Notre Dame football freshman LB Drayk Bowen unavailable for Tennessee State

Notre Dame football will be without one of its freshman defenders on Saturday against Tennessee State.

Irish linebacker Drayk Bowen will miss Notre Dame's home opener against the Tigers, the program announced prior to kickoff (3:30 p.m. EDT on NBC). The reason is undisclosed.

Bowen, a 6-foot-2, 234-pound freshman from Merrillville (Ind.) Andrean, was listed as the second mike linebacker on the depth chart behind starter JD Bertrand.

SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS TO STAY IN THE KNOW ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS

JOIN THE CONVERSATION ON THE INSIDER LOUNGE MESSAGE BOARD

In Notre Dame's 45-3 win against Navy last Saturday, Bowen made his college debut on special teams. He did not see any defensive action.

The absence of Bowen may push fellow freshman linebacker Preston Zinter into action late in the game Saturday if the Irish are leading by a wide margin. With its first-team defense, the Irish could move graduate senior linebackers Jack Kiser or Marist Liufau over to spell Bertrand.

Bowen joins defensive lineman Gabriel Rubio as Irish players slated to miss Saturday's contest. Rubio was previously announced as out for "a couple weeks" with a knee injury.

SUBSCRIBE TO INSIDE ND SPORTS TO STAY IN THE KNOW ON NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS

---------------------------------------------------------------

• Talk with Notre Dame fans on The Insider Lounge.

• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, SoundCloud, Podbean or Pocket Casts.

• Subscribe to the Inside ND Sports channel on YouTube.

• Follow us on Twitter: @insideNDsports, @EHansenND, @TJamesND and @cbowles01.

• Like us on Facebook: Inside ND Sports

• Follow us on Instagram: @insideNDsports