Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 24, 2020 17 point, not surprising given a 20-day layoff between games and nearly 10 straight days without practice be- cause of a COVID-19 spike. "We can always get better on our tackling, but our physicality was there and our purpose was there," Bauer said. "… That's definitely one of our identifiers. We always talk about going for 60 minutes through and through." With Bauer 's rise and Buck line- backer still wide open among ju- nior Shayne Simon and sophomores Marist Liufau and Jack Kiser, plus junior Jack Lamb attempting to get back into the mix, it might not even be far-fetched to see Bauer take the lead role in the middle with White hypothetically sliding over to Buck. "They have to have some flexibil- ity in the position they play so we can get the best players on the field," Kelly said. "I wouldn't be shocked to see guys playing one or two dif- ferent of those linebacker positions — because we have to get them on the field. … "We can't just be locked into say- ing, 'This guy plays 'Mike' or 'he plays 'Buck' and that's it. We have to be able to get these guys on the field, because they can help us win." Bauer is doing his part to create the welcomed chaos, control and compe- tition at linebacker. ✦ Through three games, Bauer ranked fifth on the team in tackles (nine) and was tied for fourth in tackles for loss (two). PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER