Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM MAY 2022 31 BY PATRICK ENGEL L ast fall drove a stake right through the narrative that freshmen rarely play at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish had 26 first- year players on their 2021 roster. They pulled redshirts off nine of them, and that's not including the opening-day starter who was injured two quarters into his debut and missed the rest of the regular season. Six others played be- tween three and four games while pre- serving a redshirt. Only eight did not see any action. Some played mainly out of need. Some played because they were ready, and Notre Dame couldn't keep them off the field. In many cases, though, a mix of both led to freshman-year snaps, whether that was on special teams, as a rotation player or a starter. Three fresh- men not only started in the Fiesta Bowl, but also shined. Notre Dame leaned all the way into its youth movement. Between 2010 and 2020, freshmen made five starts on the Irish offensive line. In 2021, tackles Blake Fisher and Joe Alt combined to start 10 games. Quarterback Tyler Bu- chner was the first Notre Dame fresh- man quarterback to dodge a redshirt since his current offensive coordinator, Tommy Rees, did so in 2010. Fisher was the first Irish freshman offensive line- man to start a season opener since Sam Young in 2006. Ironically, Fisher's meniscus injury two quarters into the opener eventually led to Alt claiming the left tackle job in the fifth game and never letting it go. Fisher returned to start at right tackle in the Fiesta Bowl. Elsewhere, wide receiver Lorenzo Styles began the season as a rotation player but quickly proved he was ca- pable of handling more. Wide receiver Deion Colzie was a season-long rotation piece. Notre Dame called on running back Logan Diggs in its sixth game when Chris Tyree suffered a turf toe injury and gave him carries every week from then on, even when Tyree returned. Mitchell Evans won the No. 3 tight end job. Linebackers Prince Kollie and Ka- hanu Kia claimed special teams roles, and so did running back Audric Estime. This year provides a chance to build on the widespread early impact. The Year 1 starters are surefire first-teamers as sophomores. The freshman rota- tion players are competing to start this fall. Kollie and Estime are fighting for rotation spots. (Kia is away serving a two-year Mormon mission.) Several of the 2021 redshirts will likely be on the two-deep depth chart when September arrives. All told, it's possible more than half the sophomore class finds itself on the opening-week depth chart. Who joins Alt, Fisher and Styles as starters? What's the sophomore encore for those three? Who emerges after a redshirt year as a trusted rotation player or spe- cial teamer? What's the long-term out- look for those who may not see the field much this year, and can they provide the class with depth to supplement its star power? PROVING THEMSELVES EARLY Fisher taking over as a first-teamer midway through his early enrollee spring semester felt like a promising sign for the offensive line in 2022 and beyond, but a concerning one for 2021. Both turned out to be true. Notre Dame learned it had a bud- ding star and future pro in Fisher, even if he only played in two games. It also fielded a poor offensive line by its high standards, leading to a position coach change at the end of the season. The same applies to Alt's midseason ascent to the starting lineup after Fisher's in- jury and four games of bumpy play from now-juniors Michael Carmody and Tosh Baker. Alt looks like a future NFL tackle. He was also Notre Dame's fourth left tackle starter in the first six games. Styles and Colzie impressed enough in fall camp to convince Notre Dame's staff they didn't need a redshirt. Also working in their favor? A receiver room that began the year with just nine schol- arship players and dwindled to six by early October. The more Styles played, though, one wondered if he would have forced his way on the field regardless. He started the last four games after Avery Davis tore his ACL and went on to rack up 136 yards and a touchdown in the bowl. His 344 yards receiving were the second- most by a Notre Dame freshman since 2010. Running back Logan Diggs was on the redshirt track until Oct. 9 at Virginia Tech, when Tyree was injured. Notre Dame plugged him in, watched him aid a 32-29 comeback win and left him in the lineup the rest of the year. He out- carried Tyree 23 to 20 in the final four games, finishing with 52 rushes for 230 yards and three touchdowns. WHO MAKES A YEAR 2 LEAP? The hope is Buchner can replace Jack Coan as the starter and guide Notre Dame's offense to new heights. Rees willingly acknowledges he has the ceil- ing to do so, and there were glimpses of it in his 10-game, 163-play sample last fall as a change-up quarterback. There were also bumps that pointed to why Notre Dame took Coan as a bridge graduate transfer. Buchner started just 13 high school games, after all. An ankle injury prevented him from showcas- ing his progress to fans in this year's Blue-Gold Game, but limited media viewings of spring practice revealed a quarterback who made good decisions, was generally accurate and let the game come to him. That's a good start. Colzie began spring with a barely im- peded path to a starting job at boundary receiver as Kevin Austin Jr.'s replace- ment. Notre Dame doesn't have another GETTING IN EARLY Widespread Year 1 contributions set the stage for an impactful 2022 from the sophomore class Tyler Buchner (No. 12) is the favorite to be Notre Dame's starting quarterback in 2022. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER