Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1313320
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com DEC. 5, 2020 9 UNDER THE DOME Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly had a succinct summary about entering the Nov. 27 contest at No. 25 North Carolina without two of his starting offensive linemen. "We lose a couple of really good players, and we plug them in with two equally fine players," Kelly said four days before the game. "We're ex- cited about their opportuni- ties." The two lost were junior center Jarrett Patterson, who suffered a foot injury against Boston College Nov. 14 that will sideline him the balance of this season and spring prac- tice, and fifth-year senior right guard Tommy Kraemer, who underwent an emer- gency appendectomy during the bye week. Because Kraemer's surgery was laparoscopic and the appendix didn't burst, he is projected to return to action sometime in December. Slated to replace them for the North Carolina contest were sophomore Zeke Correll at center and senior Josh Lugg at right guard — with Lugg also the next option at center. The 6-7, 310-pound Lugg has been labeled the Swiss Army Knife and "sixth man" along the line by Kelly because of his ability to line up at any of the positions. Last year when right tackle Robert Hainsey suffered a season-ending injury on Nov. 2 during the open- ing series against Virginia Tech, Lugg stepped in for him and also started the final five games. "He's ready to play and com- pete at a high level," Kelly said of Lugg. Correll redshirted last year as a freshman because, per Kelly, he was only 265 pounds. Ranked as the No. 114 overall prospect in the country in 2019, the 6-3 Correll is listed now at 295, although Kelly said he most recently weighed in at 288, not far from Patterson's 294 going into the Boston College game. "He was in the process of developing a coat of armor," Kelly said of Correll's work with strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis. "He's quick, he can snap the football, he's very smart, very good pass protector … we like what he's doing." Under third-year offensive line coach Jeff Quinn, the unit earned a selection to the 2020 Joe Moore Award Midseason Honor Roll, a distinction that annually honors the "toughest, most physical of- fensive line in the country." This marks the second consecutive season in which the Irish have been named to the midseason honor roll. Notre Dame won the award in 2017, which is named after the 1988-96 Fighting Irish offensive line coach. "We want to be who we are," Kelly said the week of the North Carolina game. "We want to be physi- cal, we want to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball — that's how we play." Notre Dame is one of three Power Five teams to post three performances of 36:15 or more possession time this season through eight games, and has won the time of possession battle in seven of eight games. Going into the North Carolina game, the Fighting Irish led the 15-team ACC in fewest sacks allowed (13) and were tied for second in the ACC in rushing of- fense (233.5 yards per game) with a 208-yard rushing performance versus then-No. 1 Clemson on Nov. 7 and 274 yards at Boston College the ensuing week. The award's voting committee is composed of college football experts, especially those who played or coached the offensive line position. The founder is 1990-93 Irish lineman Aaron Taylor, a two-time consensus All-American under Moore who became a first-round pick. — Lou Somogyi H A M M E S N O T R E D A M E B O O K S T O R E N D b o o k s t o r e . c o m | 5 7 4 . 6 3 1 . 6 3 6 1 THE COLD combat JARRETT PATTERSON SIDELINED FOLLOWING FOOT SURGERY; TOMMY KRAEMER IN RECOVERY PHASE Because of unexpected losses on the offensive line, sophomore Zeke Correll and senior Josh Lugg (above) were slated to start at center and right guard, respectively, against North Carolina. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER