SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Javontae Jean-Baptiste set a career high in sacks in a season Saturday when he sacked Wake Forest quarterback Michael Kern.
The Notre Dame defensive end upped his total to 2.5 sacks, which bested the 2.0 he had as a redshirt senior last season at Ohio State.
When Jean-Baptiste made the decision to graduate transfer to Notre Dame in the offseason, he likely envisioned a higher sack total for his increased role with the No. 18 Irish (8-3). But the 6-foot-5, 260-pounder has made an impact that transcends tackling quarterbacks. He became one of the most reliable defenders on a Notre Dame defense that’s among the 10 best in the FBS in scoring defense, total defense and passing efficiency defense.
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“When I made the decision to come here, I just took it all being open-minded, being prepared for whatever happens and make the best of what I can do in every situation that I'm in,” said Jean-Baptiste, who will have two more opportunities to play games in an Irish uniform. “It's been a great experience for me. A lot of relationships and connections made and just being able to build bonds with people who wanted the same mission as me and wanted to push me as much I wanted to push them to be great. That's just what Notre Dame embodies, so I feel like it was good decision to be here.”
Jean-Baptiste leads the Irish with seven tackles for loss and 10 quarterback hurries and is tied for fourth in tackles with 44. He blocked a field goal in Saturday’s 45-7 win over Wake Forest, and he recovered a fumble in the 48-20 win over USC in October.
Pro Football Focus gives Jean-Baptiste the fourth-highest defensive grade (79.3) among Notre Dame defenders who have played at least 100 defensive snaps this season. He only trails nose tackle Howard Cross III (88.5), linebacker Jack Kiser (85.7) and cornerback Cam Hart (80.5). According to PFF, Jean-Baptiste’s tied with Cross for the team high in pressures with 31 and has only missed three tackles all season.
Jean-Baptiste said he wanted to prove this season he was an all-around defensive end. He’s done exactly that.
“I feel like the development of me playing the run has been good,” Jean-Baptiste said. “Just got more time to showcase my stuff with playing the run and being in those situations. At the end of the day, it just comes down to mano a mano when you're playing the run. It's one-on-one. Are you going to beat the block or be blocked?”
The individual development for Jean-Baptiste has meant more while doing it in a defense succeeding as a unit.
“If someone's playing good, then another person should be able to show up,” Jean-Baptiste said. “That's what I like about this Notre Dame defense, and we have guys all over the place that can cause mismatches.”
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Jean-Baptiste, who signed with Ohio State as a four-star recruit out of Oradell (N.J.) Bergen Catholic in the 2018 class, joined Notre Dame in January out of the transfer portal. He found himself acclimating quickly to those around him and appreciating the culture in Notre Dame’s football program and campus as a whole.
Jean-Baptiste is playing with some guys who have been teammates for four or five years. It might be easier for those guys to sacrifice for each other than for Jean-Baptiste to have that same kind of selflessness for guys he’s known less than a year. But that hasn’t been the case for him.
“Just going through the whole process of being around them, and going through workouts with them and seeing the determination and the grit that they had going through those hard workouts,” Jean-Baptiste explained. “Sometimes you would do things like, 'Why are we doing this?' But it's not easy. It's a hard choice. Anybody can make a choice that I don't want to do this. It's in that split decision or that one second, where you're like, complaining that you don't want to be somewhere and correct yourself like, ‘No, I want to be here. I want to get better.’
“And that's what I've seen from the guys in the room. And that's why it's easy to play for them. Because I know if I'm going to go hard, they're going to go hard, too.”
The Irish will have a chance against Stanford (3-8) on Saturday (7 p.m. EST on Pac-12 Network) to avenge one of their four losses from last season. The game might not have the same personal stakes for Jean-Baptiste, but that doesn’t matter.
“If they're motivated,” Jean-Baptiste said, “I'm motivated too, because I have to go to war with them.”
Jean-Baptiste wasn’t willing to address whether or not he’ll play in the bowl game to end the season. He’s focused on trying to finish the season on a high note. Chasing his NFL dream can wait for now.
“Six months from now I don't know where I'll be at,” Jean-Baptiste said. “I'm just taking everything day-by-day and, God willing, that everything I want to do is in alignment with what he has for me.”
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