It’s been a hectic last week inside the Notre Dame football program. Between suspensions, media day and the home-stretch of our A-to-Z series, it’s time to get to some football.
Our friends at FIDM and WatchND have their final practice report of fall camp. Let’s get to it.
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0:09 -- Jack Nolan leads things off, before giving us a look at the assembled media enjoying stretch.
0:30 -- Probably the most impressive throw of practice. Everett Golson doesn’t have a chance to step into the pass, but still launches a perfect ball to Amir Carlisle, who beats Matthias Farley for the touchdown.
0:45 -- Keep those hands down, Cody Riggs. Contact is okay, but the flag flies if the hands get to the face.
0:50 -- We are going to see Jaylon Smith lay the boom quite a bit this year. Even without wrapping or taking people to the ground, Smith blows up Cam McDaniel.
0:56 -- Another big collision between Smith and Greg Bryant. It’s fun to see a linebacker read his keys and meet a back in the hole.
1:00 -- It’ll be interesting to see how often C.J. Prosise works into the rotation. He cuts an out route in front of Max Redfield here. Prosise has looked good in these videos and with the indefinite loss of DaVaris Daniels, he could move up the ladder and potentially play at the same time as Carlisle.
1:05 -- Carlisle just torches walk-on CB Connor Cavalaris. That’s how to use speed to run a DB into the ground.
1:09 -- It’s exciting to think that we’re just over a week away from not having to predict how well Greg Bryant will play. We’ll just be able to finally see it. Here’s Bryant doing a nice enough job letting his blocks set up on play stretching the right side.
1:13 -- More Prosise, this time beating Farley. Next rep, Farley gets a win, breaking up a pass directed towards walk-on Eric Lee.
1:20 -- Corey Robinson cuts a slant in front of Cole Luke.
1:22 -- Golson threads a perfect throw to Robinson in between Cody Riggs and Joe Schmidt, scoring a much-needed red zone touchdown.
1:26 -- In a bit of a length mismatch, Golson finds Robinson again, this time matched up with Joe Schmidt in single-coverage. Schmidt did the best that he could -- even drawing a flag -- but Robinson held on to it.
1:29 -- Rolling left and throwing across his body, Golson does a nice job hitting a wide open Amir Carlisle for a big gain.
1:33 -- Great job by Malik Zaire, threading the needle to Mike Heuerman with a good touch throw and nice gainer. Heuerman traded places with Durham Smythe, who has been battling a hamstring injury, but is expected back on Monday.
1:37 -- Another backline bullet, Robinson from Golson.
1:40 -- Zaire dumps a pass off to Tyler Luatua, and the big freshman starts rumbling down field.
1:43 -- Schmidt gets a hand on this red zone throw, knocking it away from Ben Koyack.
1:45 -- Nice catch by freshman Corey Holmes, beating senior Jalen Brown in the end zone.
1:50 -- On a 50/50 ball, Robinson beats Cole Luke for a highly contested throw.
1:55 -- Love the savvy Zaire shows here, pump faking and then taking off for a nice gain. Bad news worth noting: The nightmare that comes with playing man coverage is a quarterback scampering with a defensive back covering down field.
Notre Dame’s linebackers are much more athletic this year chasing runners, but it’ll be very interesting to see how the Irish do, facing two very mobile passers in consecutive weeks to start the season.
2:02 -- Could’ve been a sack by Justin Utupo there. Now in the two-deep, Utupo is a disruptive player and this system could fit his game.
2:10 -- Prosise beats Redfield, waits for the throw to get to him, and then beats Redfield again when he doesn’t look back for the ball.
2:20 -- Transitioning to a look at the offensive line, where Harry Hiestand works with his troops. You’ve got to think that a few guys up front do a pretty great Hiestand impression.
3:15 -- Right now, the Irish are rolling with Steve Elmer at right tackle, pushing Mike McGlinchey into a back-up role at both tackles.
That’s impressive work by Matt Hegarty winning a left guard job many didn’t see him winning, and adds another veteran presence up front, something that I think is important.
4:30 -- Look closely, and that’s a pretty nice pass rush move by freshman Andrew Trumbetti.