A gentleman’s review of Notre Dame’s first football practice of fall camp

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have the first practice of fall camp in the books. Let me say that again... COLLEGE FOOTBALL IS COMING Y’ALL! It was obviously an exciting day, and a day that I had hoped (and planned) for a different outcome. Some personal matters kept me tied up for most of the day, but at least Frank over at UHND was dealt a similar hand — never walk alone.

So what happened?

Things happened, and I think the best way for me to summarize my thoughts, is to do it in a gentlemanly fashion.

INJURIES AND ROSTER NOTES

Offensive lineman Joey Tanona has medically retired. The freshman from Indiana was involved in a car accident as an early enrollee, and the mental, physical, and emotional damage is too much to carry on as a student-athlete. He will remain a student at Notre Dame and will likely be part of the program much like Hunter Spears.

OUT OF PRACTICE:

• RB Jadarian Price
• TE Mitchell Evans
• WR Joe Wilkins

LIMITED REPS:

• LB Marist Liufau
• CB Cam Hart
• CB Philip Riley

ON THE COMEBACK:

• RB Logan Diggs
• WR Avery Davis

OFFENSE

I think any mention of a quarterback competition is a sham and should be ended right away. Tyler Buchner took most of the first team reps on Friday, and I’m sure Drew Pyne will take the majority on Saturday. Buchner is going to be the starter and I refuse to pretend otherwise.

Avery Davis, Jayden Thomas, Lorenzo Styles, and Braden Lenzy were the top four wide receivers. Thomas came on strong at the end of last season (well, at least in the bowl practices) and is seemingly ahead of Deion Colzie. Freshman Tobias Merriweather caught everyone’s eye due to his size and explosion. It will be interesting to see how Merriweather rises during camp in a thin group.

It’s official... Jarrett Patterson has moved to left guard. Zeke Correll is the starting center with josh Lugg next to him on the right. Joe Alt is at left tackle and Blake Fisher is on the right. Fisher had to leave practice due to overheating, and Michael Carmody took over for him. Carmody came into camp weighing just 280 pounds.

Logan Diggs actually MIGHT be available in the season-opener against Ohio State. The sophomore running back was out there doing his thing, but will likely see little contact (was wearing a red jersey) for a while longer. Audric Estime is a god damn nightmare and I love him.

DEFENSE

Jordan Botelho is back as a VYPER. It’s Isaiah Foskey, Jayson Ademilola, Howard Cross, and Rylie Mills across the front on the first team with Justin Ademilola, Jacob Lacey, Chris Smith, and NaNa Osafo-Mensah at the two’s. Obviously... expect plenty of rotation and different situational mixes.

Bo Bauer (MIKE), Jack Kiser (ROVER), and J.D. Bertrand (WILL) were the top lineup at linebacker with Marist Liufau rotating in at the WILL. Junior Tuihalamaka was running with the two’s at MIKE as was Jaylen Sneed at ROVER.

SOCIAL AND VIDEO