Notre Dame's Jaiden Ausberry Knows Communication Will Be Key Against Miami

Notre Dame’s defense will look a little different this week as the Fighting Irish will be without the heart and soul of the unit.

Captain Drayk Bowen will be out for the foreseeable future, meaning Chris Ash’s defense will have a new Mike linebacker.

The good news for Notre Dame is that the personnel won't change much outside of Bowen's absence. Senior Jaiden Ausberry will slide into the Mike role and wear the green dot alongside Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa.

“It was a sad situation to see him go down,” Ausberry said. “We've all spoken to him. He's doing better now. We know that everybody in the room has to step up. We all have to be loud, be communicative, especially with Drayk being out. It's a next-man-up mentality.”

With Bowen sidelined, one of the biggest concerns for the Irish will be communication and getting everyone aligned before the snap. Ausberry knows much of that responsibility will fall on him and it starts with making sure everyone is on the same page.

“Making sure you see the formation, down and distance, making sure everybody's on the same page, and making sure that we're talking on every play,” Ausberry explained. “Overcommunication is better than no communication.”

Ausberry has worn the green dot before, so he has some experience relaying the defensive calls. Notre Dame will also continue using its traditional signaling system to ensure everyone gets the play.

“I’ve worn it a couple of times,” Ausberry said. “I think I wore it like two games last year for a couple drives. It's definitely different because you really got to communicate more because you’re getting the call first. We still have signals coming in and stuff like that, but you definitely got to communicate.”

Ausberry will be the first to tell you he wants Notre Dame Stadium rocking on Saturday night, even if the atmosphere makes his job considerably more difficult.

“I would definitely say it's harder at home because when the other team is on offense, the crowd gets louder,” Ausberry explained. “So it’s just being loud, especially if you have the green dot. You have to talk to the D-line, the other linebacker has to talk to the back end, make everybody make sure they understand things. Sometimes it might get that loud where we have to actually walk up to them, get close and tell them.”

As for Saturday’s matchup against No. 1 Miami, Ausberry has experience playing in big games and that experience will be important as he takes on an expanded role.

“Everybody is energized,” Ausberry said. “Nobody has to be a superhero. Nobody has to do anything crazy. Just do your job on every play and we'll get the results that we want.”

The challenge for Ausberry and the rest of the Irish won't necessarily come on the field this week. It will come from managing the outside noise that surrounds one of the biggest games of the season.

“I'll probably just say social media,” Ausberry said when asked about the biggest challenge this week. “That's the only thing. I feel like everybody really does a good job of staying focused. We don't really let a lot of distractions creep into our program. So it's coming in: film, recovery, practice, doing the little things right.”

Notre Dame's defensive game plan could look a little different with Miami receiver Malachi Toney out for the game, but Ausberry made it clear that generating pressure on quarterback Darian Mensah will be crucial.

“We’re going to have to put pressure on him,” Ausberry said. “We're going to have to cover well. All 11 on defense are going to have to do their job.”

Ausberry also expects Miami to lean heavily on its screen game, which makes controlling the line of scrimmage and maintaining gap integrity even more important.

“Pressure,” Ausberry said. “Need to have gap integrity, make sure everybody's covered -- zone coverage, match. But sometimes, the game of football, somebody is going to make a good play. That’s just the game of football. That’s just how it works. But really just making sure we control the line of scrimmage up front and then making sure on the back end, we're covering everything.”

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