Notre Dame’s trip to BYU left plenty to chew on, but one of the clearest takeaways came before the game could really settle in: Boubacar Traore’s brief exit in the opening minutes mattered. The Irish struggled to get enough heat on Cougars quarterback Bear Bachmeier, and Traore’s early self-removal was part of that story.
Even with that frustrating night in the background, Traore still landed on On3’s midseason All-American team, the lone Notre Dame player to earn a first-team spot. On3 released the list Tuesday morning, and Traore was also the only Irish defender on the first team. Leonard Moore didn’t make the cut, with his missed time because of a concussion working against him.
Notre Dame’s only first-team selection came on defense, where Traore was listed at edge alongside Colin Simmons of Texas. The rest of the unit featured Xavier Gilliam of Tennessee and A.J. Holmes, Jr. of Texas Tech at defensive tackle, Sammy Omosigho of UCLA, Chris Cole of Georgia and Tony Rojas of Penn State at linebacker, Kelley Jones of Mississippi State and Andrew Marshall of Nebraska at corner, and Kingston Lopa of Cal and Robert Fitzgerald of Northwestern at safety.
Traore’s production helps explain the selection, even if the raw tackle number doesn’t jump off the page. He has 13 tackles in seven games, but his disruption has been the real calling card: four sacks, 22 quarterback pressures, 12 quarterback hurries and six quarterback hits for Notre Dame.
There was also one Irish player on the second team, and it came on offense. Anthonie Knapp earned the nod at offensive guard, adding another step in a rise that has already put him into plenty of NFL mock drafts.
On3’s second-team defense included Tobi Osunsanmi of Indiana and Princewill Umanmielen of LSU at edge, Will Echoles of Ole Miss and Xavier Lewis of North Carolina at defensive tackle, Ben Roberts of Texas Tech, TJ Dottery of LSU and Mason Posa of Wisconsin at linebacker, Ashton Hampton of Clemson and Ellis Robinson IV of Georgia at corner, and Jaylen McClain of Ohio State and Peyton Bowen of Oklahoma at safety.
For Notre Dame, the list left a familiar mixed feeling: one player recognized among the best in the country, another continuing his climb, and a sense that the Irish could still put more names on these teams once the second half plays out.
In Other News...
Notre Dame Has An Offensive Issue Bigger Games Keep Exposing
The loss to BYU did more than end Notre Dames 16-game winning streak. It laid bare an offensive problem the Irish had been able to mask for much of the season: too many drives have stalled when the game tightens, and third down has become the clearest place where that shows up.
Notre Dames third-down conversion rate sits at No. 39 nationally, which is respectable on paper but not nearly enough for the kind of games the Irish are now playing. Earlier in the year, superior talent could cover for some of those empty possessions, but against a similarly skilled opponent, the inability to stay on the field became impossible to ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dames Dominant Run Defense Faces Its Biggest Question Yet
Notre Dames run defense has been one of the defining strengths of its season, and the numbers back it up. Through seven games, the Irish rank third nationally against the run, allowing just 67.3 rushing yards per game, and they have been especially steady against Power Five opponents, holding those teams to 67.8 yards on the ground while giving up only three rushing touchdowns.
The bigger test, though, is whether that front can keep carrying the load when the opponents quarterback can hurt defenses with his legs. Recent top-ranked units have shown that stopping designed runs and scrambles from mobile passers is often the difference between a very good rush defense and a truly suffocating one, and that is the area Notre Dame still has to prove. [Read more 🡒]
Notre Dame Has A Receiver Problem Fans Didn't Expect
Notre Dames wide receiver usage has become one of the more curious subplots of the season, because the rotation has stayed remarkably tight even as the games have stacked up. In recent outings, only three or four pass-catchers have been getting the overwhelming share of the snaps, with the staff leaning heavily on a small core while the rest of the room has barely seen the field. That approach has shown up in the numbers from both BYU and North Carolina, where the workload distribution has been hard to miss.
The most striking part is not just who is playing, but who is not. Jaden Greathouse, Jordan Faison and Micah Gilbert have handled the bulk of the action, while other receivers have been left with minimal opportunities, raising obvious questions about whether this is a deliberate matchup-driven plan or something closer to a depth chart that has already started to harden. Miami looms next, and that should be the next checkpoint for a receiver group that suddenly has a lot more scrutiny on it than most fans expected. [Read more 🡒]