Sounds Like Notre Dame Avoided Major Injury to Blake Fisher

Notre Dame didn’t even make it through the first game of 2021 with their new-look offensive line fully intact. Freshman starting left tackle Blake Fisher went down with an injury that forced him into a knee brace and street clothes for the second half. That usually is a bad sign, but according to Brian Kelly, Notre Dame dodged a bullet though no definitive diagnosis or timeframe is available at the moment.

“No ACL, MCL. He had a strain,” Kelly said of the freshman phenom while addressing the media last night. “We’ll see how that plays over the next week or so,” he added.

He later clarified again that Notre Dame believes they avoided a major injury to Fisher in his post-game presser, but further tests will obviously be done this morning or later today since the Irish traveled back to Notre Dame last night following their 41-38 overtime victory.

Before the injury, Fisher had some freshman moments and clearly had his hands full with Florida State edge rusher Jermaine Johnson – the Georgia transfer. Johnson finished the game with 1.5 sacks and 2.5 TFL.

When Fisher went out of the game, sophomore Michael Carmody came off the bench and did a pretty good job in his place. Carmody had a great camp and elevated himself into the role of Notre Dame’s first OL off the bench over some older players and players in his own class who were more highly rated.

If Fisher is out this weekend and beyond, Carmody likely moves into the starting lineup until Fisher returns.

Kelly also gave updates on a few other injuries from the game – the most severe sounding like Paul Moala. The junior ROVER was in a walking boot in the second half, and Kelly admitted that it didn’t look good but that an MRI would take place today. Kelly also mentioned injuries to tight end Kevin Bauman and WILL Shayne Simon but didn’t indicate their severity.