Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 28, 2024 27 NOTRE DAME'S SOPHOMORE CLASS SHINES ON DEFENSE Notre Dame started four sophomores on defense in a 28-3 victory over visit- ing Miami (Ohio) in Week 4. All four of them showed why defensive coordina- tor Al Golden's group is in good hands now and in the future. Was it defensive end Boubacar Traore's 14-yard strip sack for you? How about the first sack of linebacker Drayk Bow- en's career one play after he delivered a punishing blow on an incomplete pass? Cornerback Christian Gray's second ca- reer interception and having a hand in another Irish pick? A pair of passes bro- ken up for safety Adon Shuler? This sophomore class is beyond its years. Pure playmakers. "We knew by El Paso that we were going to step up," Gray said in his post- game press conference, referencing sig- nificant playing time in the Sun Bowl last season. "We knew we had to step up, what we had to do. … We just knew, OK, it's our time." Sure is. The most impressive part about it is the way the second-year play- ers have stepped in for veterans without allowing Golden's unit to miss a beat. Traore made his first career start re- placing graduate student Jordan Botelho, who Notre Dame lost for the season to a knee injury suffered at Purdue in Week 3. All he did was finish tied with gradu- ate student linebacker Jack Kiser for the team lead in total tackles with 5. He also had a quarterback hurry in addition to the aforementioned strip-sack. Notre Dame head coach Marcus Free- man was one of many in South Bend who saw this coming from Traore as soon as this season. He's also the same one who keeps Traore in check. "One thing Freeman tells me is 'one play, one life,'" Traore said. "Once you make a good play, yeah, you made it, now it's to make another big play. Focus on the next play coming up." Bowen, the successor to longtime starter JD Bertrand, had one of the best examples of that against Miami (Ohio). He was satisfied with his hit on a prospective pass catcher, sure, but not overly. He lined back up then planted the RedHawks' quarterback into the turf. Gray, also taking over for an NFL draftee in Cam Hart, set up junior de- fensive end Junior Tuihalamaka's first career interception, but he had to go get his own later in the ballgame. "What Coach Golden always says, 'we some savages,'" Gray said. "We go out there and go ball and play for the team." Shuler, though, went against the team when he tossed the football at a player on the Miami (Ohio) sideline and was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct at the end of the first half. He enabled the RedHawks offense to maintain pos- session of the ball instead of allowing the Notre Dame offense to take another crack at putting points on the board in the final minute of the second quarter. It wasn't a good moment for Shuler, the heir to DJ Brown at safety, as a rep- resentative of Notre Dame's otherwise elite sophomore crop of players, but it was a learning moment in an eventual MIAMI (OHIO) GAME NOTES BY TYLER HORKA AND JACK SOBLE Sophomore cornerback Christian Gray notched his first interception of the season against Miami (Ohio) and also deflected a pass that resulted in a second pick for the Irish. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • With the victory, Notre Dame improved to 3-0 all time against Miami (Ohio) and 11-1 against teams from the Mid-American Conference. • Graduate student punter James Rendell recorded a career-best 53-yard punt at the conclusion of Notre Dame's first offensive drive of the game, then improved on that with a 54-yard effort in the second quarter. • Sophomore linebacker Jeremiyah Love rushed for his fourth touchdown of the season in the third quarter. He scored just once on the ground as a true freshman in 2023. • Sophomore linebacker Drayk Bowen recorded his first career sack for a 12-yard loss in the fourth quarter. • Freshman defensive end Bryce Young notched his first career blocked field goal, deflecting a 49-yard field goal attempt by the RedHawks in the fourth quarter.