Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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30 PRESEASON 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ing reckless, and just getting into the backfield and disrupting, whether it's a mirror hand or a stab or something." Getting hands into passing lanes has been a point of emphasis up front, too. Defensive line coach Al Washington said the Irish have a goal of getting four or five passes knocked down during every practice, depending on how often the offense throws the ball. Even if the defensive line doesn't quite reach that number, Washington knows it can't be zero. The Irish can't afford to give quarterbacks open throw- ing lanes. "A lot of it is being able to shift your eyes: if I'm rushing you, after I get you I have to shift my eyes to the quarterback," Washington said. "So that's something we have to continue to work on." CONFIDENT CORNERBACKS READY FOR 'NEXT CHALLENGE' During practice July 26, Mickey leaped into the air in the back-right corner of the end zone for an intercep- tion. He snagged the ball with one hand and secured it to the ground. The play was over, but Mickey started jogging down the sideline. Reporters stationed nearby could hear him yell- ing, "Oh, my god," as if he was genuinely amazed by what he did. Mickey got back to his position and just kept talking, basically to whom- ever was within earshot. He'll play a lot in his second season, and along with Morrison and graduate student Cam Hart, he rounds out a cornerback group that should be the strength of the Notre Dame defense. "If they're talking or they're being confident, it's because of demonstrated performance," Golden said. "There's nothing worse than talking and then giving up a 60-yarder. If they're talking it's because of demonstrated perfor- mance, and that goes across the board, that's where confidence comes from: I'm doing it." In that same practice session, Mor- rison was targeted eight times. He al- lowed only 2 receptions (1 for a touch- down), had 4 passes broken up and 1 interception, and would have had a tackle to his credit if the Irish were go- ing to the ground with contact. It got to a point where Morrison was all anyone in the media-viewing section was talking about, and one onlooker made a memorable remark. "Notre Dame's quarterbacks are learning what everyone else should al- ready know," the media member said. "Don't throw at Benjamin Morrison." He seems to be picking up where he left off after his freshman season, when he accounted for 6 of those 10 Notre Dame interceptions. Head coach Mar- cus Freeman, meanwhile, is pushing Morrison to get better. Morrison exceeded all his goals as a freshman, and Freeman has had mul- tiple conversations with him about set- ting new ones. "'What's the next challenge for you?'" Freeman said he asked Mor- rison. "One of the things I talk to the group about is, 'challenge everything.' You guys have heard me say that plenty of times. 'What does that really mean to you, Benjamin Morrison?'" One of those passes Morrison broke up came on a goal-line fade from grad- uate student quarterback Sam Hart- man to sophomore wide receiver To- bias Merriweather. Morrison had tight coverage, but Hartman put the ball in the only place where Merriweather, who has nearly four inches on his defender, could get it. Merriweather looked like he caught the ball and went down with it, to a spot that the media section couldn't see. Notre Dame's defensive subs could see it, though, and they immediately started signaling "incomplete." Somehow, Morrison had wrestled the ball away from Merriweather on the way down and saved a touchdown. Senior Rylie Mills will line up strictly on the interior of the Irish defensive line as a three-technique tackle this season after bulking up to 306 pounds on his 6-foot-5 frame, up from 296 a year ago. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER