Snap Count Thoughts | Virginia
Notre Dame moved to 9-1 with a dominating 28-3 win at Virginia on Saturday night despite multiple players battling through the flu and that included the absence of four captains.
It was also very clear Brian Kelly and his staff made a clear effort to get younger players on the field, which likely had some impact on the point differential and some of the late yardage given up.
Notre Dame played 46 players (offense and defense), which is up by a couple spots compared to previous weeks.
OFFENSE
LG Andrew Kristofic: 62
C Jarrett Patterson: 62
LT Joe Alt: 61
RG Cain Madden: 61
RT Josh Lugg: 58
TE Michael Mayer: 55
WR Kevin Austin Jr.: 48
QB Jack Coan: 48
WR Braden Lenzy: 41
RB Kyren Williams: 40
TE George Takacs: 28
RB Logan Diggs: 19
WR Lorenzo Styles: 19
RB Chris Tyree: 18
WR Deion Colzie: 14
QB Tyler Buchner: 14
TE Mitchell Evans: 9
WR Jayden Thomas: 8
WR Matt Salerno: 8
TE Kevin Bauman: 3
RT Quinn Carroll: 3
LT Michael Carmody: 1
LT Tosh Baker: 1
RG John Dirksen: 1
DEFENSE
LB Bo Bauer: 56
CB Clarence Lewis: 53
CB TaRiq Bracy: 49
S Ramon Henderson: 46
DE Justin Ademilola: 45
S DJ Brown: 44
DT Jayson Ademilola: 43
CB Cam Hart: 42
LB JD Bertrand: 35
DL Rylie Mills: 34
Vyper Isaiah Foskey: 34
NG Kurt Hinish: 32
DE Nana Osafo-Mensah: 30
Rover/S Isaiah Pryor: 30
LB Prince Kollie: 23
S Houston Griffith: 23
DT Jacob Lacey: 22
Rover Jack Kiser: 21
S Xavier Watts: 19
NG Howard Cross III: 19
Vyper: Jordan Botelho
DE Alexander Ehrensberger: 1
THOUGHTS
- The amount of freshmen getting quality reps stands out. Part of it is a necessity, but the other part is kids have earned the reps. Deion Colzie owes Lorenzo Styles dinner this week for costing him a touchdown. Overall, the youth is finding ways to produce and impact the game, which is not only a good sign for the present, but the future.
- Freshman linebacker Prince Kollie got his first extended action and while he would fall into the “he’s flashing” category, it was a good experience for him. The defensive staff got him in early in the second half and Kollie was able to get a lot of work. It also kept JD Bertrand’s snaps down as he only played 35 snaps on Saturday night, which is a good thing.
- Cornerback TaRiq Bracy seems to be ascending as he not only has played well in the nickel, but he was able to take some of Cam Hart’s snaps at field corner on Saturday.
- Xavier Watts is coming along. He has “flashed” his athletic ability in back-to-back weeks making tackles the other tackles on the roster (not named Kyle Hamilton) couldn’t make. Now, I’m not sure where he’s at in terms of knowing the scheme, checks and the finer points of safety, but Watts is trending the right way and it’s easy to see football matters to him.
- Overall, Notre Dame’s defensive snaps were down and that’s a good thing. Sure, part of it was facing a freshman quarterback, but Bo Bauer being the high man is a positive as he can handle a higher workload.
- Offensively, there weren’t too many surprises other than freshman receiver Jayden Thomas making his debut. Brian Kelly mentioned they were bringing him up from the scout team due to the injury to Avery Davis, but it was likely more of practice move than anything else. Yet, Thomas found himself in the game in the first half.
- Quarterback Tyler Buchner has played more and less this season. Notre Dame was averaging more than seven yards a carry for most of the game, so that is likely a reason why he didn’t get more snaps. However, it was a positive Tommy Rees stayed aggressive with Buchner in as he let his freshman push the ball down the field.
- There’s a solid balance between sophomore running back Chris Tyree and freshman running back Logan Diggs right now. Tyree can do a little more as he can play out of the slot and Diggs has more than proven he can make plays for the offense.
- I still think Lorenzo Styles can get a few more reps each week as he makes a big play almost every time he touches the ball. Rees did do a good job of making sure Styles got opportunities with the deep shot and reverse.