Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM DECEMBER 2025 7 UNDER THE DOME This Is The Moment Jaylen Sneed's Been Waiting For By Tyler Horka The easy way to answer the question of whose role increases in light of losing Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa from the lineup is, "Next man up." That would technically be true freshman Madden Faraimo considering Notre Dame had a group of four core linebackers with Viliamu-Asa, Drayk Bowen, Jaiden Ausberry and Jaylen Sneed. Without Viliamu-Asa, you've got to slide Faraimo up to round out the regular rotation of four, right? Sort of. Sure, Faraimo is going to play a lot more because Notre Dame will not have the services of Viliamu-Asa. But that doesn't necessarily mean the Irish are going to ask him to do a lot of the things Viliamu-Asa was doing. They're just going to ask him to eat up more snaps in general, most likely backing up Bowen at middle linebacker. Viliamu-Asa is far and away Notre Dame's best pass-rushing linebacker. Who's going to take on that responsibility without him out there? Probably not Faraimo. It's likely gotta be Sneed. It's Sneed, after all, who has the best pass-rush win percentage, per Pro Football Focus, of any of the five linebackers we've mentioned here. His mark of 18.6 is even better than that of Viliamu-Asa's 16.7, which happens to be Bowen's as well. Sneed's playing time has been squeezed out by none other than Viliamu- Asa the last two seasons. Now Viliamu-Asa is not in the picture for however long this season lasts. The elder statesman of Notre Dame's core linebacking rotation as a redshirt junior, these are the biggest games of Sneed's Irish career coming up. He's got a chance to make the most of them. Jaiden Ausberry Needs To Make Bigger Impact By Tyler James Notre Dame won't be able to replace Viliamu-Asa's versatility with one play. The Irish will need the combination of Bowen, Sneed, Ausberry and Faraimo to replicate Viliamu-Asa's violence in taking on blockers, tackling strength, pass- rushing tenacity and pass coverage fluidity. But if there's one linebacker who needs to raise his level of play the most with Viliamu-Asa out of the rotation, it's Ausberry. Pro Football Focus hasn't been high on the redshirt sophomore from Baton Rouge, La., this season. His season-long defense grade of 61.3 heading into the Stanford game was lower than all but one teammate who played more snaps: junior corner Christian Gray (53.0). Ausberry received a PFF defense grade above 70 in just two games this season — a 73.5 against Navy and a 71.4 against Boston College. Viliamu-Asa received a defense grade below 70 in just five games this season. Part of what has held Ausberry's defense grade down is his lack of impact as a pass rusher — just 8 pressures, per PFF — tack- ling inconsistencies — 9 missed tackles and a 17 percent missed tackle rate. Ausberry likely won't become a significantly better pass rusher over night, but he can become a more reliable tackler. He entered the regular-season finale fifth on the team in tackles with 47 — 4 of those came behind the line of scrimmage and 2 of them were sacks. Ausberry already averaged 34.5 defensive snaps per game through 11 games, so his workload might not increase that much. But it's time for Aus- berry to start making more splash plays in the Irish defense. Force a fumble, intercept a pass or even break one up for the first time this season. Notre Dame needs more production from Ausberry. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHICH NOTRE DAME LINEBACKER NEEDS TO STEP UP THE MOST WITH KYNGSTONN VILIAMU-ASA OUT FOR THE SEASON? Where would this Notre Dame offense be with- out Will Pauling? The Wisconsin transfer was first among Irish pass catchers in touchdown receptions (6), fourth in receiving yards (373) and fifth in receptions (25) through Week 13. He's an ultimate glue guy, especially playing as an elevated starter in the wake of fellow slot receiver Jaden Greathouse's hamstring injury. Here are five questions with the team captain. BGI: What has your one year at Notre Dame been like? Pauling: "It's a blessing to be a part of this pro- gram. Obviously being a two-time transfer, being in my third program, you see a lot of places, you see a lot of different things, and I can truly say Notre Dame's a place like no other. "Would've never imagined I'd end up here, but being here, it's been a blessing. And being part of the team that's so special, not only on the field but off the field, it's amazing." BGI: What has it been like to play with quarter- back CJ Carr in his first season as a starter? Pauling: "It is kind of crazy to say, but it doesn't surprise me with the success CJ has had just be- cause ever since I got here in January, CJ's been the same CJ ever since I've met him. He's in here early, he's out of here late. "He's super confident in himself and he's got an amazing trust and belief in the players on his of- fense to trust us and go out there and make plays with him and for him. So, seeing him grow and mold into this amazing quarterback and amazing just human being, it's truly amazing to see." BGI: How has the Notre Dame offense become one of the best in the country this season? Pauling: "A lot of it just comes to trust. Trust and consistency. Everybody shows up and brings the same amount of energy and effort to each and every practice. Then we trust the play calls and the brothers next to (us) each and every play. "When you're playing with that much confi- dence and that much trust in what you're doing, it makes the game come that much smoother and it allows us to play a lot harder just because we know we're playing for the brother to our left and our right." BGI: What's it like practicing against a Notre Dame defense that's also improved throughout the year? Pauling: "They have so many talented guys and it's fun going at them each and every day in prac- tice just because it's such a competitive group and they're so talented. Honestly, when you go up against them every single day, it helps for game days, it makes game days a little bit easier just because the speed you're seeing in practice, it matches up exactly how the game is." BGI: Which side gets the better of the other in practice, offense or defense? Pauling: "All the DBs, they all like to talk a little bit of smack and try to get into your head. And I love it. The whole receiver room loves it because it fires everybody up, it gets the juices going, and then when we're all feeding off each other with that energy, it makes us all better at the end of the day." — Tyler Horka Five Questions With … REDSHIRT SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER WILL PAULING Pauling went into the regular-season finale leading the Fighting Irish with 6 touchdown receptions. PHOTO BY MICHAE;L MILLER SNEED AUSBERRY