Notre Dame Football

Notre Dame Banking on Vypers to Embrace Larger Roles

By Matt Freeman

October 8, 2024

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Notre Dame’s first bye week came at the perfect time, as Marcus Freeman’s team was starting to feel the rigors of the season.

The injury bug has hit the Irish program hard, but Notre Dame has built depth and it showed in the win over then No. 15 Louisville last month.

Notre Dame’s most significant concern will be the vyper position moving forward, as starter Jordan Botelho and backup Boubacar Traore had season-ending non-contact knee injuries. Both players had extremely strong starts in the 2024 campaign, combining for 23 tackles and four sacks.

Now, Al Golden and Al Washington will need to get a little creative and expedite the learning process for members on the defensive line to overcome the injuries.

Junior Tuihalamaka has patiently waited for his time and it’s here. The 6-foot-2, 255-pounder has stepped up as he recorded multiple key stops, a sack and an interception over the last two games. Freshman Loghan Thomas is another name who saw playing time against Louisville and almost had a scoop and score.

Michigan native Joshua Burnham is working his way back from an ankle injury and missed two games before playing just four plays against Louisville, but he’s another name who could see time at rush end for the Irish.

“Josh is a guy that could play either field end or vyper for us,” stated Freeman. “RJ Oben and Bryce Young have done a good job at the field end position and Junior has done a really good job stepping up at the vyper position, as well as Loghan Thomas getting some reps.

“You have five quality individuals that can play the end position for us. We've got to have guys step up, just like Junior has done. I'm confident that if something would happen again that we'll have to have another guy step up.”

Freeman didn’t say it, but Notre Dame will still have multiple options for the position on third down or passing situations. Linebackers Jaylen Sneed and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa have rushed off the edge with success this year, so while it’s a specific role vs. cross-training, Notre Dame still have plenty of options to create pressure.

That said, Burnham is the only defensive lineman who is working at both ends entering Saturday’s game against Stanford.

“Burnham is a guy we know who can play both,” explained Freeman. “We feel RJ and Bryce are true field ends for us and then Junior and Loghan are true vypers for what we need them to do. Burnham, right now, would be the only one who would cross-train. Again, if there’s injuries that could happen, you have to have a Plan B and Plan C. And we do have that ready to go if something unforeseen happens.”

Thomas might be a freshman, but the Texas native is a player to watch. He played 14 snaps against Louisville and it’s worth noting that he didn’t seem overwhelmed.

Freeman believes Thomas’ transfer to Ohio powerhouse St. Edward might have helped him prepare for college and gave him a step up on most freshmen as he had to learn a new and advanced defense while also playing the top competition in the country.

”I think it starts off with his development in high school played at a great high school football program where he was challenged to be a really dominant football player in high school,” Freeman said. “He came in here and had an injury, but was committed to learning the playbook, committed to rehabbing and putting his body to be in a position where he can play college football. He's going to get bigger and stronger and faster as we continue to move forward. It's his commitment to being the best player he can be that's giving him a chance to play.”

The key to Thomas's carving out a bigger role on Saturdays will be his ability to play fast, which is what he’s done in five games on special teams and in brief stints at defensive end.

“I've said this before, but what prevents guys from high school (from) playing early in college is just the ability to play fast,” stated Freeman. “He's a guy that it hasn't taken him long to play fast because I think the development started in high school where he had to learn a college-type defense. So he's been a guy that's just gotten better and now we're seeing more and more on the football field.”