Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM FEBRUARY 2023 15 sitions: you can do ev- erything right and never get rewarded with the ball," head coach Marcus Freeman said. Colzie's belief that a reward would come did not waver — at least not from his coaches' point of view — no matter how far uphill he felt he was staring. "He was hurt, kept work- ing, kept working, came back, stringed good practices together," Rees said. "Believe it or not, practices are so critical to what happens on Saturdays. Practice well and make plays in practice, guess what, you'll get an opportunity to do that. He had an opportunity in games, and he did that. When he had opportunity to do that, he made plays." A key part in his resurgence was a return to full health, which Colzie said he did not reach until midway through the season. "I started to feel myself and came into work every day wanting to be the best," Colzie said. "Asking questions, getting feedback from my coaches and other players and making sure I could take my game to the next level. Luckily the coaches saw that and gave me those op- portunities later in the season." But a 100 percent healed knee isn't the only reason Colzie flipped his for- tune. It was also a realization of how to use his frame, which receivers coach Chansi Stuckey said in August was a point of emphasis for him. He and freshman cornerback Benjamin Mor- rison often watched film together, each giving the other their perspective from the opposite side of the ball. The third-and-long niche and dig routes weren't a specific focus when he returned to full health, but one that quickly became a clear strength during the week carried over to games. "Honestly, it was something random that started to click at practice over the year," Colzie said. "Just kind of having a bigger guy in the boundary is always a good thing." Colzie heads into the 2023 offseason having shoehorned his way into the mix for next season. A career arc similar to 2015-18 Notre Dame receiver Miles Boykin is easier to envision now than it was four months ago. Boykin is Rees' go-to example when talking about receivers who hit a few pot- holes in their early years. The 12th and final catch of Boykin's junior year was a 55-yard touchdown that put Notre Dame ahead of LSU 21-17 with 1:28 left in the 2017 Citrus Bowl. He had 15 career recep- tions entering that game, but that num- ber undersold the equity he es- tablished in bowl practice. He became Notre Dame's leading receiver the following season. Rees observes the same momentum in Colzie, who enters the offseason with legitimate reason to aim for those heights. "There's a ton of confidence he has right now," Rees said. "Our quarter- backs have confidence that he's going to be there in the right spot and win on critical downs." ✦ Colzie had 9 catches for 192 yards and a touch- down over the last five regular-season games. Every catch was either a first down or a score. PHOTO BY MEG OLIPHANT