Opening Day: Notre Dame Preseason Practice Preview
For the first time since March 5, Notre Dame will hold a formal football practice late Wednesday afternoon (Aug. 12) in hopes of preparing for a 2020 season scheduled, for now, to begin Sept. 12 at home versus Duke.
Hopefully this time there can also be more than one practice.
The March 5 session was the first of what was supposed to be 14 spring practices. Shortly thereafter the sports world, and most of life as we knew it, was brought to its knees by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fall semester on-campus classes began at Notre Dame this Monday. However, a sense of normalcy took another hit on Tuesday when two of the Power Five conferences — Big Ten and Pac-12 — announced they would not participate in football this fall. They joined the Mid-American and Mountain West leagues at sitting out the fall season.
The three other Power Five conferences (ACC, Big 12 and SEC) have announced their plans to move forward, but with caution and vigilance. Shortly after both the Big Ten and Pac-12 revealed their plans to not play, the ACC released the following statement:
“The ACC will continue to make decisions based on medical advice, inclusive of our Medical Advisory Group, local and state health guidelines, and do so in a way that appropriately coincides with our universities’ academic missions. The safety of our students, staff and overall campus communities will always be our top priority, and we are pleased with the protocols being administrated on our 15 campuses.
"We will continue to follow our process that has been in place for months and has served us well. We understand the need to stay flexible and be prepared to adjust as medical information and the landscape evolves.”
For now, the show will go on. Here are some of the main topics and questions as preseason practice begins at Notre Dame:
What will media availability be like this August/preseason?
That remains a work in progress. Today’s practice will not be open to the media, and we anticipate few (if any) will.
Head coach Brian Kelly, his staff and players will not be available for interviews via Zoom after Wednesday’s session, but we anticipate they will later this week, per Notre Dame’s football communications department.
How will the Big Ten and Pac-12 not participating affect Notre Dame’s preseason ranking?
The Fighting Irish have established themselves as a top-seven to top-15 program over the past three years with a 33-6 record, which is the sixth best in the 130-team Football Subdivision (FBS). They have finished No. 11, No. 5 and No. 12, respectively, in the final Associated Press poll from 2017-19.
Consensus preseason rankings from major outlets generally have had Notre Dame from No. 8 to No. 11, and the recently released Coaches Poll had it No. 10.
With the Big Ten and Pac-12 out, though, Notre Dame would then be No. 7 in the Coaches Poll because of the elimination of No. 2 Ohio State, No. 7 Penn State and No. 9 Oregon.
With two (Wisconsin and USC) of the three strongest originally scheduled 2020 opponents unavailable, the popular projection is Notre Dame will face currently No. 1 ranked Clemson twice — Nov. 7 at home and either Dec. 12 or Dec. 19 in the ACC championship game at Charlotte, N.C. — in an effort to make the four-team College Football Playoff for the second time in three years.
By our count, Notre Dame has 89 scholarship players, and the number has to be at 85 per NCAA rules. How will that occur?
The 2020 fall roster is expected to be made available later today. If it is, that should answer the question.
Last week, fifth-year senior running back Mick Assaf, who has graduated, announced that he is stepping down from football to pursue his current business opportunities (which took the count to 89). Assaf and offensive lineman Colin Grunhard were former walk-ons put on scholarship last December to pay for their tuition through the spring and summer.
We hope to provide an updated roster later this evening if it is released.
What are the team strengths, at least on paper?
The defensive front seven, a veteran-laden offensive line, a third-year starting quarterback in Ian Book, and a potent kicking game with the return of placekicker Jonathan Doerer and punter Jay Bramblett.
• Really, it begins with an offensive line that returns all five starters and a school-record 114 career starts. Pro Football Focus graded it as the No. 1 pass-blocking unit last year, and four of the members rank among the top 30 blockers returning in the FBS (Kentucky had three, while Air Force and Brigham Young had two).
• Book’s experience is all the more vital given that spring practice was cancelled, and he provides a bona fide dual threat after rushing for 546 yards last season, the second best on the team and most among any returning rusher.
• Despite losing defensive ends Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem to the NFL Draft, the depth-laden line that has been effective in recent years with liberal rotation returns two other pro prospects at end with fifth-year seniors Daelin Hayes and Ade Ogundeji, plus four regulars in the interior, led by seniors Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and Kurt Hinish.
• The top two tacklers from last year return at linebacker. Rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Drew White in the middle, both seniors, had 80 stops apiece in 2019, with 21.5 combined behind the line of scrimmage.
It was their first season of starting, and their improvement as the year progressed was pronounced. Owusu-Koramoah has been ranked by ESPN draft analyst Todd McShay as the 17th-best draft-eligible player in 2021.
• We would be remiss not to include sophomore free safety Kyle Hamilton as perhaps the team’s most exciting playmaker after he earned Freshman All-America honors from multiple outlets last year.
• And, of course, “Tight End U” is expected to continue to prosper even though Cole Kmet turned pro early and was a second-round pick.
Junior Tommy Tremble snared 16 passes, four for scores, last year while starting seven times in a double-tight-end alignment. Senior Brock Wright was Notre Dame’s top-rated recruit in 2017, and freshman Michael Mayer arrives with even higher accolades this year.
Where are the top question marks, at least on paper?
Primarily the skill-position areas, especially with no proven alpha figure at either running back or wide receiver.
Senior Jafar Armstrong’s 505 career rushing yards are the most among the six returning scholarship running backs, but his career has been besieged by injury setbacks and last year he averaged only 2.8 yards per carry.
Stanford graduate transfer Trevor Speights (363 yards and 3.8 yards per carry in two seasons with the Cardinal) was added in May, but has dealt with injuries throughout his career. (UPDATE: Prior to the first practice this afternoon, it was announced that he was one of three medical hardship cases and won’t play for the Irish in 2020.)
Freshman Chris Tyree, a top-100 recruit, is expected to provide some explosiveness to the stable, but how much is a mystery until the season commences.
No wideout has snared more than 13 career passes, and the next projected standout, junior Kevin Austin, sidelined last year because of violating team rules, had recent surgery for a broken foot that will shelve him again indefinitely. Junior Braden Lenzy, like Tyree at running back, provides a home-run threat, but durability will be vital for both.
Along with Tyree and Mayer, five-star receiver recruit Jordan Johnson is among the “Big Three” in the freshman class that will have an opportunity to earn reps.
With not much yet established at the skill positions, first-year offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and first-year run-game coordinator Lance Taylor will be put to the test.
Defensively, North Carolina State graduate transfer Nick McCloud was recruited to start and complement sixth-year senior Shaun Crawford and junior TaRiq Bracy at an otherwise extremely green cornerback position that features six other players with four years of eligibility remaining.
Finding a consistent replacement for the graduated Asmar Bilal at Buck linebacker also will be a priority.
Finally, the competition for the No. 2 quarterback position between sophomore Brendon Clark and freshman Drew Pyne also should be one of intrigue.
----
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Sign up for Blue & Gold's news alerts and daily newsletter
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @Rivals_Singer, @PatrickEngel_, @ToddBurlage and @AndrewMentock.
• Like us on Facebook.