Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 23, 2021 11 UNDER THE DOME JOE WILKINS JR. OUT FOR SEASON, FURTHER THINNING WIDE RECEIVER ROOM Notre Dame is down to just six scholarship wide receivers for the rest of the season. Senior Joe Wilkins Jr. will miss the remainder of the year with a torn MCL suf- fered in the 24-13 loss to Cincinnati Oct. 2, coach Brian Kelly said. Wilkins had played in all five games this year, with four catches for 61 yards and a touchdown. He was averaging 13 snaps per game. Wilkins is the third case of in-season attrition within the Fighting Irish receiving corps. Senior Lawrence Keys III left the team after the first game and sopho- more Xavier Watts was moved to rover in September. The remaining scholarship receivers are graduate student Avery Davis, senior Kevin Austin Jr., senior Braden Lenzy, freshman Lorenzo Styles Jr., freshman Deion Colzie and freshman Jayden Thomas. All but Thomas have played on offense this year. Five scholarship receivers transferred from the team during the offseason. Notre Dame holds com- mitments from three class of 2022 wide receiver recruits and is looking to add at least one more. — Patrick Engel Power In Pink! Scan To Shop Collection Breast Cancer Awareness Month KYLE HAMILTON: REFEREE USED ALL-AMERICA HONORS AGAINST HIM TO DEFEND NO-CALL The clamoring for a flag came from everywhere. From the Notre Dame Stadium stands. From the Notre Dame sideline. From the NBC broadcast booth. From Irish junior safety Kyle Hamilton, who raised an arm to draw attention to Cincinnati wide receiver Tre Tucker's two fistfuls of his jersey as he pursued quarterback Desmond Ridder on a run play. No yellow laundry and 10-yard backup followed for holding, though. Instead, Ridder gained 11 yards on a read-option run on first-and-10 from Notre Dame's 17-yard line early in the second quarter — the first play after Notre Dame sophomore running back Chris Tyree fumbled a kick return that gave Cincinnati the ball in the red zone. Hamilton tried to disengage from Tucker's block and chase down Ridder on the edge. Tucker's grasp of him hindered his efforts. Ridder ran past Hamilton before junior cornerback Cam Hart ran him out of bounds. "That's the key block there," NBC color analyst Drew Brees said on the broadcast as Tucker and Hamilton's battle was replayed. "Looks like they may have gotten away with a hold — certainly did." Play-by-play announcer Mike Tirico agreed: "Blatant hold. Clear miss by the official." Missed calls happen will happen. They often even out during the course of a game. Cincinnati eventually kicked a field goal to take a 10-0 lead on that drive and had a touchdown called back because of an ineligible man downfield penalty. This instance, though, stands out because of a referee's in-the-moment defense of the no-call to Hamilton, as Hamilton alleged on the Oct. 4 episode of "Inside the Garage" podcast. "The ref comes up to me after the play and is like, 'Kyle, you're an All-American, I shouldn't have to call holding on you,'" Hamilton said on the pod. "I'm like, 'Come on, dude.' I've never heard that one before. Ever. "My jersey is all up my — it was ridiculous. I just laughed a little bit because I was like, 'Did he really just say that?'" Added Hart, one of the four podcast co-hosts with Hamilton, junior safety KJ Wallace and junior wide receiver Conor Ratigan: "This isn't a discretion thing. This is rules." An ACC officiating crew worked the game, as is typical for Notre Dame home contests. "We heard about the claim," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "We didn't pursue it. We felt like if it was something the ACC wanted to address, they'd get back with us." Hamilton finished with three tackles and one pass breakup in the 24-13 Irish loss to the No. 7 Bearcats. — Patrick Engel WILKINS JR.