Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com PRESEASON 2021 29 week of camp, and his job didn't ap- pear to be in much danger. Graduate student Cain Madden did not run with the starters on the first day of camp, but he quickly grabbed a hold of the starting right guard position in subsequent practices. More of a certainty than either Cor- rell at left guard or Madden at right guard, senior Josh Lugg is going to be Notre Dame's starting right tackle. On the first day of camp Kelly said Lugg and Patterson were the only surefire starters along the line. Every- one else had to compete for playing time, which Correll and Madden suc- cessfully did. That leaves left tackle, a position ar- guably as important as center. Fresh- man Blake Fisher entered camp with his sights set on starting, but a head injury held him out of multiple prac- tices in the first week, and allowed sophomores Tosh Baker and Michael Carmody to get plenty of starting reps. I f h e ' s h e a l t h y, t h o u g h , t h e 335-pound Fisher is Notre Dame's most physically imposing option at the position — even if he's just a rookie. It's rare for true freshmen to start along the offensive line for Kelly, but this is looking like an ex- ception to the status quo. 3. RUNNING THE ROCK On the topic of true freshmen, Notre Dame has a pair of potential standouts in running backs Logan Diggs and Audric Estime. They might not see the field early in their careers because the Irish have so much talent and depth at the posi- tion, but they impressed coaches and players alike in fall camp practices. Diggs, a Louisiana native Notre Dame was able to pull away from LSU, was a frequent visitor to the end zone. Estime, all 228 pounds of the No. 6 running back recruit in the class of 2021 according to Rivals, was frequently breaking tackles. Junior Kyren Williams, sophomore Chris Tyree and senior C'Bo Flemis- ter are all in line to get carries before Diggs and Estime. But even Williams, a Doak Walker Award candidate who nearly totaled 1,500 yards from scrim- mage a season ago, recognizes what Notre Dame has in its two freshman ball carriers moving forward. "I think it's great for them and the coaches to know they have young guys who are able to do this, able to make plays at the collegiate level," Williams said. "This is their first ac- tion in college football. … I'm ex- cited to see what Logan and Audric have to bring. I know they're going to come with something." 4. SAFETY VALVES? Freeman should feel pretty good about what he has defensively. Veteran presences like graduate student defensive end Myron Tago- vailoa-Amosa and graduate student nose tackle Kurt Hinish, in addition to freakish athletes like junior vyper Isaiah Foskey and sophomore vyper Jordan Botelho, populate the defen- sive line. Stout tacklers like graduate student Drew White and junior Marist Liufau lead the linebacking unit. And, of course, preseason All-American ju- nior safety Kyle Hamilton is capable of making plays in any way Freeman needs him to. There is at least a little reason for Freeman to worry, though. The run- down of proven commodities does not stretch very far beyond Hamilton in the secondary. Junior Cam Hart is likely to make his first career start at boundary cor- ner. Clarence Lewis opened a hand- ful of games last year, but the field corner is still just a sophomore. Senior Houston Griffith is the likely starter at the other safety spot. He only has a pair of starts to his name. At nickel corner, senior TaRiq Bracy must prove his disappointing junior year is behind him. He's going to get plenty of looks trying to lock up opposing receivers in the slot. That's where the beneficial aspect of fall camp comes in. The afore- mentioned defensive backs have tested their mettle against a Notre Dame wide receiver group Kelly called "transformational." Seniors Kevin Austin Jr., Braden Lenzy, Joe Wilkins Jr., Lawrence Keys III and Avery Davis have given them all they can handle in practice and then some. Questions remain in the Notre Dame secondary. For a group with as much to prove as it has, that's only natural. 5. CFP WORTHY ONCE MORE? It's hard to say in August what Notre Dame's fall camp questions and answers amount to in terms of College Football Playoff worthiness. Is this roster as well put together as the teams Kelly took to the playoff in the past? Is Coan more than just a one-year holdover? Could he actually be even better than departed starting quarterback Ian Book, who won more games in a Notre Dame uniform than anyone who came before him? It's truly impossible to answer all those questions in fall camp. Some- thing Kelly told his program while announcing team captains in the sec- ond week of camp, though, certainly stood out. "You're not going to change Notre Dame," Kelly said. "Notre Dame is going to change you. So just let it happen. Follow our process. Follow the things we talk about on a day- to-day basis. And be you. That's the great part about it. You don't have to be anybody else. Just be you. "And with that, we get a chance to go get a national championship. That's our mission — graduate champions." That was a clear sign Kelly isn't let- ting his foot off the gas just because Book has left and the Irish aren't ex- pected to be College Football Playoff contenders in 2021 according to some pundits. The standard for this program has been set. Notre Dame is expected to compete for championships every year. Nothing Kelly saw in fall camp told him to back down from those lofty aspirations. The only thing left to do is try to meet them when it counts. ✦ Head coach Brian Kelly is aiming to lead the Fighting Irish to their third College Football Playoff appearance in four years. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER