Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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4 OCT. 10, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED B lue & Gold Illustrated printed a story a couple of weeks ago about how the experience Notre Dame features at quarterback and along its offensive line would help this team overcome the loss of practice time through the spring and summer be- cause of COVID-19, and help it survive any other curve- balls the pandemic would throw its way during this strange season. Perhaps what we didn't re- alize until the 52-0 whitewash of South Florida on Sept. 19 is how well-equipped Notre Dame is to handle injuries and quarantines beyond just the quarterback and O-line positions. And given the events of the last couple of weeks, what a blessing this depth could become. In the days leading up to the South Florida game, four Notre Dame play- ers tested positive for coronavirus, putting those four in isolation and six others into quarantine through contact tracing protocols. All were held out against USF. Among the missing players were the "co-starters" at Buck linebacker, junior Shayne Simon and sophomore Marist Liufau. Also gone was Notre Dame's best cornerback, junior Tariq Bracy. Sophomore safety Kyle Ham- ilton, who was already listed as day- to-day after suffering a sprained an- kle against Duke, didn't play either. On most other teams, losing that kind of defensive star power would've been catastrophic. Instead, Notre Dame pitched the fourth shutout of Brian Kelly's 11- year Irish coaching career to cele- brate the 1,300th game in program history. "I feel like this is the best team Coach Kelly has had during his time here. It's definitely a playoff-caliber team," South Florida head coach Jeff Scott said after the game. "I felt like I was playing Clemson out there most of the day, just in gold helmets." And the first-year Bulls skipper would know. As the co-offensive co- ordinator at Clemson the previous five years before he took the South Florida job, Scott faced and beat Kel- ly's Irish twice (2015 at Clemson and 2018 in the College Football Playoff semifinals). The unexpected contributors for Notre Dame were all over the field against South Florida. Sophomore linebacker Jack Kiser — expected in the preseason to be the fourth option at Buck linebacker — filled in admirably for Simon and Liufau, leading the team with eight tackles, two of those for loss, while also adding a quarterback hurry and earning the game ball. With Bracy out at cornerback, freshman Clarence Lewis made his first career start and appearance for the Irish, and responded with five tackles, including one for loss, and a team-best three passes broken up, two on deep balls. And with Hamilton sidelined, ju- nior Houston Griffith made only the second start of his career and fin- ished with five tackles and one for loss. Kelly explained afterward that given the coronavirus cloud hang- ing over the 2020 season, the "next man in" bromide applies more to this year than any prior to it because of the inevitable player losses that will pop up throughout the sea- son and already caused the postponement of the Sept. 26 game against Wake Forest. "We hold a standard and develop a standard that re- quires all of those [substitute] players to be alert, be ready. There's no coasting," Kelly explained. "You don't take the year off and kind of say, 'Well, I'm not going to play.' We keep everybody alert." Putting more emphasis on preparedness — even for the guys well down on the depth chart — is the recent ruling from the NCAA that provides all players an extra year of eli- gibility in 2021. Be ready, because with no playing time restrictions this season, even the fourth- stringers and developmental players may see game action. "These guys are really engaged and know that they can be called upon at any time," Kelly said. Freshman defensive end Alexan- der Ehrensberger was among 17 to- tal Irish players and 11 scholarship freshmen who made their collegiate debuts against South Florida. The Germany native recorded two tack- les for loss, including a sack, after spending the week working as a scout team nose guard. Another freshman end, Jordan Botelho, scooped up a blocked punt and fell into the end zone for his first collegiate touchdown in his first ca- reer game. With reliable players listed even three and four deep at essentially ev- ery position group — and with nine veteran graduate students starting in the season opener against Duke — this is undoubtedly Kelly's deepest and oldest Notre Dame team. And with the unfortunate but in- evitable player shortages coming in the weeks ahead, what a nice roster advantage this all becomes to help Kelly work through them. ✦ Superior Depth Critical To COVID Survival UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com Junior safety Houston Griffith, Notre Dame's top-rated recruit in 2018 by Rivals, provided instant quality depth on defense after 2019 Freshman All-American Kyle Hamilton was sidelined versus South Florida because of an injury. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER