Report: Austin Collinsworth Out vs. Rice
Notre Dame appears to be without one of its starting members of the secondary for today’s season opener vs. Rice and possibly longer. 5th Year senior and Notre Dame captain Austin Collinsworth is reportedly out for today with a sprained MCL.
Irish Illustrated reported the news earlier this afternoon:
A source tells Irish Illustrated that Austin Collinsworth has a strained MCL and is likely out a couple weeks.
— Irish Illustrated (@NDatRivals) August 30, 2014
Advertisement
This is a blow for an Irish defense that is already going to be heavily reliant on a lot of underclassmen across the two deep in Brian VanGorder’s new defense.
With Collinsworth out today and possibly longer, Matthias Farley figures to move back into the starting line up. Kelly mentioned earlier in fall camp that if anything happened to Collinsworth, Farley would step in and made the defensive calls as the quarterback of the secondary.
UPDATE: Elijah Shumate has been named the starter in place of Collinsworth, not Matthias Farley as Brian Kelly had said earlier this summer would be the case.
Notre Dame is already undermanned in the secondary with the playing status of Keivarae Russell and Eilar Hardy still up in the air pending the results of the academic investigation that has reported concluded but is not yet fully resolved. Sophomore Devin Butler figures to play in the nickel position today while junior Elijah Shumate’s role figures to expand as well. True freshman Nick Watkins is almost a certainty to play early now as well given the growing number of defensive backs the Irish will be without today and possibly longer.
For today’s contest against Rice the Irish should be able to get by just fine, but next week’s contest versus Michigan could be trickier now if Collinsworth is out when the Wolverines come to town. Michigan tight end Devin Funchess had 7 catches for 95 yards and 3 touchdowns at half-time in their season opening tune up against Appalachain State.
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
I thought he was out for the year when I saw him on crutches at the Rice game. Apparently the injury isn’t as bad as it looked. That is really good news.
Other than the 5 throw aways & the 2 drops, E.G had 1 incompletetion. The pass behind the TE on the near interception.
George, your question is fair, but I think they were busts that Collinsworth would have avoided. What was challenging, is unlike the
suspended foursome, this happened at the 11th hour. The good news is that they can try to fix it by next week. but Michigan’s receving corps does not have much beyond Funchess.
I was confused by the performances of both Baratti and Farley
I loved Farley in 2012, but something happened last year.
Had I not known that was his number yesterday, I would have blurted “see, that’s how Farley should play.” What’s the deal Matthias, you can only play well in even-numbered years?
Baratti was outstanding, for a frosh, in 2012. He may be a guy who, even with his speed, may have been a better fit for Diaco than Van Gorder.
And, George, YOU have a higher opinion of Schmidt than I do.
Jack’s 6-6 is completely inane. Inane
OK – first game both positives and negatives – EG for the most part looked good – some of his big completions thought actually a little underthrown – receivers had to break stride to and hold up to catch them.
Might not have been good with top DBs – O line shaky – too much penetration by the DL – big worry the secondary – looked really weak -and little pressure on the QB – were there any sacks? The one thing I really liked was there were punt returns – actual punt returns – that has been missing for a few years
A work in progress – next week could be rough
Who was the last QB @ ND to win his first 12 regular season starts?
Other than the dropped passes and the ones thrown away, did EG have ANY incomplete passes?
Without his mobility and feel for the pass rush,
Rice would have had at least 6 sacks. EG is hands down today’s MVP. What a difference- maker!
Also, more broken tackles and timely cuts by these 3 RBs than in quite some years.
Maybe it was Rice’s poor defense; we’ll know more after next week- BUT . . .
Scoring 31
and still the Irish weren’t done
Was a lot more fun.
Remind me again why everyone was pining over Nicky Baratti
I wonder if Collinsworth really would have prevented all those blown coverages, as Mayock was implying
I hope BVG isn’t a defensive Charlie Weis, where he’s going to run his sophisticated, NFL-like schemes regardless of the personnelle he has to deal with.
Schmidt seems to be all over the field, which is great, but he’s definitely going to get bulldozed a couple times this year. I saw him get knocked backwards more than once today.
Martini didn’t look good. He reminded me of a Grace/Councell/Fox combo
I think there were a lot of positives from this game. Throws were made today that were not possible last year, good running, and overall, the D being as young and a bit depleted, didn’t have a complete falling out. I think it’s a bit pre-mature to state we may go 6-6 based upon this game. We saw a bigger glimpse of the offense today BK was hired to bring to South Bend. I know Rice isn’t Stanford but they’re not a FCS team either. There’s a lot to build on from today. Greg Bryant will be a beast in that backfield.
Go Irish and smash those Wolverweiners next week.
if ToT were still QB…..we’r probably losing 10-7 right now.
welcome back EG!!
GO IRISH!!
After watching this game, typical opening day performance. Offense inconsistent and defense blowing assignments. Michigan will eat them alive next week
It must be miserable to be you.
Come on, Jack, I’m as critical of this team as the next guy. Yes, there were a few problems. But 28-10 at HT isn’t bad. Not bad at all! Plus EG looks in mid-season form. His HT stats would be even better if not for two drops. The D has been OK. But it’s missing 3 starters. Let’s hope BK and his team build on the first half and look even better.
Michigan beat up on App. St., an FCS-DIAA team. Rice is a C-USA champ. No comparison.
I was not happy with the first quarter. The blown assignments worry me. I like E’S mobility and if CJ catches that ball game over.
I was impressed with the d-line, but safeties didn’t play well.
Next week the defense is going to have to step up and play better. The offense needs to keep the foot on the petal. All in all good win
Perhaps you watched the wrong team who team also wears good and blue.
EG created 5 touchdowns in one game. That’s not just good….that’s amazing!
This team is going to over produce this year.
Way to go Jack…the eternal pessimist.
I got a bad feeling about this year. Nothing is going right for the Irish. They may end the year at 6-6
Yes! Shumate! Sorry Farley!
Funchess is now listed and plays as a WR. Nevertheless, he’s a monster. As I was watching him, I’m thinking who do we have that can cover this guy? With KR out, it will be very difficult.