Four Notre Dame Youngsters Who Will Be Counted on Against Ohio State
Notre Dame made a choice to play young players early in the year, which led to some lumps, but it’s also paid huge dividends in several ways. Despite the injury run, the Irish have done a quality job with rotations and also development across the board.
It’d be easy to point the stat leaders for who has stood out the most, but heading into next Monday’s National Title game, here are a few players who have developed over the last 15 games and will play significant roles against Ohio State.
RB ANEYAS WILLIAMS
I remember fans questioning why a freshman running back was getting carries over Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price early in the year. The first reason is to keep carries low for Notre Dame’s top two backs, but the second reason is Deland McCullough was preparing him for a role late in the year.
Williams has played 203 snaps on the year, but McCullugh couldn’t just toss him in the mix at the end of the year and expect him to perform as he has the last three weeks. The Missouri native earning early season snaps on third down allowed him to find a role, but also build on it throughout the year, which proved to be very smart as Love has been banged up since the USC game.
It’s also been fun to see his role increase from essentially pass pro to becoming a threat on third down and now he’s a playmaker. Williams had two massive plays on Notre Dame’s first drive of the second half in the Orange Bowl as he caught a 36-yard pass and the next play carried the rock 15 yards to the Penn State 4.
Where can Williams make some noise against Ohio State? Texas running back Jaydon Blue caught five passes for 59 yards, including two touchdowns last week. The running back is often the player forgotten so it wouldn’t be a shock to see Mike Denbrock have a few plays up his sleeve to get Williams (and Love) the ball in the passing game.
P JAMES RENDELL
Yes, the year started a little rough for the Aussie, but there were always going to be growing pains for someone who had never played in a football game. It’s still a bit wild that the first snap Rendell ever played was in College Station.
Rendell has shown steady improvement all season as he’s at a respectable 41.5 average with 17 fair catches on 48 punts. Perhaps the most impressive piece is Rendell has yet to have a touchback on the year. He’s also pinned the opposite inside the 20 24 times and had seven punts over 50 yards.
We’ve also heard the 6-foot-6, 225-pounder is an elite athlete who can catch and run with the football. That probably comes from being born into the world of Australian Football and playing four years in the Victorian Football League. And I mean, his nickname is Thor, so hearing he can catch and make plays with the ball in his hand in addition to punting isn’t a surprise.
Ideally, Notre Dame won’t need him against Ohio State, but it’s likely the Irish will need Rendell to have his best performance of the year to put the Buckeyes in some tough situations.
LB JAIDEN AUSBERRY
It’d be easy to slide Drayk Bowen in here too, but I believe his body of work has been well recognized as he’s been the heart and soul of the middle of the Irish defense. Ausberry has been Notre Dame’s best open field tackler at the second level and the player Al Golden has sent on blitzes quite often. Is he as destructive as Bowen on the blitz? Probably not. Is he as explosive as Jaylen Sneed on the blitz? Probably not. Yet, Ausberry has a good feel for timing and finds his way through gaps.
The Baton Rouge native sits No. 4 on the team in tackles with 56 and No. 2 with 6.5 tackles for loss. He’s also tied for first on the team with two fumble recoveries.
Entering the year, Ausberry was kind of a wildcard as Notre Dame experimented with him playing a hybrid rover/nickel role to get a bigger lineup on the field. When the season started, Ausberry has found himself playing almost exclusively Will backer and Max Bullough has consistently played him as he’s up to 425 snaps.
Notre Dame has always had linebackers who have found production and been able to play sideline to sideline, but Ausberry is part of a new wave of increased athleticism and speed, which has shown itself this season and that will be crucial against Ohio State skill position speed.
DL DONOVAN HINISH
There were doubters when Hinish signed with Notre Dame because of his size. It’s easy to doubt a smaller interior prospect, but those folks should have known not to bet against Hinish. The entire Hinish family is made up of folks who refuse to give up and the youngest Hinish is no different.
The Pittsburgh native waited patiently for his time and he’s been very productive this season. Entering the National Title game, Hinsih has tallied 35 tackles and 4.5 sacks, but most importantly, he’s given Notre Dame an edge inside. The edge has been needed over the last two games as Rylie Mills is out and Howard Cross III is a shell of himself due to injury.
Hinish’s game is built opposite of his older brother, Kurt, as it’s based on speed and shooting gaps at the right time. Yes, he has the tough as nails attitude and plays dirty at times, but that’s the edge Notre Dame needs. Hinish has also improved his technique, which really showed as he ran the hoop around Georgia’s Monroe Freeling for a sack to send Notre Dame to the semifinals.
The interior of the Ohio State line has been a revolving door similar to Notre Dame and Hinish needs to take advantage of another opportunity.
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