Notebook: Notre Dame DT Jacob Lacey leaves program to seek transfer

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Is there such a thing as too much depth?

That’s the question Notre Dame senior defensive linemen Jacob Lacey asked himself repeatedly after playing a season-low nine snaps Sept. 24 in a 45–32 Irish road win at North Carolina.

Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman revealed the conclusion that the 6-foot-2, 280-pound Bowling Green, Ky., product ultimately came to late Tuesday night during Freeman’s weekly Thursday Zoom call with the media.

“He's no longer part of the team,” Freeman said. “He'll look to transfer, probably at the end of the season after the semester is over.”

Lacey released his own statement on Twitter, shortly thereafter.

“With lots and lots of prayer, thoughts and sorrow,” he concluded in the statement, “I have decided to redshirt and enter the transfer portal. I truly thank and love everyone at Notre Dame, and I am forever grateful for everything they have done for me throughout the years. Nothing will change the love I have for this school.”

The rest of the Irish (2-2) have a Saturday night date in Las Vegas with 16th-ranked BYU (4-1) in a Shamrock Series matchup (7:30 ET; NBC) at Allegiant Stadium.

Because Lacey did not play in a fifth game this season, he did not cross the threshold of eliminating a redshirt season in 2022. Thus, the fourth-year key reserve will have two seasons of eligibility at his next school — this redshirt season and the COVID exemption option year.

The former four-star prospect got his Notre Dame degree in industrial design this past spring, completing his coursework in three years. Lacey is taking a master’s degree curriculum in the Mendoza School of Business this fall semester.

“We love Notre Dame,” Lacey’s father, David, told Inside ND Sports. “We are Notre Dame. I’m wearing a Notre Dame shirt right now, have a Notre Dame keychain, Notre Dame everything. I would never say anything that would hurt Notre Dame. But my son needed to do what’s best for his future.”

Within 30 minutes of the news breaking, Jacob Lacey already had offers from six schools.

He played in all four games this season for the Irish, comprising 73 snaps. All five of his tackles this season, including his two sacks, came in a 24-17 Notre Dame victory over Cal on Sept. 17.

As the primary backup for both grad senior defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola and senior nose guard Howard Cross III, Lacey played 24 snaps against the Bears.

Then, just nine, with no injury to hold him back. The Irish had an open date last Saturday.

Lacey battled injury issues earlier in his career, but still was able to log action in 11 games each of the past three seasons. His best statistical year was 2019 as a freshman, when he recorded 14 tackles with 1.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

Harvard transfer Chris Smith and sophomore Gabe Rubio will have their roles and opportunities expanded with Lacey’s departure, Freeman said. He added that sophomore Jason Onye has been elevated from the scout team and began practicing with the varsity defense this week.

“It's a deep position,” Freeman said of the two interior D-line spots, “and (Lacey) made a decision that ultimately he felt was best for him. And we respect that. We love Jacob, and the best thing about it is he leaves here with a degree in his hand."

Safeties Ramon Henderson (foot) and DJ Brown (hamstring), both key pieces in ND’s defensive back rotation, have returned to practice this week and are both expected to play Saturday night against BYU, per Freeman.

Henderson missed ND’s 45-32 win at North Carolina on Sept. 24 entirely, while Brown played against the Tar Heels but left early with his injury. Brown is Notre Dame’s third-leading tackler, and first among defensive backs, with 20. Henderson has eight tackles this season.

• Four games into his freshman season, punter Bryce McFerson is finally healthy from a groin/hip-flexor injury that flared up late during training camp. McFerson was supposed to be ND’s kickoff man and backup punter in the Sept. 3 season opener at Ohio State.

But in warmups, he reaggravated the training camp injury and was replaced at the last minute by freshman walk-on Zac Yoakam, who grew up in Upper Arlington, Ohio — three miles from Ohio Stadium

“Really what we did is I think we were having him probably do a little bit too much in terms of punting and kickoffs, which would ultimately lead to the strain of his hip flexor/groin area,” Freeman said. “But he's healthy now.

“And so, we kind of just said, ‘Let's let him focus on punting right now until his body is in a position after a year of training in the weight room with (ND director of football performance Matt) Balis to be able to handle punts and kickoffs.

“So, we haven't done kickoffs with him, just really focusing on points right now where it works. Really pleased with how Jon Sot is punting the ball, but Bryce will travel and he'll be the backup punter.”

Sot, a walk-on transfer from Harvard, is averaging 45.6 yards per punt, which is ahead of Geoffrey Price’s single-season school record pace (45.4). Ten of Sot’s 20 punts have been downed or caught inside the 20. Six of them have been in excess of 50 yards with just one touchback and five returns.

The Irish are eighth nationally in net punting (43.6).

Yoakam has kicked off 19 times with five returns.

All-America offensive lineman Jarrett Patterson played through some excruciating pain in his right foot in a 26-21 Irish loss to Marshall on Sept. 10, his delayed debut to the season and at his new position, left guard.

The remnants of a foot sprain, though, were mild compared to how his heart felt.

Patterson had to be pulled back onto the field to sing the Alma Mater with his teammates after storming off toward the tunnel and the locker room following the loss,

“It wasn’t about me,” the grad senior and two-time captain said earlier this week. “Just knowing how hard those guys worked and seeing the looks on their faces after the game, that kind of got me a little angry.

“And it's hard to see the heat I took for (it) after, but I can understand why people were upset. It wasn't intended as disrespect to university or to anyone or trying to be selfish. Just coming back, I had high very high expectations for this team, I still do. But at that moment it's just like, it's just really disappointing.”

Patterson missed all of spring practice with a torn pectoral muscle and the final two weeks of August training camp with the right foot sprain. That also kept him out of ND’s 21-10 season-opening loss at Ohio State on Sept. 3.

“I think up until that Marshall game, I only had like 12 or 13 practices on the year,” he said. “So just knowing how hard, the rehab — I feel like I had been doing rehab since March, nonstop. It's been a constant grind. But yeah, I think part of that just kind of built up, it was just frustration.

“I talked to coach (Freeman) about it, and he kind of understood where I'm coming from. But at the end of the day, he kind of asked, ‘How's that going to help solve anything?’ It's not. It's not gonna help solve any of the issues. So, I knew that I had to lead and do the right example and kind of keep pushing the guys to go where they want to go.”

Patterson was a three-year starter at center before being moved to left guard in August. He has yet to give up a sack in his college career.

The line, without Patterson, and even with him against Marshall was disappointing, but they started to click in a 24-17 win over Cal on Sept. 17 and dominated in the 45-32 road victory against North Carolina a week later.

“Just five guys playing as one together,” Patterson said. “I was out, and it's kind of hard to build that chemistry a little bit. But once you got things rolling and got that confidence and guys are starting to execute and take a lot of pride, I think once we started putting those plays against Cal.

“That really built our confidence as a whole group and showed that yeah, we can be the offensive line that we want to be. So we kind of took that to North Carolina, and we've got to keep playing at that high confidence level that we have.”

Patterson said the pain in his foot is getting progressively better.

“I think the first couple of weeks practicing and playing, it was just the recovery timeline was really hard,” he said. “I think now it's kind of like, ‘OK, it'd be sore at night and after games, but the recovery periods are a lot quicker now, compared to when like halfway through the (Marshall) game I started to feel it and after the game.

“Even going to practice Tuesdays, (I was) like, ‘Man, I still feel like it's hurting.’ So I think the biggest thing is just the time off has really helped. And just this process of recovery, as far as soreness has been a lot better.

“I have a whole crazy setup in my cleat, like I have a metal plate in there. I have like a special ultra-custom insert to help keep my arch supported. And a special tape job as well. I kind of got the most expensive foot in the Gug.”

A couple of tendencies to watch early Saturday night: Notre Dame’s slow starts and BYU’s fast ones. The Irish have scored three first-quarter points all season. The Cougars, albeit in one additional game, have scored 52.

• With 135 career receptions, junior Michael Mayer is six away from breaking Tyler Eifert’s school record for all-time receptions by a tight end at Notre Dame.

Mayer has played 28 games in his Notre Dame career and has caught at least one pass in each of those 28 contests.

• Notre Dame is 10-0 all-time in Shamrock Series games and will be facing its third straight ranked opponent in the event and fourth overall. The Irish defeated No. 22 Arizona State at AT&T Stadium in 2013, No. 12 Syracuse in Yankee Stadium in 2018 and No. 18 Wisconsin last season in Soldier Field.

The Shamrock Series concept — an offsite home game — started in 2009 with a matchup against Washington State in San Antonio, Texas. The series took three years off — planned hiatuses in 2017 and 2019, and canceling a 2020 matchup with Wisconsin in Green Bay, Wis., because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• Notre Dame leads the series with BYU, 6-2, with the two most recent coming with current Irish offensive coordinator/QBs coach Tommy Rees starting at QB in both 2012 and 2013. Everett Golson was ND’s regular starter in 2012, but Rees filled in after Golson suffered a concussion in the previous game that season.

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