Joey O’Brien’s first career start against Purdue added another name to a Notre Dame freshman list that has grown fast under Marcus Freeman.
Since Freeman’s first full season in 2022, 13 different first-year players have started at least one game for the Irish. That’s a noticeable jump from the final three seasons of the Brian Kelly era, when seven first-year players started at least once.
O’Brien’s debut also pushed the current Notre Dame roster to nine players who have started as freshmen.
The recent stretch has been especially busy for the Irish secondary. Last season, freshman defensive backs Dallas Golden and Mark Zackery IV were thrown into action in Week 3 against Purdue. Golden had never played nickelback before that week, while Zackery stepped in for the injured Leonard Moore after the Texas A&M loss.
Moore made his first start in 2024 in Week 5 against Louisville and went on to start 10 games as a freshman. Anthonie Knapp won a surprise start at left tackle in College Station and stayed in the lineup until an injury in Game 15 against Penn State. Linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa picked up his first start in Game 11 against Army at Yankee Stadium, though that one ended quickly because of an early knee injury.
Freeman’s 2023 group produced five freshmen starters from a 23-man signing class. Rico Flores Jr. got his first start against Central Michigan, and Jaden Greathouse followed the next week against Ohio State. Cooper Flanagan earned his first start in the regular-season finale at Stanford, while opt outs before the Sun Bowl opened the door for Jeremiyah Love and Charles Jagusah to start against Oregon State.
In Freeman’s first season in 2022, two rookie cornerbacks got starts. Benjamin Morrison’s came in Week 3 against California while Notre Dame was still winless. Jaden Mickey started Game 12 at USC with Cam Hart out because of a shoulder injury.
The freshman starters from that group have piled up some big numbers. Knapp leads with 15 starts, followed by Moore with 10, Morrison with 8, Flores Jr. with 6 and Greathouse with 5.
The trend looks even more striking when stacked against the end of the Kelly era. In 2021, Joe Alt waited until Week 6 at Virginia Tech for his first of eight rookie starts.
Blake Fisher opened the season at Florida State, then came back from injury to start the Fiesta Bowl loss to Oklahoma State. Lorenzo Styles Jr. started two games that year, including Game 10 against Virginia.
In 2020, Michael Mayer entered the starting lineup in Game 2 against South Florida and finished with four starts as a freshman. Clarence Lewis also made his first start against the Bulls and ended the year with six.
In 2019, Kyle Hamilton made one start while waiting behind Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott, with that lone start coming against USC in Game 6. Punter Jay Bramblett also started throughout his freshman year.
O’Brien’s start against Purdue is just the latest sign of a roster that keeps handing young players real responsibility. And with third-ranked Notre Dame sitting at 4-0 and positioned as one of the favorites to make a deep run in this year’s College Football Playoff, that freshman list may not be done growing.
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