Matty Augustine Injury Creates Another Right Guard Decision for Notre Dame

Notre Dame announced Aug. 12 that sophomore offensive lineman Matty Augustine suffered a fifth-metatarsal fracture in his right foot during fall camp and will undergo surgery, and that freshman cornerback Chaz Smith fractured the scaphoid in his right wrist and will need surgery as well. The team said both players are expected to be available later this season and attached no return timetable to either injury.

Matty Augustine (right foot, fifth metatarsal) and Chaz Smith (right wrist, scaphoid) sustained injuries during preseason practice. The injuries will require surgery, and both players are expected to return to play this season.

— Notre Dame Football PR Team (@NDFootballPR) August 12, 2026

Losing Augustine cuts the right guard competition from two players to one at a spot Notre Dame was already working to fill. Augustine, listed at 6-foot-7 and 315 pounds, had spent the first week of camp in a genuine competition with senior Sullivan Absher for that job. Augustine’s injury could end the drama early, or add some intrigue.

Right Guard Battle Narrows

On Aug. 7, five days before the announcement, Notre Dame offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said: “There’s some really good competition going on there. So, we’ll let it kind of run its course here for a little bit and kind of make evaluation as we go.”

He also said the staff would “see if it kind of clears itself up or if it’s something that maybe extends, you know what I mean, into a second or even third week.”

The fracture ended that evaluation midway through the second week. The opening existed in the first place because Charles Jagusah, a potential starting option, opened camp not fully recovered from the surgically repaired left humerus fracture that cost him the entire 2025 season and has his 2026 season availability in question.

What Notre Dame Can Do Next

The simplest outcome is Absher, who played a lot a year ago and was already splitting first-team work at the position in camp, holding the job through the Sept. 6 opener against Wisconsin. Senior Chris Terek, a three-star who came out of Glenbard West as the No. 40 interior offensive lineman in his class, and senior Devan Houstan are the depth behind him.

Notre Dame’s other option is to move senior Ashton Craig from center to right guard and put senior Joe Otting at center. That configuration makes sense if the staff believes Otting in the lineup at center gives them the best chance to win, and there is real evidence for that idea. Otting held down the center job for long stretches last season while Craig was out with injury. He took over when Craig went down for the season in the USC game and started at center for the rest of the season.

Smith’s injury carries less immediate weight, since the four-star from Knoxville Catholic arrived as the No. 216 player nationally and was not going to be counted on early in a veteran secondary. But wrist surgery in August costs a freshman corner the reps that determine whether he plays at all as a rookie.

Notre Dame is 25 days from Wisconsin, and the snaps between now and then matter more than the eventual name at right guard. Whichever way the staff goes, the new guard needs live work with the four linemen around him, because interior continuity is almost as critical to the success of an offensive line as individual talent. Denbrock and offensive line coach Joe Rudolph have less runway than they wanted, but they have multiple options with starting experience they can tap into.