Players to watch: No. 9 Notre Dame vs. Central Michigan - InsideNDSports: Notre Dame Fighting Irish Football & Basketball Recruiting

Published Sep 16, 2023

Players to watch: No. 9 Notre Dame vs. Central Michigan

Charleston Bowles • InsideNDSports

Recruiting Writer

Notre Dame football (3-0) begins its two-game home stand on Saturday against Central Michigan (1-1).

Dating back to last October, the Irish have only lost one home game — a 16-14 loss against Stanford — under head coach Marcus Freeman.

Inside ND Sports identifies two players from each team who figure to be important pieces for their respective teams. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. EDT on Peacock.

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Notre Dame wide receiver Jayden Thomas

Thomas' 10-game streak with at least one reception ended last Saturday against NC State. Before the Irish matchup with Ohio State's secondary next week, quarterback Sam Hartman should find soft spots in Central Michigan's defense and continue spreading the ball around.

Look for Thomas, who is tied with wide receiver Jaden Greathouse for a team-high eight receptions, to get looks often in offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Gerad Parker's gameplan after last week's performance.

In its one game thus far against a Power 5 program, the Chippewas allowed 279 yards through the air to Michigan State. The Spartans wide receivers averaged 15.5 yards per catch, which makes Thomas' chances of catching balls across the middle for first-down gains more likely.

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Notre Dame linebacker Jaylen Sneed

On Thursday, Freeman ruled linebacker JD Bertrand out for Saturday's contest with a concussion. In his absence, veteran linebackers Marist Liufau and Jack Kiser will carry a bigger load, and a trio of younger linebackers — Sneed and freshmen Drayk Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry — could get thrust into big situations quickly.

Sneed, who actually took his first defensive snap of the season with the starters against Navy, has played 69 snaps in three games. His speed and quickness downhill give defensive coordinator Al Golden flexibility to blitz him off the edge, which he called against the Wolfpack.

Bowen actually plays Bertrand's position, but Freeman said before the season that Sneed's talent was too good for the Irish not to find playing time for the redshirt freshman. Sneed should see significant snaps against Central Michigan and have opportunities to make plays.

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Central Michigan quarterback Bert Emanuel Jr.

Emanuel, a redshirt freshman, possesses a dual-threat skillset that should prepare the Irish for matchups down the road against Duke quarterback Riley Leonard and USC quarterback Caleb Williams.

He leads Central Michigan in passing and rushing yards through two games but is vulnerable. He's thrown three interceptions and taken six sacks, which bodes well for Notre Dame's defense after forcing three interceptions last week.

The Irish pressure hasn't been organic from the defensive line and likely faces another uphill battle for collecting sacks. Emanuel won't have the same amount of dropbacks as other quarterbacks the Irish face in the future because of his tendency to run. Defensive line coach Al Washington may have his unit executing similar contain principles to last week's matchup with NC State quarterback Brennan Armstrong.

Emanuel is an NFL legacy and the son of former NFL wide receiver Bert Emanuel.

Central Michigan linebacker Kyle Moretti

Moretti serves as the quarterback of Central Michigan’s defense. In 2022, he started in all 12 games and led the defense with 92 tackles. He also had three sacks.

Through two games, the 6-foot-2, 245-pound linebacker has picked up where he left off. He has 19 tackles and two pass deflections. The Chippewas haven't shown their ability to rush the passer yet, which gives Notre Dame an advantage with offensive tackles Joe Alt and Blake Fisher. Moretti's instincts and tackling ability are as surefire as you will see on a Group of Five team.