Notre Dame is already down three starts for Saturday’s Fiesta Bowl – Josh Lugg (RT), Kyren Williams (RB), Kyle Hamilton (S). It sounds as though there’s a chance they might be down a fourth based on practice reports out of Arizona on Wednesday. Starting corner Cam Hart was reportedly limited and seen limping around the practice field.
Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman isn’t scheduled to meet with the media again until Friday, so we likely won’t get official word until then. Still, obviously, this wouldn’t be ideal for Notre Dame, considering Hamilton is already missing from the Irish secondary as Notre Dame looks to end its painfully long major bowl losing streak against Oklahoma State.
Cam Hart emerged as a potential future star in the Irish secondary this year. He announced his arrival with a pair of interceptions against Wisconsin – both of which came before Graham Mertz started tossing them out like bags of Skittles on Halloween.
Senior Tariq Bracy was running with the first unit on defense in Hart’s place in practice Wednesday. Bracy has had an up and down career but started to find a niche as a nickel corner this year. A secondary featuring he and Clarence Lewis as the starting corners wouldn’t be ideal even against an Oklahoma State offense that has been wildly inconsistent this year.
Freshman Ryan Barnes made his first appearance in the Notre Dame two-deep depth chart earlier this week and would potentially be in line for snaps on Saturday if Hart cannot play. Notre Dame would also likely play even more of DJ Brown and Xavier Watts. Neither are listed as starters on the depth chart, but they figure to play a lot either way.
I already had QB Ian Book on my mind because of his start this week.
But watching Iowa State’s Brock Purdy vs. Clemson today seemed like pure deja vu:
terrible accuracy on short passes, missing wide open receivers downfield, and a game-losing bonehead fumble running while holding the ball out like a loaf of bread.
So I guess he’s a draft pick.