Drue Tranquill Focused On Final Game At Notre Dame Stadium
Heading into Saturday's matchup against Florida State, No. 3 Notre Dame will have captain Drue Tranquill on all defensive downs after suffering a high ankle sprain against Navy.
“I was assuming that I was going to play all week,” Tranquill explained about his playing status for last week’s contest. “I didn’t feel like I could’ve played until Saturday morning in walk-through. In pre-game, I said I was ready to play every play, and they said that is probably not smart.”
Tranquill ended up playing limited snaps in last week’s win over Northwestern. It was remarkable the fifth-year senior was able to strap up and take the field. Intensive rehab has him ready for Saturday's showdown.
“Our training staff does an incredible job preparing us and getting us ready, so the goal was to put me in the best position to help our football team win in whatever capacity,” explained Tranquill.
“I thought it was a miracle from God. I heard it pop and everything. I thought I broke my ankle so to go from that low to knowing I can come back and help the team is pretty euphoric.”
Notre Dame’s senior linebacker has already been playing with a fractured hand. Tranquill hasn’t missed a game since his season-ending knee injury in 2015, so keeping him off the field will be very hard.
As a freshman, he may not have played through either injury, but his five years of experience has changed his mindset.
“The mental transformation you go through as a player and seeing and experiencing all the things I have experience here you build a sense of mental fortitude and realization that you can do more as a human being then your mind thinks is possible sometimes, expressed Tranquill.
“I am not a superhuman; I wouldn’t have been able to go out there if I wasn’t ready last week. We have an incredible training staff that helped get to that point, helped me get the inflammation down.”
With the injury behind him, sights are on visiting Florida State. The Seminoles come in with a 4-5 record something that no one expected, but as a captain and someone who has been through a season of struggle, the Irish linebacker knows they can’t be overlooked.
“I am surprised," stated Tranquill. I think everyone is. We were in that situation in 2016, that is unacceptable for Florida State who is a school that is usually competing for national championships. So, I am obviously surprised, but anyone can be beaten on any given day, and they’re coming in to beat us, so we have to respect our opponent.”
Talent is not lacking on the Florida State sideline, so expect 100 percent focus from the Notre Dame defense led by Tranquill.
“They’re a very talented football team that hasn’t played to their potential, who hasn’t come together as a team this year, but when you have athletes like they do they can be dangerous because at any moment when it clicks, and their culture and camaraderie comes together they’ll be a dangerous football team.”