Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2024 7 UNDER THE DOME UNDER THE DOME Key Player Losses Make It Defensive Tackle By Todd D. Burlage With the regular season over and college football's relocation season set to begin, Irish head coach Mar- cus Freeman and his staff will spend the holidays closely monitoring the transfer portal, again. This time, they'll have a clear mission. Fortifying defensive tackle will be priority one. A position of great strength this season with gradu- ate stalwarts Rylie Mills and Howard Cross III leading the way, this unit will become one of the biggest question marks on the Irish defense in 2025 when these two are graduated and gone. Mills finished the regular season with 35 tackles, a team-best 6.5 sacks, 4 quarterback hurries and as a legitimate All-America candidate. And despite missing three games with an ankle injury, Cross still had 23 tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, 4 sacks and 3 quarterback hurries. Put it all together, and these two players had combined for 56 percent of the total tackles and 75 percent of the sacks from the Irish defensive tackles. Playing behind Cross, junior Donovan Hinish added 31 tackles, 3.5 sacks and 4 quarterback hurries. After missing the first half of the season with a foot injury, senior Gabriel Rubio also became a solid contributor down the stretch. Hinish and Rubio will return in 2025, but that's about it as far as tangible ex- perience and production. Considering defensive tackle isn't a usual spot for young players to make a quick impact, the Irish coaches need to — no, they have to — make a veteran portal splash here to help absorb the massive production void left by Mills and Cross. Once Again, It's Wide Receiver By Jack Soble Defensive tackle is certainly a need, but with the way Hinish has played in Cross' stead, it doesn't seem as urgent as it did when the season began. That's why I'm going with wide receiver, where Notre Dame took three graduate transfers (Kris Mitchell, Beaux Collins and Jayden Harrison) last season. The Irish probably don't need three transfer wide- outs again this year, but they'll definitely need at least one. Notre Dame should be comfortable replacing Harrison at No. 2 slot receiver with rising sophomore Logan Saldate and Mitchell at No. 2 field receiver with rising junior KK Smith (assuming the starters at their positions, rising juniors Jaden Greathouse and Jordan Faison, stick around). Saldate is redshirting and Smith has played limited reps, but behind the scenes, the Irish are extremely bullish about both youngsters. Replacing Collins, on the other hand, will require a transfer. And Notre Dame should shoot for the moon. The three additions this season have helped the Irish establish a baseline at the position, but they're still missing that true WR1. I'm talking about Tez Johnson, who came to Oregon from Troy. Johnson will likely finish his Ducks career with more than 2,000 receiving yards in two seasons. I'm talking about Tre Harris, who came to Ole Miss from Louisiana Tech. Harris was a threat to lead the nation in receiving yards before he dealt with midseason injury problems. For this to work, it might be time for Notre Dame to see if it can take un- derclassmen in the portal. But it's worth a shot. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHAT IS NOTRE DAME'S BIGGEST TRANSFER PORTAL NEED? Sophomore wide receiver Jaden Greathouse admits that spending most of his game days pa- trolling the middle of the field provides plenty of pros and cons. At 6-foot-1 and 215 pounds, Greathouse is big enough to handle the heavy hits that come with slants and crossing patterns. And with great speed, he's only one broken tackle away from tak- ing a 5-yard pass for a long touchdown reception. But working in such close proximity with the "big heavies" such as linebackers and drop defen- sive ends also provides its share of occupational hazards. The Austin, Texas, native found that out the hard way against Virginia when he left the game with what appeared to be a shoulder injury following a hard tackle. Greathouse returned for the Army game and appeared no worse for the wear. Through talent and reliability, Greathouse has steadily become one of the favorite targets for Irish senior quar- terback Riley Leonard. With 26 catches for 345 yards and 1 touchdown through the USC game, Greathouse ranked third on the team in catches and second in yardage. He is showing no signs of a sophomore slump after becoming one of the more pleasant Irish rookie surprises last year when he recorded 18 catches for 265 yards and a team-high 5 touchdowns. Blue & Gold Illustrated and other local media recently caught up with Greathouse and asked him about the improving Notre Dame offense, his favorite plays, and his evolving receiver role. BGI: You do most of your best work in traffic and making tacklers miss. What goes into that? Greathouse: "That was something I was definitely big on in high school. And I'm trying to bring that over to the college game, just creating plays, yards after catch. Getting open in space and making big plays after the catch is definitely something we've been working on and continuing moving forward." BGI: How would you describe your strengths as a wide receiver? Greathouse: "Operating in space; I love to play every position at the wide receiver spot. Just mov- ing me around and getting me into different spots is something we've definitely been working on this season. Just trying to get me all over the field." BGI: Why did it take a few games for your of- fense to get rolling? Greathouse: "It just takes reps. We've been putting in a lot of work through the season build- ing that chemistry, getting the timing down. It's definitely been a work in progress, but I think we're finally hitting our stride and getting to where we want to be as an offense." BGI: Has that improvement helped boost your confidence? Greathouse: "It gives me a ton of confidence knowing that the coaches, and Riley [Leonard], and everybody else has confidence in me be- ing a playmaker. It's definitely something every receiver wants." BGI: You've become a master at catching that difficult over-the-shoulder slot fade pass. What goes into that? Greathouse: "Being in position for when the right ball is in the air, coming down with the catch, fight- ing through the DB's hands. There's a lot that goes into catching a ball and running a route. But just keep building on that confidence with each other." — Todd D. Burlage Five Questions With … SOPHOMORE WIDE RECEIVER JADEN GREATHOUSE Defensive line coach Al Washington Wide receivers coach Mike Brown Greathouse ranked third on the team in catches (26) and second in receiving yards (345) through 12 games. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MILLER