Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1526921
6 SEPT. 28, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY TYLER HORKA AND JACK SOBLE N otre Dame might have one of the few offensive line units in the country that can lose two starters and gain ex- perience, starts and veteran leadership as a result. That's what's happening as the Irish transition from the first quar- ter of the 2024 season to the middle half. Juniors Ashton Craig and Billy Schrauth started the first three games of the season at center and right guard, re- spectively. Notre Dame really liked what it had as a power- packed combination in the pair of third-year players, both of whom pride them- selves on moving the pile, but now they won't play another game together for the rest of the season. Craig is out for the year with a knee injury. Schrauth is out for a few weeks with an ankle sprain. Both players were injured in Notre Dame's 66-7 win at Purdue in Week 3. Their replacements, in that game and for the foreseeable future, are se- nior Pat Coogan and graduate student Rocco Spindler, the former at center and the latter at right guard. Ever heard of them? The answer should be unequivo- cally and emphatically, yes. Coogan was the only offensive line- man to start every game for the Irish in 2023. All 13 starts came at left guard. He made his Notre Dame debut with three snaps at center against Boston College in 2022. Spindler started 10 games at right guard last year, meanwhile, after playing 12 of 13 games on the field goal unit in 2022. Outside of Coogan having to snap the football more than he ever has before, he and Spindler aren't go- ing to see anything from now through December that they didn't see last fall. They've been there, done that. Notre Dame isn't getting younger up front than it already was. It's getting older. "Two guys that could easily — [they] didn't get what they wanted after fall camp. They wanted to be the starters. They weren't, and they prepared," head coach Marcus Freeman said. "They were great teammates and leaders for that room, and now they're in there. We have a lot of confidence in those guys." "It's kind of a little bit of a rare luxury, obviously," Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock added. "And credit to Pat and credit to Rocco, two guys that just love Notre Dame, love their team- mates, have never wavered, h ave n eve r n o t p re pa re d themselves the proper way. " Fo r t u n a te ly, u n fo r t u - nately, the opportunity arose, and they get in the game, and I don't think you saw much of a blip on the radar screen with what they were able to do and how they were able to perform. And that's a credit to those guys." You can play devil's advo- cate and say Notre Dame is now an injury to Coogan away from having to move Sam Pendleton to center and bring in Sullivan Absher, a sopho- more, to play left guard, but guess what — Pendleton is a sophomore, too. He's started every game for the Irish at left guard this season right next to left tackle An- thonie Knapp, a true freshman. Youth doesn't have to be a bugaboo. It can be a strength. So can aged wisdom, and Notre Dame has that in Coogan and Spindler. Why not both? The one thing you can definitively and detrimentally say, though, is that Notre Dame lost two of its five best of- fensive linemen. Denbrock even said it himself. "Billy and Ashton clearly were the leaders and the favorites, and had performed the best," Denbrock said. "That's why they were the starters." UNDER THE DOME IN AND OUT Notre Dame's offensive and defensive lines are being made over in midseason as a result of several injuries Graduate student offensive lineman Rocco Spindler is back in the starting lineup after an injury to junior right guard Billy Schrauth. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER