LB Jaiden Ausberry Finding Comfort in Notre Dame Defense & Increased Role
Notre Dame’s first two games of 2024 have been eye-opening in many ways, but despite the ups and downs, linebacker Jaiden Ausberry has been a bright spot for the Fighting Irish defense.
And no, contrary to a belief by some folks, Notre Dame isn’t pushing for nice stories about Ausberry (or any other player), but his game has spoken for itself. In fact, Al Golden and Max Bullough likely need to start finding ways to get the Louisiana native more playing time.
Ausberry has played 51 snaps on the year, the second-fewest for a Notre Dame linebacker, but he is fourth on the team in tackles with 10 and the redshirt freshman feels he’s starting to turn the corner.
“I think these first two games, I've taken a way bigger jump even from the end of camp to now,” stated Ausberry. “Just getting that in-game feeling the noise, all the stuff that's going on around it. I think I've really just got comfortable in that position. Just playing ball. I really don't think it's much of a difference.
“In fact, I think practice is harder than the game, so around Saturday, it just becomes like just do your job and everything else will take care of itself.”
The 6-foot-2, 216-pounder didn’t have the best first half on Saturday, but rebounded in a big way with a huge second half. Ausberry finished the game with a career-high six tackles and had a key pass breakup late in the game.
Ausberry might be new to the rotation, but he is very aware of the standard set for a Notre Dame defense and it wasn’t met against Northern Illinois.
“Honestly, I think we just didn't play up to our standard,” explained Ausberry. “I think that's the bottom line. We're known for playing fast, playing violent and getting the ball. We just didn't play to that standard. Northern Illinois came in and they played better than we did.”
How did Ausberry start moving at a different speed in the second half? He got his feet wet and adrenaline took over.
“After I made that one tackle, not sure if that was second or third down, that just really got me into my mode for real,” Ausberry said. “I needed that to really get me going because I think at the beginning of the game I was kind of a little cold and moving kind of slow. I think after that, I started to pick up the pace.”
Notre Dame’s linebacker corps is a young group behind Jack Kiser, yet four of Notre Dame’s top five tacklers play at the second level. Jack Kiser (109 snaps) leads the Irish with 14 tackles, while Drayk Bowen (70 snaps) sits at No. 3 with 11 tackles and freshman Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (47 snaps) is No. 5 with 10 tackles. Junior Jaylen Sneed (72 snaps) is No. 7 on the team with nine tackles.
Sure, the inexperience has shown itself at times, but the depth of the room has also been a strength for the defense.
“Playing with all four of those guys, Sneed, Drayk, Kyngstonn and Jack is really an honor and I'm really grateful to be able to play alongside them,” Ausberry explained. “We can all play anywhere, mike, will rover, anywhere. All of us are really versatile, athletic and we could do whatever they asked us to do.
“It's been really fun changing up the lineup, getting to be in the game with different linebackers and really getting a feel for being in the game with them.”
Ausberry was known as a football junkie coming out of high school and that’s continued in South Bend as he makes sure to spend plenty of time with Bullough in the film room, which is smart given the reputation of his position coach.
“I really like watching film with him in meetings because he really makes the game look a lot easier than it is,” Ausberry stated. “It allows me to dissect things faster and allows the game to move slowly once I come out to practice. He really gets into the details. He really knows football all the way to the brim.”
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