Blue and Gold Illustrated

October 7, 2023

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1508769

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 18 of 55

BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 7, 2023 19 He picked off 3 passes in 2021 and has 1 interception this year, but when he spoke about what Brown means to his defense, Freeman pointed to something fans don't usually see. "DJ is almost like a version of a quar- terback out there," Freeman said. "He helps with communication, gets people lined up." Asked if Brown was like a quarter- back for his defenses at St. John's, Casa- mento replied, "Absolutely." Casamento remembers reading that about 85 percent of the explosive plays in a college football game are caused by defensive misalignment, meaning a de- fender lining up wrong. He believes it, based on more than 20 years of coaching experience. Brown, Casamento said, helps pre- vent that from happening. "There are 11 guys playing defense," Casamento said. "It could be a safety playing too shallow or too deep. … He just helps them in ways that he makes people around them better." Notre Dame sees it, too. He missed Week 3 against Central Michigan with hamstring tightness, but he played 61 snaps against North Carolina State and 66 against Ohio State. Expect that to be the case moving forward as the Irish enter the second half of Brown's final season of eligibility. "We are a better defense because of DJ Brown," Freeman said. ✦ Brown missed an opportunity for a game- changing play when he dropped a potential interception on Ohio State's go-ahead touch- down drive, but he doesn't plan to let that define his final season with the Irish. PHOTO BY JOSEPH SISSON

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of Blue and Gold Illustrated - October 7, 2023