Notebook: Notre Dame freshman QB Kenny Minchey plays key role in USC prep
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Even a rather flailing attempt at limiting Caleb Williams in person last November seems to have been a better preparation piece than simply poring over film ahead of the USC’s encore appearance on the Notre Dame football schedule, Saturday night at Notre Dame Stadium (7:30 EDT; NBC/Peacock).
Even better, a scout team quarterback who can at least emulate some of the reigning Heisman Trophy winner’s traits, particularly the ability to extend plays with his legs and combine that with being the nation’s most elite passer.
Enter Irish freshman Kenny Minchey.
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“Can you replicate it? That's a strong word,” Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden said earlier this week of Williams' wide skill set. “But can you simulate it to a degree? Yeah, I think so. But I was going to look for Minchey after this [interview] and just tell him ‘thank you’ — just did a great job today.
“He's got arm talent. He's moving around back there. He's trying to extend plays for us, and he made it challenging, and we'll learn a lot today because of it.”
And perhaps head coach Marcus Freeman and the Irish offensive coaching staff learned a little bit more about how the 6-foot-2, 219-pound Minchey might fit into the post-Sam Hartman quarterback picture next season.
Walk-on running back Chase Ketterer, who serves as the scout-team QB when the Irish face Navy and the triple-option, also got to try out his Caleb Williams impression with the 10th-ranked Trojans (6-0) coming to town with the nation’s No. 1 scoring offense to face the 21st-ranked Irish (5-2).
The Irish opened the week as a 2 1/2-point favorite, and the betting line has held steady through Thursday.
It will be the fifth time in school history Notre Dame has faced a reigning Heisman Trophy winner, with a 1-2-1 record in the previous four. The lone Irish victory was a 40-0 rout of Navy and Roger Staubach in 1964, Ara Parseghian’s first season as Notre Dame’s head coach.
“They're both really good athletes,” Irish defensive tackle Rylie Mills said of Minchey and Ketterer. “And especially for a guy like 13 [Williams]. It's just like, there's almost like two types of plays, where it's like the first half of it and then the second half.
“So I think just having that ingrained in you, that second half interval [you have] to keep going. Coach Golden always preaches running through the interval, the five-second interval as hard as you can. And so when you see a guy like 13 run around, it's good to emulate it in practice.”
In actual games this season, the 6-1, 215-pound Williams leads the country in pass efficiency at a 206.4 clip, roughly one point shy of Coastal Carolina QB Grayson McCall’s single-season NCAA record, set in 2021. And he’s also No. 1 in points responsible for per game, at 28.7, while leading the nation's top-scoring offense (51.8 points per game).
He’s coming off a season-low in pass-efficiency (142.8) in a 43-41 triple-overtime win over Arizona on Saturday night, but Williams rushed for three touchdowns in that game and the game-winning two-point conversion in the third overtime.
In last season’s 38-27 victory over the Irish in Los Angeles, Williams threw for 232 yards and a TD, and ran for 35 yards and three scores.
“You’ve got to continue to trust your pass lanes, trust your rush lanes, and know that the play is never over,” Freeman said during his weekly Thursday Zoom call with the media. “There's a lot of times when you're playing quarterbacks where if you get them to step up and force them to a lane, sometimes you feel like, ‘Hey, he's going to either take off and run or he's going to throw it out of bounds,' but Caleb Williams finds a way to continue to extend plays.
“And so, we have to be controlled, but aggressive — controlled aggression is what we talk about in our rush lanes, but understand the play is never over with Caleb Williams. You have to continuously play through the whistle. The minute you think he's running one way, you better be on alert, because he could turn around and run the other way. And so, we can't play prevent defense.”
Make it rain?
With rain at least a strong possibility on Saturday night, the Irish have been practicing outside in the rain this week and doing wet-ball drills when Mother Nature hasn’t provided the moisture. Meanwhile, temperatures during the game are forecasted to be in the high 40s.
All of which excites Irish junior tight end Mitchell Evans.
“We’re all like, ‘Thank god, this is amazing.’ We want this. This is Notre Dame,” Evans said of the rainy practices and wet forecast.
“I’d rather play in the rain, just to be cool. I like it. With our mindset, we’re not gonna just give in. … We’re still gonna play Notre Dame football.”
Guarded optimism
Freeman on Thursday didn’t rule out the possibility of repeating last weekend’s rotating offensive guard-rotation scenario this Saturday against a USC defense that leads the nation in tackles for loss (9.5 per game) and is fifth in sacks per game (3.7).
In yielding a season-high five sacks to Louisville, sophomore Billy Schrauth took turns subbing in for left guard Pat Coogan and right guard Rocco Spindler, both juniors and first-year starters. Veteran starting center Zeke Correll also had to take a seat temporarily as Andrew Kristofic got worked in his spot.
“I feel like everybody's had a good week of preparation,” Freeman said of the interior offensive linemen. “We'll go into the game planning to use in the normal starting five, but again play, at times, dictates putting guys in the game.
“if we don't play to the standard that we believe our offense — or anybody on our team — should, then you have to be able to put guys in the game that you feel can do their job. And so, I don't ever want our guys playing with fear of being taken out of the game. But we also have to make sure that our guys that are in the game are executing.”
Grading out
Not only did Notre Dame have a long list of fixes on the field to address after last Saturday’s 33-20 upset loss at Louisville, the Irish players faced the most demanding in-season academic stretch this season with midterms exams this week.
Next week, the Irish will have neither — no game due to the bye week and no classes due to fall break.
“As I told them on Monday, every week at Notre Dame is challenging, and that's what they do,” Freeman said. “I know we had midterms this week, but it goes back to preparation for your midterms and going and doing a good job.
“And so, as I told them, ‘We won't look to make any excuses. We embrace the challenge of the academic rigors of Notre Dame. It’s what makes this place so special.’ And so, our guys have done a great job. They've got to prioritize getting rest, prioritize no wasted time. And I think they've done a really good job.”
How Hartman is holding up
After starting off the season in the same passing-efficiency stratosphere as Williams — four straight performances of better than 200 to start the season — Notre Dame quarterback Sam Hartman had a 140.0 against Ohio State’s strong defense, then back-to-back games of less than 120 against Duke (112.2) and Louisville (115.6).
That’s the first time that’s happened in Hartman’s career since his freshman year at Wake Forest in 2018, when he followed a 56.1 rating against Clemson with a 99.3 against Florida State. It happened one other time, earlier that year, when he followed a 90.2 against Boston College in his third career start with an 88.0 against Notre Dame in career start No. 4, opposite Ian Book.
Hartman’s reaction to the most recent statistical slump?
“I think the biggest thing with Sam is he's consistent,” Freeman said. “He's experienced. He's been through wins and losses, and so he continues to be the same person, the same leader. And what happens a week before does not affect the way Sam approaches his preparation and approaches leadership.
“So, I've been really pleased with what he's done in terms of every single week of preparation and leadership amongst our offense.”
Quinn, Leinart return
Two of the key players in the epic 2005 USC-Notre Dame Bush Push game return to the ND campus on Saturday. Former Irish QB Brady Quinn and USC counterpart Matt Leinart are part of the crew on FOX Sports’ Big Noon Kickoff Show that will appear outside Notre Dame Stadium for the first time this weekend.
The show will run from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. EDT on Saturday in the Library Quad, just north of Notre Dame Stadium, essentially where ESPN’s College GameDay set up three weeks ago heading into the Irish-Ohio State clash.
Inside strength
Notre Dame nose guard Howard Cross III and defensive tackle Rylie Mills rank as the No. 2 and 7 interior linemen, respectively, in the 130-team FBS, according to Pro Football Focus, among those who have played 50% or more of their teams’ snaps.
Cross, a grad senior, leads all FBS defensive linemen with 42 tackles. Mills has 12 of his 27 in the past two games. And he does have the COVID option year still in play if he wants to return in 2024.
“I honestly haven't really given too much thought to it,” Mills said earlier this week of a possible return to ND. “Because I just feel like each week is just week by week, especially with a game this big coming up.
“So, I think definitely as we get to the end of the season and we get maybe a little time to think to ourselves, that's probably when I'll have a better idea. But right now, I'm not going to say. It's just about beating USC.”
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