Who's up next?

Jarron Jones

Heading into Saturday’s match-up with Michigan State the Irish are starting to come into focus as a team, offense / defense and individual players.  Some players are playing as expected and there are some that we are looking forward to seeing take that next step this season, hopefully Saturday.

Durham Smythe

Jarron Jones.  He obviously still has “it” with a blocked kick and an interception.  He needs to get more snaps on defense, that would be a VERY good, fresh legged 1 -2 punch with him and Cage, especially against the run.

Durham Smythe.  I don’t expect to see him develop into an early round draft pick or be the second coming of Kyle Rudolph BUT I think he can play a leadership role and be more impressive than he has been.  1-2 catches a game with a couple of touchdowns this season while being a very solid blocking end would be good enough for me.

Jay Hayes.  I know that Jay Hayes is hobbled right now but the Irish need him and I want to see what he can really do.  If he can get 100% he should be a solid contributor for the Notre Dame defense.

Josh Barajas and Asmar Bilal.  I’m not sure exactly what it is about these two that intrigues me.  It might be that they are very probably the future of the Notre Dame Linebacker corps and like Greer Martini last year where we need to start seeing what they might be able to contribute. 

Josh Barajas and Asmar Bilal

A look at Sparty

Michigan State is coming into South Bend Saturday night for a primetime showdown under the lights with a 1-0 record.  It was a 28-13 win over the Furman Paladins and truth be told I had to google information about Furman as they don’t have representation on ESPN.com as they are a FCS school.  By the way Paladins were warriors for Charlemagne.  But I digress, here is a snap snapshot of the Spartans so far this year.

Against Furman

Only led in time of possession 30:29 to 29:31

Passing: 190yards, all by Tyler O’Connor who went 13/18 with 3 touchdowns and an interception.

Rushing: 171 yards by 8 players led by L J Scott who had 105 yards on 20 carries and a touchdown.

Receiving: 13 passes were caught by 6 players led by Monty Madaris with 5 reception for 85 yards.  3 players caught passes for touchdowns; Davis, Price and Lyles.

Kicking Game: Michael Geiger was 4 for 4 on extra point with no field goal attempts.  Jake Hartbarger averaged 44.7 yards with a long of 58 on 3 punts.

Return Game: R.J. Shelton returned 2 punt for 19 yards and a kickoff return for 18 yards.  Darrell Stewart Jr. averaged 26 yards per kickoff return.

Penalties: Michigan State was flagged 10 times for 120 yards.

Defense:  Riley Bullough had 8 tackles (4 solo 4 assisted including 1 for a loss) and 2 quartedback hurries while Andrew Dowell had 1 interception.

Obviously Furman was not a great test of what Michigan State has in store for the Irish add to that The Spartans had two weeks to recover and prepare for Notre Dame it is hard to say how good or bad for that matter this week’s opponent really is. 

The Youth Movement

I wanted to highlight and give some credit to some of the underclassmen who have already shown that they have the ability to contribute to this Notre Dame team sooner than later.  Even though we are only two games into the season some freshman and sophomores have stepped up, admittedly in some cases a limited roles, and shown their worth.

FRESHMEN

Devin Studstill

Safety Devin Studstill – I know he may be playing a bit out of necessity but 7 tackles (6 solo) in his first two games is not too bad. 

Honorable Mention; Daelin Hayes, Kevin Stepherson, Chase Claypool, and Julian Okwara

SOPHOMORES

Sophomores Josh Adams, Justin Yoon and Jerry Tillery (who has under achieved a bit so far) are no surprise after last year’s performances.  I will credit them for not having an early sophomore hangover.

Wide Receiver Equanimeous St. Brown – He looked ok in limited action last year but this could be a special year for him with 11 catches so far.

C.J. Sanders

Linebacker Te’Von Coney – 8 tackles so far (7 solos and 1 for a loss), building on last season’s start.

Running Back Dexter Williams – Looked really good against Nevada. I wasn’t sure how much work he might get after his off-field incident and playing behind Adams and Folston but don’t be surprised to see this backfield rotate tree running backs this season.

Receiver / kick Returner C.J Sanders – Already drawing comparisons to Irish greats of the past and looks to be an all-purpose yard machine.

Honorable Mention; Chris Finke