s hard to keep track of how many and who actually played for No. 12 Notre Dame this season. It’s a little difficult.
There are significant differences between ND’s own accounting system and the accounting system provided by Pro Football Focus Movie Reviews. But Max Harlemann can do no wrong. The walk-on transfer out of Colgate University continues to expand his role on special teams, currently serving as a deep reserve in the Irish defensive backfield.
“I think a lot of it was self-generated,” the former FCS fourth-year running back said of his confidence leveling up heading into his final season of college eligibility. “But it’s also just knowing that I’ve worked hard on myself. And, yeah, to make a decision like this, you have to be a little bit paranoid and have a little bit of unfounded confidence.” Maybe.
“As you can imagine, there were people who contributed their two cents to my decision. But yeah, I’ve been an athlete my whole life. I played a lot of different sports, like football, basketball, lacrosse. I’ve always found a way to compete and be a contributor no matter what team I’m on.”
Three more byes if scholarship kicker Mitch Jeter’s groin injury, which follows him early from last Saturday’s game against Stanford, puts him in the “questionable” category for this Saturday’s game against Georgia Tech. will focus on the Irishman.
Notre Dame (5-1) and the Yellow Jackets (5-2) will meet for the 38th time between these two schools at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, home of the Atlanta Falcons. Start time is 3:30pm ET on ESPN.
WSBT Gameday SportsBeat’s pregame radio show will air from noon to 2:30 ET (wsbtradio.com/96.1 FM) prior to the ND vs. Georgia Tech game. Inside ND Sports will be hosting two postgame shows on our YouTube channel to bring you what happened after the game.
Former Notre Dame offensive lineman Bob Morton and Inside ND Sports’ Eric Hansen team up live five minutes after the final whistle on Into The eNDzone to answer your questions. Late Saturday night will be a postgame takeaway between Hansen and Tyler James.
Meanwhile, the dome roof of Mercedes-Benz Stadium will be retracted and opened during games.
So ND head coach Marcus Freeman and special teams coordinator Marty Biagi will have to think a bit more when figuring out how to replace Jeter if the situation arises.
Eric Goins, a 30-year-old Army veteran and walk-on transfer to The Citadel, took kickoffs against Stanford after Jeter was injured and will likely reprise that role against Georgia Tech. Five of the seven kickoffs against the Cardinal were touchbacks. The other one pegged Stanford at its own 3-yard line to start a drive.
Junior walk-on Zach Yoakum went 5-for-5 in the PATs vs. Stanford and is 9-for-9 in his ND career. He has yet to attempt a field goal in a game. Sophomore Marcello Diomede did the same, making his first career PAT attempt and scoring the Irish’s 49th point in the 49-7 win.
Freeman basically offered word salad this week when asked about Jeter’s availability and the field goal range of his replacement. For the record, the famed Chris Saylor Kicking Academy posted nearly identical scouting reports during the tenures of Yoakam, Diomede, and Jeter, with field goal distance of .55. He declared that it was more than a yard.
Jeter is 20-of-20 on PATs and 5-of-7 from the field since transferring from South Carolina this offseason, both on Sept. 7 against Northern Illinois. Block results are off.
There are many other notable players on both teams. It’s our practice here at Inside ND Sports to narrow that number down to four, two for each team. They are:
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Notre Dame defensive end Bryce Young
The 6-foot-7, 258-pound freshman has been the nation’s top special teams performer all season, according to PFF Film Reviews, and his impact at the end of the field spot is starting to take over some of that. There is. .
He has yet to surpass Duke graduate transfer RJ Oben as a starter, but the son of former Irish defensive tackle Bryant Young is starting to play snaps in higher-level situations than Oben. .
And Georgia Tech’s run game has combined for 616 rushing yards in its past two wins over Duke and North Carolina, so the Irish have been more consistent than what Oben has provided at the end of the field spot. We need that kind of power.
The Irish will also have to do everything in their power to put pressure on the quarterback, and Saturday’s fill-in starter, Zach Pyron, will also need to extend plays and run for positive yards as injury number one. He shows some of the same ability to escape the rush. Optional Haynes King. The Yellow Jackets have the fewest sacks this season and lead the nation with one sack.
“He’s a tremendous athlete — 6-6, 6-7. He flies off the ball. Just having the tools that he has is pretty rare. He’s a tremendous athlete,” Irish defensive tackle Riley Mills said of Young. I think his biggest characteristic is that he works hard. He’s really coachable.
“When (I say something to him or (D-line) coach Wash (Al Washington) or anyone else says something to him, it’s easy for players to get defensive or say, ‘Oh, I I didn’t do that.” He internalizes it and says, “Yeah, that’s what I need to do to get better.” He says the right thing, and Run, and you’ll definitely know when he gets out there.
“He’s still learning, he’s a young player, but when he goes out there he gives 100 percent. So I think it’s really impressive to see that.”
Georgia Tech linebacker Kyle Efford
The 6-foot-2, 230-pound redshirt sophomore has helped Georgia Tech develop into a no-frills but fundamentally sound and much-improved unit under new defensive coordinator Tyler Santucci. It symbolizes.
The Yellow Jackets have only one interception and nine sacks as a team through seven games, but Efford has one of those, has a team-leading 52 tackles, and has the ability to play all over the field.
Georgia Tech’s strong defense is keeping them from scoring. The Yellow Jackets rank 24th in the nation in this category, 28th in third-down defense and 36th in total defense. At the end of the 2023 season, Tech ranked 128th, 105th, and 120th, respectively, in the same statistical categories.
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Notre Dame Center Pat Coogan
A week removed from his first career reception in organized soccer, the Notre Dame senior continues to chip away at the Irish offense and improves overall.
Among the Irish’s offensive starters, running back Jeremiah has a higher season grade on Pro Football Focus than Coogan, who replaced injured starter Ashton Craig in Game 3 against Purdue on September 14th. Only love.
Coogan, who was demoted to this season’s starter after starting 13 games as an offensive guard last season, never faltered in his work ethic and leadership role as a reserve. And his fortitude was contagious.
“He has this kind of light about himself, you know what I mean?” Irish offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said earlier this week. “And he is very demanding of his own abilities and of those around him.
“And I think people are drawn to people who strive every day to achieve high grades. And if they want that themselves, they’re drawn to people like that. And he is one of them.”
Georgia Tech running back Jamal Haynes
The 5-foot-9, 180-pound redshirt junior will play to determine whether Notre Dame’s run defense, which Irish head coach Marcus Freeman has emphasized as necessary, has actually improved after the bye week. will be a powerful litmus test.
Haynes converted from wide receiver to running back in fall camp in 2023 and went on to become Tech’s first 1,000-yard rusher since 2017. He finished with a team-leading 536 yards on 96 carries and looks set to repeat that feat in 2024. (5.6 per carry) 7 TDs. He is also Tech’s third-leading receiver (15 receptions, 85 yards, 1 TD).
With Zach Pyron starting in place of QB Haynes King, Tech will likely lean on its running game a little more than usual, at least early in games.
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