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UNDER THE DOME and staying off the ground and taking care of each other," the coach said. "We go against each other so much that our guys are so locked in about how impor- tant it is for safety. They are yelling at each other if somebody is on the ground. "I don't need to remind them about safety and how important it is. We have guys cry- ing in the locker room because they lost one of their players. They are so locked in. They don't need me to remind them about something like that." Tranquill's injury was to his right knee. Last November, he tore the ACL in his left knee in a game versus Louisville, but it healed rapidly. He was scheduled to have his more recent surgery about two weeks after the injury, while trainer Rob Hunt has him do some rehabilitation first. Tranquill's strong religious background has kept him grounded. The day after his injury he tweeted the following: "Consider it pure joy whenever you face trials of many kinds, b/c you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance." Later he added: "I'm fueled by passion, purpose and the Spirit. I'm praying my story will impact lives. Sometimes life puts you through the first, but we must walk through fearlessly. My team will carry out the mis- sion this year, and I will be back with the same energy." Tranquill was in the lineup partly because of injuries to two other safeties. Junior Max Redfield's broken thumb suffered the week prior at Virginia was wrapped in a cast and would have made tackling a challenge against Georgia Tech's triple option, although he was listed behind senior Elijah Shumate for the contest against the Yellow Jackets. Fifth-year senior Avery Sebastian suffered a broken foot while on special teams during the opener against Texas. His recovery time is expected to be around the middle of October. For the UMass game, senior Nicky Baratti — sidelined the past two seasons because of shoulder sur- geries — was listed behind Shumate at strong safety, while special teams captain and fifth-year senior Matthias Farley, who replaced Tranquill ably in the second half versus Georgia Tech, is behind Redfield at free safety. Tranquill, a sophomore safety, suffered a season-ending torn ACL while celebrating after breaking up a pass in the end zone during the second quarter of Notre Dame's 30-22 victory over Georgia Tech Sept. 19. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA