Friday Five: What To Watch For In Notre Dame’s Spring Game
No more video sleuthing and over-scrutinizing.
Notre Dame is putting its spring work, progress and changes out in the open for all to observe Saturday in the Blue-Gold Game (12:30 p.m. ET, Peacock).
It may be vanilla. First-year defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman likely won’t unload his playbook. Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees’ re-invention of his unit is only just beginning. The teams may not even be split with the depth chart in mind.
But it’s better than nothing. There are still things to learn, players to watch and questions that can become a little clearer. Here are five.
1. How Much Has The Secondary Really Progressed?
The customary three-minute video from each practice is selective and not an all-22 shot, meaning it’s hard to really see what’s happening away from the ball and the overall play design. Drawing big conclusions about a player’s performance is an overzealous exercise in futility.
Especially for defensive backs.
Putting every interception in the videos comes with a risk of inciting panic about the quarterbacks. That’s a non-starter. There were pass breakups included, but not an overload. Deep balls where a receiver got open and beat his man were just as frequent.
What’s never in the video: a rep where a corner locks up a receiver and forces the quarterback to look somewhere else. For all we know, a player could’ve done that for an entire practice. We have had to take head coach Brian Kelly and Freeman at their word about the secondary’s strides.
Saturday, then, should be plenty revealing about the position and if it has progressed as much as the coaches insist. There has been no real basis for judgement. And it’s a unit one can’t help but be eager to judge after its ups and downs the last couple years.
Is junior-to-be corner Cam Hart as comfortable as everyone says and on his way to a starting job? Or is he a mixed bag and still leaving the door open for sophomore Ramon Henderson? How does freshman Philip Riley fit in? Not only was the spring video not set up to reveal much about them, but they haven’t had many opportunities on the field in the prior season (or at all, in Riley’s case).
Elsewhere, it’ll be worth watching TaRiq Bracy after he lost the starting field corner job last year. He has worked a lot at slot corner this spring.
At safety, the same question applies to senior Houston Griffith. Freeman didn’t convince him to backpedal out of the transfer portal to never give him a chance. Is he a cut above the other safeties (minus Kyle Hamilton, of course, who hasn’t practiced 11-on-11 due to injury)?
How much easier does the game look for Griffith? Kelly complimented his focus, decisiveness and increased football IQ earlier this spring. Griffith has never been a starter, but has played more than 500 career snaps. For the last two years, he has mostly vacillated week-to-week.
The spring game is a chance to see how much progress he has made as a playmaker and if he has put moments of confusion and mistakes behind him. The same goes for D.J. Brown, who has taken most of the first-team reps next to Griffith. Both are competing to start next to Hamilton.
“I don't have any questions about either one of these guys and their ability to do the job that we're asking them to do,” Kelly said.
2. How Does The Offensive Line Hold Up?
Notre Dame doesn’t have its best five linemen available because Jarrett Patterson is injured.
In his absence, Notre Dame started the process of identifying the other four and figuring out where Patterson fits. So far, there’s limited clarity. Presumed starter Josh Lugg could play inside or out. Sophomore Tosh Baker is a tackle and battling to start. Freshmen Blake Fisher (tackle) and Rocco Spindler (guard) are getting long looks as potential starters. Teammates have praised the two early enrollees in particular.
The challenge for the offensive line’s building process this spring is evaluating everyone against an Irish defensive line that might be better than any opponent’s this fall. No matter what combination the Irish’s defensive front is split into on Saturday, it’ll be a strong one. Notre Dame looks like it will be 10-deep on the defensive line again.
If nothing else, Notre Dame’s new-look offensive line will be battle-tested as a result. A shaky performance Saturday, though, will evoke some curiosity over how big an asset the run game can be.
3. Just How Tight Is The Quarterback Race?
Kelly said Thursday he’s not likely to name a starter coming out of the spring and will instead wait until fall camp. There’s one intriguing thought removed from Saturday. A big game from presumed favorite Jack Coan or bumpy outing from ascending sophomore Drew Pyne would’ve evoked questions to Kelly about possibly naming a starter. It still might, but Kelly sounded fairly sure of himself.
"I've always felt like when it's clearly in the best interest of the team and morale and it can influence you moving forward, you should probably name the quarterback,” Kelly said. “I don't know that we're in that position right now, because we're getting really good leadership from those guys.
“I don't feel like that's going to move the needle in the locker room at all at this point. I kind of like the competition that continues to go.”
Both have made some impressive throws in the practice videos. Saturday offers a game-situation look, even if Kelly’s comments lower the stakes. There’s security in feeling good about Notre Dame having a backup who could come in and keep things afloat. Saturday should provide a chance to get there.
4. What Is The Receiver Progress Like?
This is another position that’s incomplete because of injury. Kevin Austin Jr. is expected to get every chance to become the go-to option at the boundary spot, but he has not practiced this spring.
The fan fixation this spring has centered on former five-star Jordan Johnson, top-50 freshman Lorenzo Styles Jr. and sophomore-to-be slot receiver Xavier Watts. The spring game will be their first extended time in a competitive situation as college players. Watts and Johnson combined to play 42 mostly garbage-time snaps in three games as freshmen. Styles is an early enrollee.
Right now, they’re operating behind the senior quartet of Joe Wilkins Jr., Braden Lenzy, Lawrence Keys III and Avery Davis. Davis leads all returning wide receivers with 39 career catches. Wilkins was a 2020 backup who caught seven passes and was a strong run-blocker. Lenzy and Keys began last year in the offense’s plans but faded away due to injuries and inconsistency.
“Receiver, to me, it’s about more than anything else getting Wilkins, Lenzy and Keys at the next level,” Kelly said. “I need them to move to that great level. They’re capable of it, and we’re seeing some signs. This is all wrapped up in these three guys taking that next step.”
They’re a faster, quicker but smaller group than last year’s receiving corps, which was led by bigger targets Javon McKinley and Ben Skowronek. Rees insists the offense will look different, in part because of the new receiver makeup.
How noticeable will those differences be? Will the spring game feature more downfield shots, receiver screens or RPOs that take advantage of the skill sets and, to use Rees’ buzzphrase, create space for them? Some basic tenants and themes ought to be detectable.
5. How Creative Will Freeman Get?
We know some basic principles for Freeman’s first Notre Dame defense.
Multiple fronts. More pressure. Defensive-line driven.
How much closer of a look will he give us in the spring game? The incentive for him to show his hand is just about nonexistent. But it might be hard to entirely hide his creativity.
It’s not crazy to think Notre Dame will roll out some 3-3-5 looks, 4-2-5, 4-3 or even 3-4. Perhaps there are even some sub-packages with blitzing linebackers and dropping defensive ends, as the practice video has contained.
Some linebackers have cross-trained at multiple positions, but we know the primary spots. Drew White, Bo Bauer and JD Bertrand are middle linebackers. Shayne Simon and Marist Liufau are Will outside linebackers. Jack Kiser and Isaiah Pryor are rovers. How Freeman fits them together is worth watching, even if there are only a couple noteworthy groupings to take away from the spring game.
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