Photo by Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Notre Dame Football
Opponent Notes: North Carolina Trying to Raise Up
April 12, 2017
3,922
It's less than two weeks away from Notre Dame's annual Blue-Gold game and while they are in the process of wrapping up spring practice, other programs have already done so. That includes two of their ACC opponents this season, North Carolina and North Carolina State.
I watched both of their spring games to get some insight into where they are heading into the off season. Unfortunately there isn't much to report back on NC State, more on that in a second, but I learned a lot about the Tar Heels after watching them compete.
Honestly, that was my big takeaway from watching their spring game. I say game loosely because they went mostly thud and ran drills in a sparsely attended event in their stadium. The broadcast barely showed any of the actual football too as the broadcasters rambled on about returning players and what the team did last year without even showing those players play football on the field. I can't imagine it would have been a fun experience for any NC State fan to tune into and not see much of their team.
So, what do we know about NC State after that? Not much more than before, but they return 17 starters to a team that went 7-6 last season. They were very close to winning 9 games with almost upsets of Clemson and Florida State, though. It's not far off from being a very good team and they are going to play the Irish in the middle of the season with a bye week before they travel to South Bend.
A very good defensive line returns just about everybody and quarterback Ryan Finley is back with some big play weapons on the outside to throw to like Stephen Louis (19.4 yards per catch) and Kelvin Harmon (17.4). We didn't get to see them throw it around the yard last year because of the weather, but those two and do-everything option Jaylen Samuels (7 touchdowns) are back and should be tough to stop.
I wish there was more to report and I'm sure NC State fans wish there was as well. Their in-state rivals did show more in the spring, but also have a lot more questions coming into this season.
Coming off a double digit win season in 2015 and another prolific offensive season last year, I figured things would be on the rise for North Carolina in 2017. Apparently not many people are going to be taking their shirts off and spinning it around their head like a helicopter in anticipation of this fall, though. After seeing who they've lost on offense and how the personnel looked in the spring game, it could be a year for them to take a step back before moving forward.
In addition to Mitch Trubisky who left early for the NFL, they also lost their top three running backs. One of them was former Notre Dame commit Elijah Hood. They also lost three of their top four receivers with Bug Howard, Mack Hollins, and the Ryan Switzer all moving on to the next level. Looking at this situation, it's now pretty obvious why Malik Zaire elected to not transfer to North Carolina. He wouldn't know who he was going to throw the ball too.
In addition to that, he might not know who was going to block for him either. They have serious depth issues on the offensive line and had three walk-ons playing on the second team in the spring game. One of their best linemen, Tommy Hatton, is injured, but they are still in some trouble even with him healthy.
They also only had one scholarship running back healthy to compete in the game and he left early with what looked like an injury. Needless to say, they struggled to run the football.
They have graduate transfer Brandon Harris coming from LSU this summer to compete at quarterback and it looks like he will have every chance to win the job. The two freshmen who redshirted in this game, Logan Byrd and Chazz Surratt, both showed some flashes of their talent, but neither looks ready to run the show.
Surratt is a big time athlete who looked good running the football, but struggled with accuracy. Byrd is the one that most physically resembles Trubisky. He's another very good athlete with a big arm. He missed on a number of deep balls, though. Of course, none of the issues with offensive line were helping them compete in the game so that has to be taken into account.
The most impressive quarterback was junior Nathan Elliott. The number two quarterback last year, he is not the same kind of athlete that the other two are and is a step below both of them in terms of arm strength. In saying that, he clearly looked more comfortable in the offense and was calm under pressure most of the day. He was the only one who was anything close to consistent in moving the offense and putting them in the end zone.
Wide receiver Austin Proehl, the son of former NFL player Ricky Proehl, is the one receiver coming back with a ton of experience. He had a 65 yard touchdown on a post route. Former 4 star recruit Juval Mollette, a redshirt last year, looks like he is going to be a red zone option for them as well. He caught three touchdowns in the game and used his size to win matchups in that area of the field.
Scheme wise they didn't show a lot, typical of every spring game, but Notre Dame fans can expect to see plenty of uptempo from them this fall. They tried to play fast at times in the game, but kept getting stuck due to the inefficiency of the offense.
It says a lot that they are going to potentially rely on several graduate transfers to make up for the lost production from 2016. In addition to Harris, they are bringing in former USC guard/center Khaliel Rodgers, former Florida guard Cameron Dillard, and former Auburn running back Stanton Truitt. All of that change may mean they have to rely heavily on their defense to win games this season.
The defense is going through a transition with former coordinator Gene Chizik now retired to spend more time with his family. They looked good in the game, especially up front where they generated plenty of pressure with defensive end Dajuan Drennon showing some good pass rush potential. Another former blue chip recruit, defensive tackle Jalen Dalton, was described as "pretty much unblockable" this spring according to the game analyst. He leads a deep group of defensive tackles as well.
It's tough to say how good the defense can become because I felt the problems on the line on offense were a big reason behind what happened. We'll see how the Tar Heels look in the fall, but this has the recipe for a rebuilding year in Chapel Hill.
At first I felt the road trip to North Carolina was going to be a very tough one for the Irish in the middle of the season. Now I'm not so sure.
I watched both of their spring games to get some insight into where they are heading into the off season. Unfortunately there isn't much to report back on NC State, more on that in a second, but I learned a lot about the Tar Heels after watching them compete.
It can't be fun to be an NC State fan
Honestly, that was my big takeaway from watching their spring game. I say game loosely because they went mostly thud and ran drills in a sparsely attended event in their stadium. The broadcast barely showed any of the actual football too as the broadcasters rambled on about returning players and what the team did last year without even showing those players play football on the field. I can't imagine it would have been a fun experience for any NC State fan to tune into and not see much of their team.
So, what do we know about NC State after that? Not much more than before, but they return 17 starters to a team that went 7-6 last season. They were very close to winning 9 games with almost upsets of Clemson and Florida State, though. It's not far off from being a very good team and they are going to play the Irish in the middle of the season with a bye week before they travel to South Bend.
A very good defensive line returns just about everybody and quarterback Ryan Finley is back with some big play weapons on the outside to throw to like Stephen Louis (19.4 yards per catch) and Kelvin Harmon (17.4). We didn't get to see them throw it around the yard last year because of the weather, but those two and do-everything option Jaylen Samuels (7 touchdowns) are back and should be tough to stop.
I wish there was more to report and I'm sure NC State fans wish there was as well. Their in-state rivals did show more in the spring, but also have a lot more questions coming into this season.
Heels are rebuilding
Coming off a double digit win season in 2015 and another prolific offensive season last year, I figured things would be on the rise for North Carolina in 2017. Apparently not many people are going to be taking their shirts off and spinning it around their head like a helicopter in anticipation of this fall, though. After seeing who they've lost on offense and how the personnel looked in the spring game, it could be a year for them to take a step back before moving forward.
In addition to Mitch Trubisky who left early for the NFL, they also lost their top three running backs. One of them was former Notre Dame commit Elijah Hood. They also lost three of their top four receivers with Bug Howard, Mack Hollins, and the Ryan Switzer all moving on to the next level. Looking at this situation, it's now pretty obvious why Malik Zaire elected to not transfer to North Carolina. He wouldn't know who he was going to throw the ball too.
In addition to that, he might not know who was going to block for him either. They have serious depth issues on the offensive line and had three walk-ons playing on the second team in the spring game. One of their best linemen, Tommy Hatton, is injured, but they are still in some trouble even with him healthy.
They also only had one scholarship running back healthy to compete in the game and he left early with what looked like an injury. Needless to say, they struggled to run the football.
They have graduate transfer Brandon Harris coming from LSU this summer to compete at quarterback and it looks like he will have every chance to win the job. The two freshmen who redshirted in this game, Logan Byrd and Chazz Surratt, both showed some flashes of their talent, but neither looks ready to run the show.
Surratt is a big time athlete who looked good running the football, but struggled with accuracy. Byrd is the one that most physically resembles Trubisky. He's another very good athlete with a big arm. He missed on a number of deep balls, though. Of course, none of the issues with offensive line were helping them compete in the game so that has to be taken into account.
The most impressive quarterback was junior Nathan Elliott. The number two quarterback last year, he is not the same kind of athlete that the other two are and is a step below both of them in terms of arm strength. In saying that, he clearly looked more comfortable in the offense and was calm under pressure most of the day. He was the only one who was anything close to consistent in moving the offense and putting them in the end zone.
Wide receiver Austin Proehl, the son of former NFL player Ricky Proehl, is the one receiver coming back with a ton of experience. He had a 65 yard touchdown on a post route. Former 4 star recruit Juval Mollette, a redshirt last year, looks like he is going to be a red zone option for them as well. He caught three touchdowns in the game and used his size to win matchups in that area of the field.
Scheme wise they didn't show a lot, typical of every spring game, but Notre Dame fans can expect to see plenty of uptempo from them this fall. They tried to play fast at times in the game, but kept getting stuck due to the inefficiency of the offense.
It says a lot that they are going to potentially rely on several graduate transfers to make up for the lost production from 2016. In addition to Harris, they are bringing in former USC guard/center Khaliel Rodgers, former Florida guard Cameron Dillard, and former Auburn running back Stanton Truitt. All of that change may mean they have to rely heavily on their defense to win games this season.
The defense is going through a transition with former coordinator Gene Chizik now retired to spend more time with his family. They looked good in the game, especially up front where they generated plenty of pressure with defensive end Dajuan Drennon showing some good pass rush potential. Another former blue chip recruit, defensive tackle Jalen Dalton, was described as "pretty much unblockable" this spring according to the game analyst. He leads a deep group of defensive tackles as well.
It's tough to say how good the defense can become because I felt the problems on the line on offense were a big reason behind what happened. We'll see how the Tar Heels look in the fall, but this has the recipe for a rebuilding year in Chapel Hill.
At first I felt the road trip to North Carolina was going to be a very tough one for the Irish in the middle of the season. Now I'm not so sure.
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