Irish health improving; Bauman set for return
Braden Lenzy will play. Isaiah Foskey will play.
In fact, virtually every Notre Dame player dinged up last weekend in the Fighting Irish's 44-34 win against visiting North Carolina has been cleared to return Saturday, when longtime rival Navy visits for a matinee affair (3:30 p.m., NBC).
The only lingering absence, aside from the myriad Notre Dame players injured earlier this season, remained star safety Kyle Hamilton, whom Brian Kelly already revealed Monday would be out a second-consecutive game.
“Everybody is playing, but Hamilton,” Kelly said. “All of them practiced (Wednesday). The only one that did not is Hamilton. He’s doing a nice job coaching. I’d rather have him play, but he’s done a nice job coaching.”
In fact, the Irish (7-1), ranked 10th in the initial College Football Playoff poll this week, are poised to welcome back redshirt-freshman tight end Kevin Bauman – who appeared poised to be a significant contributor this season on the offensive side of the ball before a broken bone requiring surgery derailed his campaign.
”He is in the lineup,” Kelly said of Bauman, though not specifying exactly which elements of the lineup, as Bauman was not on the Irish depth chart. “He will play. He's on special teams as well. Moving really well. Pleased with his progress."
WRAP IT UP
With limitations on contact in practice, as well as ongoing COVID-19 protocols and other concerns, contact in college football practices is widely viewed as down across the sport.
It's perhaps showing up noticeably on Saturdays, when teams are struggling with tackling. Notre Dame's certainly had its share of tackling issues this season, though not for lack of emphasis from defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman.
Fundamental drills are an everyday element of Freeman's approach. It's something that's a fundamental element as well in the approach of cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens.
"You're not bringing the guys down, but Mike Mickens starts virtually every practice with a form of tackling,” Kelly said. “They're tackling each other onto a mat. They're tackling and certainly not bringing them to the ground. In our bye week, we'll tackle and use what we call a sideline-evasion drill, where you tackle about 9 yards out from the sideline, so it's a shorter area and you blow the whistle if they get near the sideline.”
Kelly says those drills provide help on multiple fronts.
"You're working on angles,” Kelly said “and you have to go fast when you're tackling. It's not something you can do half-speed. …
“It's something we work on every single day. You just don't get the opportunity to do that in 11-on-11 situations. It's broken down into individual work.”
Tackling, and the Irish defense's ability to get off the field against the Midshipmen, are elements paramount to Saturday's game.
Though Navy averages barely 18 points per game, it ranks fifth in college football in time of possession at 35 minutes, 30 seconds per contest.
ROOKIE DIGGS COACHING
Though he's made just three appearances here in his debut collegiate season, Notre Dame freshman running back Logan Diggs already is making a name for himself due to his willingness to break down the elements of the game with the Irish's veteran-most players.
In fact, it turns out, Diggs isn't too bashful to “discuss” what the offensive line is or is not doing.
“Logan is an interesting young man,” Kelly said. “He's quiet in some respects, but one of the things he has a very strong opinion on is what goes on in front of him [with the offensive line].
“He makes his opinion heard, and he's right. He has a good football IQ and he's not afraid to talk to those (offensive linemen) in the right way. He does it in the right way. They have a pretty good relationship early on in his time here.”
Despite appearing in only three of the Irish's eight games, Diggs is fourth on the team with 74 rushing yards and on the heels of his first-ever touchdown in Notre Dame's win against North Carolina.
