Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1507821
8 SEPT. 23, 2023 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME In this era of college football, with players transferring in and out, coming and going every offseason, sixth-year Irish safety DJ Brown took a different course. A talented and versatile player, Brown could have taken his talents anywhere the last several years. Instead, the Annapolis., Md., native stuck with Notre Dame, and the payoff has been rich for both the player and the program. After biding his time as a freshman in 2018 and a sophomore in 2019, Brown has appeared in every game during the last three-plus seasons. In 2022, Brown played in all 13 games, made 10 starts and finished fourth on the team with a career-high 48 tackles. Talented in both run stoppage and pass cover- age, Brown — out of necessity — was moved from cornerback to safety in 2019 after his fresh- man season, and he has steadily improved at the position to become a legitimate NFL prospect. Blue & Gold Illustrated recently caught up with Brown to discuss his long career at Notre Dame, his play through the early part of this season, and his final go-around with Fighting Irish football. BGI: You hardly played as a freshman and a sophomore; why did you stick with the program? Brown: "It's hard when you're a younger guy and not playing. But I didn't want to leave my teammates and I didn't want to let my team- mates down for everything we worked so hard for over and over again, summer after summer. You don't get that anywhere. This is a special place. " It was hard, but at the end of the day, I knew what I had here. And I knew I had a great group of guys, great teammates and great coaches that all wanted the best for me." BGI: How difficult was your position switch from cornerback to safety? Brown: "Safety was different, the angles, tack- ling, and just playing the ball is different. But just constant reps in practice, keeping at it all the time, has helped me out, good coaching too. "Honestly, I still think I've been getting better and better every day." BGI: What prompted the position switch? Brown: "It was out of need. In the safety room it was just me, Kyle Hamilton, Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott. It was just us four. The position switch was out of need and I'm grateful for it. "I learned a lot from all of those guys. I have no complaints." BGI: This is your last go-around at Notre Dame; what's next? Brown: "That's the ultimate goal, the NFL. It's something that I have dreamed about all of my life. It's something that I have worked for all of my life. I 100 percent want to play on Sundays and see where that takes me." BGI: What has your time at Notre Dame meant? Brown: "It's been an amazing ride. I've been lucky enough to be on great teams here. I've gone to the College Football Playoff twice, played in a couple of big-time New Year's Six games, played the best of the best. "I couldn't ask for anything more." — Todd D. Burlage Five Questions With … GRADUATE STUDENT SAFETY DJ BROWN The Notre Dame Pass Defense By Todd D. Burlage If Notre Dame has any chance of knocking off Ohio State Sept. 23, its pass defense better be up to the challenge of at least slowing down — because they aren't going to stop — the Buckeyes' dangerous wide receiver tandem of Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka. Both junior wideouts were Associated Press first-team All-Americans in the preseason. The dynamic duo com- bined for 14 catches and 146 yards with 1 touchdown in Ohio State's 21-10 win over Notre Dame last year. Both are projected as early round NFL Draft picks, and both were off to terrific starts through two games this season. In wins over Indiana and Youngstown State, Harrison and Egbuka had already combined for 17 catches, 288 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns. Harrison, a lock to become a first-round draft pick, averaged 19.8 yards per catch in those two games. But that's not all. Ohio State senior wide receiver Julian Fleming added 9 catches for 83 yards and four Buckeye pass catchers were averaging at least 17.5 yards per reception (Harrison, tight end Cade Stover, running back Mi- yan Williams and wide receiver Carnell Tate). Notre Dame was terrific in pass defense during its 3-0 start, led by preseason All-American cornerback Ben Morrison. The Irish ranked fourth nationally in passing efficiency defense after allowing only 123.3 passing yards per game — the 10th best defensive mark in the country. But none of the receiving corps Notre Dame has faced featured the firepower this Ohio State group does. The Buckeyes can beat opponents in a variety of ways. But if Notre Dame wants to pull the upset, its pass defense better have its best game of the season. Protect The QB And Irish Can Win A Shootout By Jack Soble Todd is absolutely right about Ohio State's receivers. Harrison and Egbuka on the same team? That's not fair. But they're not the matchups that concern me the most for Notre Dame. That would be the Ohio State pass rush against Notre Dame's pass protection. It's true that entering Week 3, the Buckeyes only had 3 sacks in two games. But their defensive front is much more potent than that. Redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. and junior edge rusher JT Tuimoloau are legitimate first-round talents, while junior edge rusher Jack Sawyer and graduate student linebacker Tommy Eichenberg are up there as well. NC State sacked Irish quarterback Sam Hartman four times. Ohio State is more talented up front. You can bet that Buckeyes defensive coordinator Jim Knowles will spot any weakness and work to exploit it. Stunts? Overload blitzes? All-American Joe Alt and Notre Dame must be prepared for anything. If the Irish can keep Hartman upright, the offense should be able to score on Ohio State. The Buckeyes struggled against an elite power running game in their 2022 loss to Michigan. Their secondary, while certainly not a weak- ness, is not unbeatable. Certainly not for Sam Hartman and Notre Dame's many receiving weapons. As ridiculously good as Ohio State's receivers are, the better quarterback usually wins in a shootout. I feel confident saying Notre Dame has the better quarterback. If it becomes a "last team with the ball wins" kind of game, I like the Irish — so long as they can protect the passer. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHAT IS THE BIGGEST KEY TO THE OHIO STATE GAME? CB BEN MORRISON OT JOE ALT In 2022, Brown played in all 13 games, made 10 starts and finished fourth on the team with a career-high 48 tackles. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER