Notre Dame Notebook: August 23 Practice
Notre Dame’s 17th practice held Friday morning (Aug. 23) was on “Parents Day.”
Family members of the team were visible throughout the 40 minutes that were open to the media, most of it during stretching inside the new Irish Athletic Center before shifting outdoors.
Saturday will be a day off for Freshman Orientation, and first-semester classes for the fall begin on Tuesday (Aug. 27). Per head coach Brian Kelly earlier in the week, Friday’s practice was to feature a scrimmage among reserves to help finalize who will be on the travel squad for the Sept. 2 opener at Louisville.
About 10-15 minutes of drill work were available to the media. It is the last session that will be open to them with the regular game-week routine commencing next week.
• Sidelined from practicing because of injuries were tight end Cole Kmet and Michael Young, two starters who underwent surgeries for broken collarbones suffered in practice. Dressed in their jerseys but off to the side on later on stationary bikes were three freshmen: offensive tackle Quinn Carroll (torn ACL, out for the year), center Zeke Correll and receiver Kendall Abdur-Rahman.
• During the field-goal kicking drills, Jonathan Doerer, who has had a strong camp, missed from 32 yards twice (once way wide left and the other wide right) before converting from 40 yards. On his final kick from 50, his leg power was evident again but he was slightly wide left.
Freshman Harrison Leonard made his PAT attempt (as did Doerer), plus his lone attempt that came from 36 yards.
There was also one “fire” drill in which freshman punter and holder Jay Bramblett — a high school quarterback who completed 178 of 260 passes (68.5 percent) for 2,341 yards, 18 touchdowns and six interceptions as a senior — went into a passing mode.
• Offensively in the tempo drill, the lines were status quo minus freshmen Carroll and Correll.
Left tackle: Liam Eichenberg, Josh Lugg, Andrew Kristofic (who is also listed as the No. 2 right tackle, but the number was less visible because it was rolled up and could have been No. 53, freshman walk-on Quinn Murphy)
Left guard: Aaron Banks, Dillan Gibbons, Logan Plantz
Center: Jarrett Patterson, Trevor Ruhland, Colin Grunhard
Right guard: Tommy Kraemer, John Dirksen, John Olmstead
Right tackle: Robert Hainsey, Andrew Kristofic, Cole Mabrey
• The top receiving crew is fifth-year senior Chris Finke at X (wide), sophomore Lawrence Keys III at Z (slot) and senior Chase Claypool at W (boundary or back side). Seeing action with the second group were sophomores Braden Lenzy (X) and Joe Wilkins (Z), and senior Javon McKinley (W).
Sophomore Micah Jones, along with junior Isaiah Robertson and senior walk-on Arion Shinaver helped comprise the third group for the most part.
• Tight end Brock Wright was taking first-team reps, but sophomore Tommy Tremble also was mixed in detached from the line.
• Running backs Jafar Armstrong and Tony Jones Jr. rotated with the first group, as did Jahmir Smith and freshman Kyren Williams with the second.
The quarterback situation has the trio of Ian Book, one of the seven team captains, with Phil Jurkovec and Brendon Clark the top reserves.
• On defense, the line remains basically status quo with the first three units:
Strong side end: Khalid Kareem, Ade Ogundeji, Jamir Jones
Nose tackle: Kurt Hinish, Jacob Lacey, Ja’Mion Franklin
Defensive tackle: Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, Jayson Ademilola, Howard Cross III
Drop End: Julian Okwara, Daelin Hayes, Justin Ademilola
• The first two inside linebackers usually aligned in 11 on 11 are fifth-year senior Asmar Bilal (Buck), junior Drew White (Mike) and junior Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah at rover. Look for sophomores Shayne Simon, Jack Lamb and Bo Bauer also to be interspersed on the inside with junior Jordan Genmark Heath — depending on various situations — while sophomore Paul Moala competes with freshman Jack Kiser for the No. 2 rover position.
• Captains and safeties Jalen Elliott and Alohi Gilman headline the veteran secondary, with seniors Troy Pride Jr. at boundary cornerback and Donte Vaughn on the field side.
Sophomores TaRiq Bracy and Houston Griffith are the top backup corners, while freshman standout Kyle Hamilton and sophomore D.J. Brown have taken the second-team reps at safety.
The wild-card, all-purpose figure is fifth-year senior Shaun Crawford, who can help in nickel alignments or at either safety or corner.
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