Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 2, 2021 19 said Tyree, oversimplifying a history of speed that should be celebrated, not downplayed. As a high school senior, Tyree be- came the 55-meter Virginia state indoor champion with a blazing time of 6.31 seconds. And in 2019 and 2020, Tyree won consecutive "Fastest Man" honors in the 40-yard dash at The Opening, an annual summer recruiting showcase for the best players in the country. Dur- ing his high school recruitment, Tyree considered double-dipping at Notre Dame and joining the Irish track team as sprinter. Against Syracuse last December, Tyree posted the longest rush of the season by any FBS player with a 94- yard touchdown. Tyree won't outrun Usain Bolt, but he won't be far behind. BACK TO WORK As a backup and speedy complement to junior starter Kyren Williams, Tyree is still expected to make the proverbial second-year improvement jump af- ter a solid freshman debut last season when he rushed for 496 yards and four touchdowns. But running behind a rebuilt, injured and underachieving offensive line so far this season, Tyree managed only 72 rushing yards on 25 attempts (2.9 yards per carry) through Notre Dame's first three games. Tyree's long run for the season was only 12 yards. For comparison, through the first three games in 2020 — the first three games of his college career — Tyree al- ready had 188 rushing yards, two touch- downs, a 7.5 per-carry clip and a long run of 45 yards, on the exact same 25 attempts. With nowhere to run so far this sea- son, Tyree is being asked by Irish of- fensive coordinator Tommy Rees to di- versify his game and find production in other ways, mainly as a receiver out of the backfield, a skill Tyree hasn't used much since playing slot receiver as a high school freshman. Tyree recorded eight catches for 68 yards with no scores all of last season. But through only three games in 2021, he ranked third on the Irish with 10 re- ceptions and fifth with 103 receiving yards. But even through a sluggish Septem- ber, Tyree said that he and Williams re- main confident and committed to doing what is needed and whatever is asked while the offensive line finds its way. "I would say that we do a really good job of keeping each other up and re- ally communicating with what we see throughout the game," Tyree said of his working relationship with Williams. "That is what's going to allow us to keep excelling throughout the season and get us where we need to be." EARLY RETURNS Teetering between a four- and a five- star recruit as a prep senior and one of the most anticipated newcomers in Notre Dame's 2020 class, Tyree's high school hype ran faster than he did. And as an early freshman enrollee in January 2020, Tyree lived up to all of it. He leapfrogged over several veterans in the spring season and almost immedi- ately became the No. 2 running back and a first-team kickoff returner. Williams — the 2020 ACC Offensive Rookie of the Year and an All-America honoree on some lists — grabbed most of the headlines, and about three times as many carries as his freshman under- study last season. But nevertheless, Tyree still finished his rookie year with solid production, a positive outlook, and plenty of promise. "Coming into last season, I really had no idea what to expect," Tyree recalled. "I knew whatever my role was, I was going to play that and do it to the best of my ability. When it comes to my ex- pectations, I'm pretty happy with what I did." But even Tyree admits that staying patient this season hasn't always been easy for a player who this time last year as a freshman already had three runs of at least 25 yards but had none through three games as a sophomore this season. So what needs to change? "I would say just improving on what we have after every week is pretty much what we need to do," Tyree explained. "We'll get where we want to be." Sophomore struggles aside, Tyree realizes this is a long season, all of his team and personal goals are still in place, and he's grateful for the chance to chase them down. "I'm pretty much living the dream right now, playing college football," he said. "This is what I wanted to do my entire life up to this point, so just being able to settle down and actually understand that, I just have to live for the moment." ✦ Tyree ranked third on the Irish through three games with 10 receptions, and his 103 receiving yards were 31 more than he'd rushed for at that point in the season. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER