Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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10 NOV. 30, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME UNDER THE DOME LINEBACKER/ROVER IN FLUX AGAIN AFTER SHAYNE SIMON UNDERGOES SURGERY Sophomore Buck linebacker Shayne Simon suffered a dislocated kneecap during the 52-20 victory versus Navy Nov. 16, and an MRI the next day revealed the need for surgery on the patella tendon, performed by team surgeon Dr. Brian Ratigan Nov. 19. "It's what we had feared," head coach Brian Kelly said. "It's a fairly significant injury, one that he'll be able to fully recover from, but it'll be a lengthy process." Simon is the second Fighting Irish sophomore linebacker to incur a season-ending injury this month. On Nov. 2, Jack Lamb — who was specifically used in sub packages in passing situations — tore a hip muscle on special teams during the 21-20 victory versus Virginia Tech. Simon's injury likely will sideline him through spring practice. He will remain in posi- tion to succeed graduating starter and fifth-year senior Asmar Bilal at the Buck position. Also vying for the starting role there in 2020 will be current junior Jordan Genmark Heath — although a trend of moving players at the rover position to Buck linebacker has occurred under defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Clark Lea. In 2017, Drue Tranquill was a standout at rover, but with the graduation of both Nyles Mor- gan and Greer Martini, he was shifted inside to Buck while Bilal took over as the No. 1 rover. When Tranquill became a fourth-round pick in last spring's NFL Draft, it was Bilal's turn this spring to make the transition from rover to Buck, where he has become one of the team's most improved players. With Bilal leaving next year, Kelly hinted that one of the two current rovers — junior starter Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and sophomore Paul Moala — could make a similar position change once spring practice commences in March. Moala scored a touchdown against Navy when he basically intercepted an option pitch, and Kelly said that was only a small snapshot of his progress. An even better play was his coverage on a halfback pass by Navy later in the game. "A really good football player — we've got to find a place to get him on the field because Owusu is a really good player, too," Kelly said. "Paul is smart, he's savvy, he's athletic. …Trusted. He's going to play a lot of football for us." At 6-1½, 216 pounds, Owusu-Koramoah is the archetype of the hybrid rover position. He possesses the strength and explosiveness to rush off the edge like an end, the track- ing and hitting instincts of a linebacker, and the athletic skills to even play nickel and guard slot receivers. Moala is the same weight but about two inches shorter. Kelly did not tip his hand on who could potentially make the switch. "That will be something we can talk about in the spring," he said. In other injury news: • Senior wide receiver Javon McKinley did not play against the Midshipmen because of a sprained foot suffered the previous week versus Duke, and his status for Boston College Nov. 23 was uncertain. • Also listed "day to day" for the Eagles was sophomore defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola, who played only two snaps versus Navy, per Pro Football Focus, before incurring a sprained ankle. — Lou Somogyi IAN BOOK GOING AGAINST THE SCRIPT In the course of adverse circumstances, many a coaching staff will implore their troops along the lines of "Don't stray from the plan," or "Stay with the script." In the case with senior quarterback Ian Book, it's been the opposite. Since the fourth quarter of the dramatic comeback win against Virginia Tech Nov. 2, Book has excelled as a runner and passer, leading the team in rushing all three games (230 yards total) while also tossing 11 touchdown passes. According to head coach Brian Kelly, some of can be at- tributed to making adjustments in practice where the offense is scripting less and operating more on feel than in a robotic sense. "Ian is getting plays from the sideline and getting it in much more of a game-like fashion instead of just standing there and getting it off a script and almost it being formulated for him," he said. "We wanted it to be one where he had to see it, digest it, and then we would coach it after the fact in film study." How one performs in practice can sometimes be misleading or "fool's gold." "It seemed to me that we look great in practice because he already had the answers to the test," Kelly revealed. " … He had to show us the work by going through all the progressions before he saw it. He did not know what the play was. "I think that's really helped him decipher what's going on and what he's seeing out there." Quarterbacks coach Tommy Rees has also changed up some of the "pass pictures" for him in practice settings. "We felt like we needed to do a better job coaching, quite frankly," Kelly said. "Too good of a player and he wasn't playing to the level that he's capable of playing, and so we needed to take a good, hard look at how we were coaching him. "It's benefited him and he's playing the way he should be playing." — Lou Somogyi Head coach Brian Kelly and the coaching staff have made changes in their practice plans on offense, relying less on a scripted approach and focusing more on reps where senior quarterback Ian Book has to go through all his reads. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS Simon suffered a dislocated kneecap during Notre Dame's 52-20 victory versus Navy Nov. 16, which required surgery on his patella tendon three days later. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS