Late Bye Week Gives Notre Dame Opportunity to Get Healthy for Playoff Push

Notre Dame’s latest victory over the weekend has the Irish looking in prime position to make the playoffs if they can win their final four games, all of which they will be favored in. Before they run through their November “gauntlet,” though, they have a second bye week this weekend that will give them a chance to get healthy for their final push in a season in which injuries have ravaged them.

Notre Dame’s injury luck turned for the worse all the way back in fall camp when they lost starting LT Charles Jagusah for the season, thrusting a true freshman into the starting lineup. It didn’t improve in the early part of the season when they lost their top two pass rushers, Jordan Botelho and Boubacar Traore, for the season, along with another starting offensive lineman, Ashton Craig, all by the end of September.

October looked a little better for the Irish until losing All-American Benjamin Morrison for the season before the Stanford game. Another true freshman, Leonard Moore, moved into the starting lineup in his place. While not an injury, they also lost corner Jaden Mickey for the year when he decided to redshirt and transfer after falling behind Moore on the depth chart.

And those are just the injuries to top-line players.

While Botelho, Craig, Traore, Jagusah, and Morrison won’t be back this season, even if the Irish were to make a deep playoff run, several other players either will be back or have already returned and are ramping back up to full strength who could make a difference in the post-season.

Gabriel Rubio

Rubio was injured in fall camp and missed the first five games of the season before returning against Stanford. Since then, he’s started to ramp up, averaging 21 snaps a game over the last three weeks. With all the injuries on the edges, the interior defensive line is needed even more – especially with Jason Onye missing the last few weeks due to a personal matter. Rubio only has 6 tackles in his three appearances, but he’s graded out as Notre Dame’s 7th best defender, according to PFF.

When healthy, Rubio is a disruptive force on the inside of the Notre Dame defensive line and will give starters Rylie Mills and Howard Cross some much-needed rest. Both Notre Dame’s topline interior linemen started the season very slowly before coming on over the last month or so. If Oyne is back into the mix at some point, the Irish will be very deep at the inside of their defensive line.

Jordan Faison

Like Rubio, wide receiver Jordan Faison has already returned to the field after suffering a week one ankle injury, but in his case, it was clear he wasn’t quite 100% upon his return. We are starting to get glimpses of the dynamic receiver who forced his way from a lacrosse scholarship to a football scholarship as a true freshman last year, though. Faison doubled his season output in receptions against Navy with a 4-catch, 52-yard performance. While modest numbers, it was good to see Faison involved in the passing game and looking like his old self in the open field. He averaged 16.9 yards a catch last year with 4 touchdowns on 19 receptions. He is only averaging 10.1 yards a catch this year and hasn’t found the endzone yet.

Notre Dame’s passing game has been a work in progress all season long, but it’s been showing signs of life over the last four games. If the Irish can continue that progression over the final four, their offense will be much more formidable for whatever post-season bid they secure, whether that be the playoffs or a non-playoff bowl.

Mitch Jeter

Notre Dame has been without transfer kicker Mitch Jeter for the last two weeks, and his loss has been felt. While the outcome of neither game was close, Notre Dame missed two very makeable field goals, including a miss from just 32 yards out against Navy. Given the level of competition over the final four games, a game might not come down to a field before the post-season, but if the Irish were to make the playoffs, they need Jeter at full strength. He’s been questionable the last two weeks with a hamstring injury. Hopefully, the bye week allows him to get back to 100%, and he’ll be back kicking when the Irish host Florida State, which would be four weeks out from his initial injury.

Billy Schrauth

Perhaps the biggest x-factor in terms of getting players back is offensive lineman Billy Schrauth. Schrauth got rolled up against Purdue, and at first, it looked like a potential season-ending injury. He returned to action this weekend, but at left guard instead of right guard, where he won a starting role in fall camp. After the game, Freeman said they decided to move him to left guard during the week but haven’t committed to the move full-time yet. Sophomore Sam Pendleton has been fine as the starting left guard but has also looked like a first-time starter at times.

Rocco Spindler initially replaced Schrauth in the lineup following his injury, but he struggled over his first few games before coming on over the last month. After a particularly rough outing against Louisville, Spindler was Notre Dame’s highest-rated lineman against Stanford and has been a plus pass blocker in every game since. Schrauth was considered by some to be Notre Dame’s best lineman for the 2024 season in fall camp. His return should improve the offensive line significantly, whether at left or right guard – especially as Notre Dame’s started to find its identity.

Mitchell Evans

Tight end Mitchell Evans has not missed any games this year, but he was eased back into action slowly after last year’s injury and has yet to reach his pre-injury levels. He has just 16 catches for 133 yards and, like Faison, has yet to reach the endzone this season. His yards per catch is also way down this year from 14.6 to 8.3. Evans looked like the next tight end in line at Tight End-U before his injury last year. If the Irish can get anything close to what we saw last year over the season’s final month, the passing game should continue to evolve as we’ve seen it do over the previous few weeks.

With a playoff spot within reach, Notre Dame faces a pivotal final stretch. Despite a challenging season riddled with injuries, the return of key players provides a much-needed boost on both sides of the ball. As the Irish enter their bye week, they have a valuable chance to regroup and recharge before taking on their final four opponents. If they can capitalize on their recent momentum and remain healthy, Notre Dame could be well-positioned for a postseason run.