Add tight end Durham Smythe to the alarming list of Notre Dame starters lost for the season due to injury.
Advertisement
Virginia’s Scott Stadium is a natural grass surface where Malik Zaire and Durham Smythe were hurt. Pete Sampson of Scout noted head coach Brian Kelly was hoping to get the tight ends more involved moving forward. “Nothing other than ranking the teams based on their play on the field”.
And you know what? It’s a tremendous loss, but in DeShone Kizer, the Fighting Irish have a quarterback with great potential and grit to lead the team. This year, those players, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love, will be back, and the Cavs will be one of the favorites to win everything, something they’ve never done before. Fortunately, Irish eyes were smiling with C.J. Prosise and freshman Josh Adams picking up where Folston left off. Although some of that credit deserves to go to the offensive line, it was that next man up mentality that proved to be an encouraging sign for the Irish at the running back position, but can the same be said for quarterback? KeiVarae Russell took over No. 1 nickel duties after Crawford’s injury and had a sack/strip blitzing from there against Virginia.
None is more important to the playoff, though, than the patience the 13 committee members will have in watching the Irish’s season continue to unfold with a rookie quarterback.
There’s a reason Notre Dame likes to claim that it is known as Tight End U.
But another area of concern is why these injuries have happened, and if there’s any way to prevent them in such a violent sport.
“We just have to balance the offense and do the things that he (Kizer) is capable of doing”, Kelly said. Zaire had successful surgery, but will be lost for the remainder of the season.
Kelly said he wants to work with Kizer on mechanics and build his confidence by highlighting his strengths. He was injured on the play before the game winning touchdown when he was rolled up by one of his own players. To further put this into context, the Irish held Texas, a perennial college powerhouse to just three points in their previous game. That’s certainly what I try to do in each one of these situations, and that one there was nothing you could do about it. It was just part of the game. It would capture the imagination of the entire country, bringing in people from all walks of life, whether they care about sports or not. If there is anything we do with injury prevention. “I think you will see them all play”.
Advertisement
“You’re 12 seconds away from having an opportunity to really catapult this program”, London said.
