Anthonie Knapp Growing Each Week at LT for Notre Dame
Anthonie Knapp has started every game of his freshman season at left tackle for Notre Dame and will find himself in a familiar spot on Saturday afternoon.
11 games ago, Knapp made his first start at Kyle Field with a lot on the line and now, he’ll make his 12th start of his career in LA Memorial Coliseum with everything on the line for the Irish.
Knapp feels his game growing each week and he’s a completely different player than the one who took the field in College Station in August. The game is starting to slow down for the Georgia native and natural football instincts are taking over as Knapp gains more experience.
“It's just kind of realizing how things happen, seeing looks over and over again, kind of being able to react without thinking,” Knapp said of where his game as grown. “I think thinking was probably my biggest mistake going in and created a lot of issues for me. Once, I was able to hone down those instincts and just kind of play football, play freely, I think that's probably the biggest milestone so far.”
Much was made about a true freshman starting at left tackle against Texas A&M’s hyped up defensive line, but that night gave Knapp a ton of confidence as he more than held his own against potentially two first round draft picks in a hostile environment.
“(Nic Scourton) had some good moves on me, but I had a lot of good moves on him,” said Knapp. “So basically, kind of having that under my belt was definitely like, 'Hey, this is possible. I know I can do this, and I'm only gonna get better from this point on.
“I gotta capitalize on things that they're good on, but also capitalize things that they're bad on, and kind of close that gap and make me more consistent. I think that was my biggest thing. It kind of helped me go through the game, being able to compare myself to a defensive end who had a lot of good talent."
Knapp also had to make an adjustment to a new left guard during the middle of the year. Billy Schrauth replaced Sam Pendleton halfway through the year, which required Knapp to adjust to a voice and build chemistry with a new body next to him.
“It's been great,” Knapp explained. “That's a guy I've looked up to ever since I got here. He's got a good attitude, kind of someone I want to build myself off of. He's aggressive. He's confident, and it's enabled for me to cut loose a little bit. It's just fun being (next to) someone who's that aggressive and I can match that aggression. I'm telling you, it's great. He's got a lot of skill, a lot of athletic ability, smart. He knows what he's doing.”
Notre Dame’s run game has been there all year, but as of late, it’s starting to become very explosive as Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price seem to be building momentum down the stretch.
That said, the offensive line has also paved big lanes to make the backs jobs extremely easy.
“That’s the best feeling for an offensive line, right,” said Knapp. “First of all, because the only running you have to do is go run down the field and celebrate. But besides that part, that means not only you just did your job but everyone else did their job. Tight ends, whoever it is, running backs. Being able to see that is just everyone gelled together.
“That’s what we practice for the whole week, and make those explosive plays, that’s what we want. So it just gets that feeling of satisfaction and gets that energy going, keeps that momentum going.”
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