Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 14, 2024 17 hind sophomore linebacker Jaiden Aus- berry and Watts. He had twice as many quarterback pressures (5) as any of his teammates. He was the only Notre Dame player to hit Weigman outside of How- ard Cross III's sack, according to PFF. At his best, Botelho has always been a fierce pass rusher. He has two multi- sack games in his career and seven oth- ers with at least half a sack. It's been about becoming a more well-rounded football player for Botelho in his five seasons at Notre Dame, as it is for any- one at any other position and any other school. Against the Aggies, Botelho was the complete package. He led Notre Dame in run stops, per PFF, with 4. He missed 2 tackles, which also led Notre Dame, but there are two things to take away from that. One, you could visibly see how upset he was at missing one of them from the Kyle Field press box, which might as well be on the moon. The angst was still palpable from several stories away. He internalized and processed in real time his mistake. Those are few and far be- tween for him right now. Secondly, a player can afford a rare miscue when he's flying to the football with regularity. Slip-ups are magnified when they stand alone. When they're mixed in with a multitude of magnifi- cence, they're much more manageable. Forgotten, even, like when a star quar- terback throws an interception but also goes for 500 yards and 5 touchdowns. "Here's the thing about Jordan right now; he's playing fast," Golden said. "He's not making errors. So, he's elimi- nated all the distractions from his game and he's just playing really hard. He's playing with energy and he's playing smarter football. "It's resulting in a lot of really good plays." Just like the one on third-and-9 from the Notre Dame 39. ✦ Botelho made 6 tackles in the season opener against Texas A&M, second most among all Notre Dame defensive players. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER