Notre Dame Football

Notre Dame Preparing for Life without All-American CB Benjamin Morrison

By Matt Freeman

October 14, 2024

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Injuries in football can seem odd at times, as some programs avoid the injury bug while others are hit hard.

Notre Dame has unfortunately not had good luck when it comes to injuries this fall and head coach Marcus Freeman announced perhaps the most significant Injury of the 2024 campaign on Monday afternoon.

“Benjamin Morrison injured his hip, has to have surgery and will be out for the season,” Freeman said of his All-American cornerback. “Obviously, it’s a blow to our team. You lose a captain and a great football player.

“You feel terrible for the kid because he gives football and preparation everything he has. He’s a tough kid, a tough individual. He’s been through this before. He’ll have surgery and he’ll get back to work to be the best version of Benjamin.”

Through six games, Morrison was fifth in tackles with 20 and his four pass breakups trailed only All-American safety Xavier Watts.

The Notre Dame captain will be missed, but freshman Leonard Moore appears to be more than capable of filling the role left by Morrison.

Moore, who started against Louisville, has recorded 13 tackles and one forced fumble in six games this season.

Freeman hasn’t necessarily been surprised with Moore’s development and success despite being a summer enrollee, which includes the Texas native being the talk of fall camp.

”When you recruit him and develop a relationship with him, you understand he has the talent and the length and the skillset,” explained Freeman. “He’s a super-intelligent young man, but it still takes time to play fast in a new defense.

“He was a guy in fall camp that you saw play fast already. We knew he would help us this year and at some point, if injuries happened, he’d have to start for us. He’ll be ready. We have a lot of confidence in Leonard Moore.”

In his start versus Louisville, Moore received a PFF grade of 68.3 for his overall defensive play while grading out at 62.2 in coverage. For comparison, PFF has Morrison with a grade of 69.2 overall and 66.2 in coverage this season, which is No. 122 coverage grade out of cornerbacks who have taken more than 150 snaps in 2024.

Losing an All-American and captain is never a good situation and Notre Dame will move forward with very little depth in the cornerback room as freshman Karson Hobbs is the only other scholarship player at the position.

Defensive backs coach Mike Mickens will have options as nickel Jordan Clark filled in for Morrison against Louisville and safety Rod Heard II played some cornerback during his time at Northwestern.

It will be all hands on deck for Notre Dame moving forward and Freeman has confidence in not only Mickens, but the players who will work at the position.

“Those two guys (Jordan Clark and Karson Hobbs) will have to help us if we need them. Karson was in the same position two weeks ago when Christian was out. Jordan Clark can help us at corner as he showed versus Louisville, too. We’re obviously thin with some injuries, but I’m confident in the room.”

As it relates to other injuries, Notre Dame kicker Mitch Jeter is questionable with a right hip issue and right guard Billy Schrauth remains questionable as he works back from an ankle injury.