Notre Dame defensive lineman Josh Burnham returned after missing three games and has made an impact in the third quarter with an athletic interception.
Burnham wasn’t able to take it to the house — for a split-second it appeared he might have a pick-six — but he did kill a Stanford drive that seemed promising for the Cardinal after they were backed up against their own goal line.
It also gave the Fighting Irish a short field, making it easier for the offense to extend the lead.
Joshua Burnham DL of the Fighting Irish at Notre Dame football practice at the Irish Athletic Center on August 7, 2023.
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Notre Dame has lost another key defensive lineman to injury. Now the Fighting Irish will have to look for a replacement.
End [autotag]Boubacar Traore[/autotag] is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee. The defensive end was injured in the first half of the Fighting Irish’s 31-24 win over the Louisville Cardinals. Traore had 11 tackles, five tackles for loss, and led the Irish with three sacks. He was also tied for second on the team for most quarterback pressures with eight — Howard Cross III has the most at 9.
[autotag]Junior Tuihalamaka[/autotag] seems the most likely replacement. Thus far the junior has seven tackles, two tackles for loss, and a half of a sack.
Freshman [autotag]Loghan Thomas[/autotag], who played 14 snaps versus Louisville, seems likely to see a lot more action.
Head coach Marcus Freeman also pointed to Josh Burnham, who is returning from injury, RJ Oben, and Bryce Young, as possible replacements.
Sep 21, 2024; South Bend, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Junior Tuihalamaka (44) celebrates after an interception in the first quarter against the Miami Redhawks at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-Imagn Images
“Josh is a guy that could play either field end or Vyper for us. RJ Oben and Bryce Young, obviously, have done a good job at the field end position, and Junior has done a really good job stepping up at the Vyper position, as well as Loghan Thomas getting some reps,” Freeman said. “And so you have five quality individuals that can play the end position for us. And we’ve got to have guys step up, just like Junior has done. And I’m confident that if something would happen again that we’ll have to have another guy step up.”
Vyper is another term for rush end.
Burnham and Young each have four tackles and 1 quarterback hit, and Young has blocked a kick on special teams. Thomas has one tackle and 1 quarterback hit, while Oben has eight tackles — four solo and four assisted.
Based on Freeman’s quote, Tuihalamaka seems likeliest to have the most impact with Traore out, with Burnham and Thomas following. Oben and and Young seem more likely to see most of their reps at field end.
Either way, Traore’s loss is a tough pill to swallow for the Irish.
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The summer camp circuit is pretty much over and it has given plenty of new eyes on players. Recently, ESPN has updated their recruiting rankings for the top-300 players in the country. Find out below where the 2022 Notre Dame commits landed in their newest rankings update.
Move over @nittanylionswire, there’s a new Linebacker U.
How long until the football program already known as “O-Line U” and “Tight End U” starts going by “Linebacker U”.
I’d say that with apologies to our friends at Nittany Lions Wire but my mother told me long ago that apologies are supposed to be sincere and mine certainly wouldn’t be.
In all seriousness though, few have even been in the conversation for linebacker production with Notre Dame the last decade, who is the only program to turn out three Butkus Award winners in that time.
The Irish also just welcomed 2021 High School Butkus Award winner Prince Kollie in their latest recruiting class while the 2022 class is absolutely loaded at the position.
Four-star linebackers Niuafe (Junior) Tuihalamaka, Joshua Burnham, and Nolan Ziegler had each already committed before the highest rated of them all (according to 247Sports), Jaylen Sneed, announced his decision to attend Notre Dame on Monday.
The Fighting Irish class is currently ranked behind only Ohio State according to 247Sports with linebackers obviously being its strength and a place they’d appear done recruiting for the class.
Here is a little on each of the four-headed monster Notre Dame is set to bring in with the 2022 class:
Will Irish eyes be smiling when a key Notre Dame target announces his college decision on St. Patrick’s Day?
If your birthday is on St. Patrick’s Day and you set that day your junior year of high school to make a college commitment, Notre Dame has to feel pretty good about their chances, right?
That’s at least what Brian Kelly, Marcus Freeman, and the rest of the Notre Dame coaching staff are thinking as key Michigan target and four-star linebacker Josh Burnham has set his commitment date for his 17th birthday next week.
I will be announcing my commitment on my birthday on March 17th!!
Burnham certainly has the build of something special as he’s listed as a 6-4, 215 pound outside linebacker from Central High School in Traverse City, Michigan.
Burnham, the 85th ranked player nationally on 247Sports, is believed to be choosing between Notre Dame, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
For what it’s worth, the experts on 247Sports give Notre Dame the slight edge over Michigan in the “crystal ball” category.
Stay tuned on St. Patrick’s Day to see if Irish eyes are indeed smiling that afternoon.
The Wisconsin football program received some good recruiting news yesterday when 2022 four-star OLB Josh Burnham included them in the list
The Wisconsin football program received some good recruiting news yesterday when 2022 four-star OLB Josh Burnham included them in the list of his top 3 schools.
As seen above, the other programs included are Notre Dame and Big Ten rival Michigan.
Burnham is the No. 83 player in the class of 2022, the No. 6 outside linebacker and the No. 2 player from the state of Michigan.
The Traverse City, Michigan native currently has six crystal ball projections all to in-state Michigan, including from Wisconsin recruiting insider Evan Flood.
