Too Deep! | by Jay

(to borrow a line from Marco).

The two-deep depth chart for the Georgia Tech game was released late last week. Not surprisingly, it's peppered with freshmen, some in prominent roles. Check it out (frosh in red):

OFFENSE		DEFENSE		SPECIALISTS
QB	Quinn Sharpley	LDE	Abiamiri J. Brown/Ryan	LS	Jansen Duncan
RB	Walker (T. Thomas) Prince	LDT	Laws Leitko	P	Price Renkes
FB	Schwapp McConnell	RDT	Landri Kuntz	PK	Gioia Burkhardt
Z	Samardzija Grimes	RDE	Talley Frome	H	Samardzija Sharpley
X	McKnight Anastasio West	SLB	M.Thomas Vernaglia	PR	Zbikowski Grimes West
TE	Carlson Freeman	MLB	Crum T. Smith	KR	Grimes West
RT	Young Duncan	WLB	T. Thomas Brockington	KO	Renkes Burkhardt
RG	Morton Mattes	LC	Wooden Walls
C	Sullivan (Morton) Chervanick	SS	Zbikowski Herring
LG	Santucci Olsen	FS	Ndukwe McCarthy/Bruton
LT	Harris Turkovich	RC	Richardson Lambert/McNeil

• Overall, there weren't many surprises given how many starters we have coming back. Still, I don't think anyone would have predicted a Thomas-Crum-Thomas lineup back in the spring. When Crum was out with a back injury, BGS predicted a Brockington, Scott Smith, Vernaglia starting lineup. Whiff.

• I read somewhere that Sam Young will be only the 4th freshman to start on the OL. But both Ryan Harris and Mike Rosenthal didn't start for their first game. Who was the other guy? Is Sam going to be the very first freshman in ND history to start on the OL from day one?

• Of all the freshman in the 2-deep, I think the biggest surprise has to be John Ryan. He's probably one of those guys that was least expected to play this year.

• Is Talley over Frome a sign that Talley is playing better, or is Frome still slowed by a knee injury? (Related question: will ND fans find the glass-half-empty angle on everything?)

• Darrin Walls is the backup corner while Leo Ferrine is out with an injury. Wally Pipp alert.

• Despite all the talk about Burkhardt's booming leg, Bobby Renkes will be teeing up the kickoffs to start things off. He has 4 touchbacks in 23 career kickoffs, but that was as a sophomore and now he's a senior.


And by the way, here's the two-deep for the Yellow Jackets.