Notre Dame WR Torii Hunter OUT vs Nevada
The lingering effects of the missed targeting hit in the end-zone against Texas keep coming for Notre Dame and Torii Hunter. Hunter, Notre Dame’s most experienced wide receiver will not play in today’s season opener versus Nevada due to the concussion he suffered on a hit the Big 12 officials laughably said shouldn’t have been targeting.
Hunter still addressed the crowd at last night’s pep rally stating the following according to WNDU’s Angelo Di Carlo.
“As you all know, I took a pretty big shot last week,” Hunter said at the pep rally. “I took a pretty good shot last week. He caught me slipping. He didn’t want to see me face-to-face. He caught me slipping. I’ll be back. I’m working on it. i’m working on coming back. Just like this team, we got knocked down last week but we are glad to be back in front of the greatest fan base in the United States.”
“We are excited to be back at home and play in front of our home fans and whoop some butt [Saturday] and take some names.”
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It’s not surprising that Hunter will be out on Saturday. The concussion occurred just six days ago with Notre Dame playing on Sunday and the Irish are a 28 point favorite at home even with Hunter listed as doubtful all week. Notre Dame has what figures to be a knock down, drag out fight next weekend with Michigan State and resting Hunter, even if he had been medically cleared would have been the prudent and responsible thing to do.
With Hunter officially our, junior Corey Holmes will likely get the start. Brian Kelly didn’t say who would start at the X position earlier this week if Hunter couldn’t go, but when he inserted freshman Kevin Stepherson, the frosh speedster with great hands was clearly not ready. At one point, sophomore wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown – himself making his first career start – ran up to Stepherson and basically hit him to get him lined up properly.
Stepherson will still likely play some but Holmes, a junior slot wide receiver, has experience at the X position and should be a capable replacement this weekend. Next weekend? Well, let’s just hope Hunter is ready to go a week from today when the Spartans come to town.
Avery Sebastian also suffered a concussion against Texas and missed the final, deciding play of the game; but the 6th year senior will suit up today. Sebastian will be doing so in a reserve role this week, however, with freshman Devin Studstill taking over at free safety.
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
The supervisor of officials, Walt Anderson, needs a new pair of glasses. If the actual officials, of the Texas vs Notre Dame Football game on September 4, 2016, are not ‘homey home boys’ I really do not know who/whom would be considered ‘homey home boys’! I am not a Notre Dame fan (cheering for Texas) but clearly, and I do mean clearly, this was/is/will be ‘TARGETING’ in every sense of the word. The replay official should be sanctioned. The ‘TARGETING’ rules were changed well before the start of the college football season. Walt Anderson and the entire officiating crew of the Texas vs Notre Dame football game should be sanctioned, not just suspended. Apparently all were missing on the ‘continuing education’ of rule changes for the 2016 college football season!! There is absolutely no excuse for ‘missing’ ‘misinterpreting’ ‘or ‘misjudging’ this unjustifiable assault!
It is ridiculous that the play was not flagged for targeting. What exactly did the referees not see that everyone in the stadium and on television did? Talk about incompetence. How about the booth official not calling for a replay. He must have had his dark sunglasses on. So who gets punished? Tori Hunter thats who. The referees walk away free as a bird. My take is that they should be suspended and have to sit out a week, just like the player. To be totally honest it was as bad a hit to the helmet as I’ve ever seen. What good is replay if the Big 12 official in the booth doesn’t use it? Hunter hopefully will recover from the vicious hit and the refs, we can only hope they use better judgement the next time.