Notre Dame may have spent the week keeping its right guard plan under wraps, but CJ Carr might have let the cat out of the bag.
The Fighting Irish listed Sullivan Absher "or" Styles Prescod at right guard when they released their two-deep on Monday, and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said two days later that the job still hasn’t been formally settled. Denbrock also left the door open for both linemen to see the field Sunday.
"Right now, no decision's really come down, and nobody said, 'It's this,'" Denbrock said. "And both of those guys have competed their butts off, and really, both of them had really good camps.
"So, we'll see where we go."
Carr’s comments this week pointed in one direction. When asked about the offensive line, he specifically mentioned Prescod while talking through the group’s makeup and the trust he has in it.
"We've got a bunch of returning guys, a bunch of guys who played a bunch of ball with Knapp and Craig and Guerby and some new guys obviously in there with Will and Styles," Carr said, "but complete trust that they're going to come out and perform the way they have been.
"They're a super aggressive, super tight-knit group. And so I like how we match up."
Prescod, a 6-foot-6, 304-pound junior, played in nine games last season even while dealing with a left shoulder injury that cost him multiple weeks. He logged 149 snaps overall, including 89 on offense, and saw action in big games against Miami, Texas A&M and USC.
The right guard spot isn’t the only place Notre Dame is still sorting through the front five. Joe Otting split reps at center before Ashton Craig was named the starter on Monday, and that kind of movement can slow down the line’s chemistry no matter how talented the pieces are.
Denbrock didn’t shy away from that possibility.
"I could see that being true with our group this year, just because there's some new faces up there," Denbrock said. "But sometimes maybe it's the timing between the quarterback and the receivers.
I think you saw that in 2023, right? We were a disaster trying to throw the ball in the first four or five weeks of the season, and then it finally kind of clicked into gear, and the timing was kind of pretty good.
"We made some plays. You know what I mean?
So. I think it's different with every team, but I could see that being the case with us this year."
The encouraging part for Notre Dame is that it has some runway before the schedule stiffens. The Irish are a 20.5-point favorite over Wisconsin, according to FanDuel Sportsbook, and are expected to be at least a three-score favorite in each of their first six games before a Week 7 trip against No.
14 BYU on Oct. 17.
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