No. 2 Notre Dame preps for unique Senior Day; Kelly updates injuries
A season like no other naturally will include a senior day like no other for Notre Dame as it hosts Syracuse Saturday afternoon inside Notre Dame Stadium.
With COVID-19 concerns limiting attendance throughout the season in all of college football, as well as limiting on-field personnel, Irish coach Brian Kelly explained how his second-ranked Notre Dame team plans to honor its seniors this week.
“Senior Day will look different,” Kelly said on his Monday Zoom with reporters. “The attendance will be made up of faculty and staff. Families will be there. They will not be on the field until after the game. We will not do the traditional pre-game where our players run out.”
Kelly then revealed that the Irish seniors would be honored post-game, injecting some levity into the explanation.
“Primarily because they're running out to faculty and staff. Not that they, most of our guys would run out to a standing ovation because they do so well academically,” Kelly said. “I'm sure all the faculty and staff would give them a round of applause. I was being facetious again because you can't see me (on Zoom).
“The way we had it set up was that postgame, we will have the Jumbotron up and we'll put up a bio of each one of the players, take pictures and be recognized as such in their senior day.”
The Irish preparing for their final game inside Notre Dame Stadium are carrying with them one of the strongest marks in the storied program's annals: a 23-game home winning streak that sets the modern standard.
“Anytime that you win consistently, and we're talking about 23 consecutive games at home, is something to feel a great deal of pride about,” Kelly said. “I think what is most important about this is the consistency in preparation and in performance. You have to do that over three years.
“That is an incredible achievement for everybody involved to be able to play at such a high level, is a great achievement.”
Notre Dame is positioned to have as many as 11 members of its current two-deep making their final appearances for a game inside Notre Dame Stadium.
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Kelly shared that the staff expects offensive lineman Tommy Kraemer to receive his medical clearance this week and resume “football activities” after an emergency appendectomy.
Jayson Ademilola is recovering from surgery to repair a torn meniscus while Jacob Lacey also is battling injury. Kelly said that Lacey “didn't have a great week” due to an undisclosed injury but said that injury limitations had been all that kept Lacey from contributing more to the defense.
“He’s right on track,” Kelly said of Ademilola. “This week, he’ll be in football-related movements. We’ll see how the knee reacts. This is after a longer conversation with Dr. (Brian) Ratigan (Sunday) regarding the meniscus itself, his was a little bit trickier than say a Greer Martini, who played seven to 10 days later, because of where the meniscus tear was.
“He’s doing fabulous. He’s doing all of the things necessary to get himself back. He won’t be back this week, but we’re on track to have him back for Wake Forest.”