JotCast | Notre Dame Football Live Chat Oct. 7, 2020

Notre Dame Football Live Chat Oct. 7, 2020

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Eric Hansen

1:36

Hi Marie, nice to hear from you. Let's start with the early enrollees. Carter Karels tells me that list comprises Rocco Spindler, Tyler Buchner, Ryan Barnes, Lorenzo Styles Jr., Gabriel Rubio, Blake Fisher, Cane Berrong, Justin Walters and David Abiara if he stays committed. Maybes are Prince Kollie and Will Schweitzer. Colzie orginally was but will now wait it seems ...

Marie from Atlanta

1:30

Hi Eric, great that Kevin Austin and the chat are back! It was nice to see Irish recruiting do well in my neck of the woods last week, hopefully Colzie and Thomas will be great additions to the class. With regards to the 2021 class, which commits are planning on enrolling early, and who do you think will push for playing time as true freshmen. Also is there any update on the status of David Abiara? Finally, with all the good publicity the O line is currently getting, and with the commitment of Rocco Spindler do you think there is anyway to get back into position to get a commitment from Donovan Edwards ? Thanks for your insights.

Eric Hansen

1:30

Not unless there's an injury to Ian Book. And not unless there's an injury to Ian Book.

Tom from Georgia

1:30

Do you expect Clark to take the helm for at least one series in the First Half on Saturday? Should he?

Eric Hansen

1:30

This is another question in which I leaned on Carter Karels ... here is his response:

Until David Abiara signs on the dotted line, I expect him to be up in the air. His situation continues to be fluid, but I will say that Notre Dame seems to be in a better position with him than it was in May. In May, it seemed like certainty that he would leave. Now, it's more 50-50. I'm also not certain Oklahoma would be his landing spot. Texas and SMU also are strong contenders. The Irish landed defensive end Will Schweitzer's verbal pledge in August. He gives them some insurance to go with defensive line commits Gabriel Rubio and Jason Onye. They have not offered a scholarship to any other defensive ends lately. One more thing: I don't believe Abiara has done a public interview since he committed to Notre Dame until March. He agreed to do an interview with me last week but all the sudden went quiet. Not sure if that means something. It will be interesting to hear what he has to say when he finally talks publicly.

Jeff from Phoenix

1:27

Hey Eric, with ND running out of spots in this years recruiting class, can you shed some light on the situation with David Abiara? He has been a rather publicly rumored flip to Oklahoma since ~May, which is odd. When will ND or Abiara make a decision and if he leaves, will ND look for another DE? Thanks dude.

Eric Hansen

1:24

The difference between the transfer portal concept and what existed before is that once a player puts himself in the portal, any school can contact him and vice versa. Before you had to have a release from your current school, and sometimes certain schools were blocked. In both instances, a player will often kind of use a third party to gauge interest before he even enters the portal. Some players will not.

Dwight from Arkansas

1:21

With Ian Book losing his eligibility after this season and the real likelihood that no backup qb will get any significant work I thought of the transfer portal that has worked amazingly well for other major programs. Hurts, Mayfield, Fields and Burrow among others have hit a gold mine when transferring for their last year (I believe in most cases) to a different school. (I am thinking BC may have such a quality transfer in a young man named Jurkovec, but too early to be sure). When a quarterback with a strong pedigree ponders transferring do they contact schools of interest? How does the word get around that they are searching? Does ND keep their ears/eyes open for such an impacting player?

Eric Hansen

1:20

It was 11 -- seven in isolation and four in quarantine -- as of Monday. If there are no new positives, I think it'd be hard for the seven in isolation to be back, since they can't work out in isolation and they have to ramp back up slowly. The four quarantine players have a chance, based upon how early in the week (if at all) their 14 days ended. Quarantined players can condition once they hit about the halfway point of the 14 days. ... and again, the players on the published Notre Dame two-deeps as of Monday were all available as of Monday.

Guest

1:11

Hi Eric, This is from Terry from Niles MI. I appreciate the work that you must put in to answer our questions. i know the players have their HIPPA Rights and I would not ask you to violate their rights. Can you tell us how many players will be unable to play this weekend? Did the number grow this week with additional players. ?

Eric Hansen

1:11

Hi Bruce. It can be very broad and include things like infrastructure, financial and philosophical commitment to football from the administration.... but I'll boil it down to player dynamics. You need great leaders, players who set a high standard on and off the field. Players that will demand excellence when the coaches aren't watching. ... You need resilience. Some teams would have folded after the Michigan loss. Maybe even some prior ND teams. This won has responded with the longest active win streak among Power 5 schools. ... It's about kids staying and persevering when the path of least resistance is a transfer (though not all transfers are bad for the program or player). ... It's about handling adversity, being unselfish, being about team.

Bruce, Centralia, IL

1:06

Eric, I enjoyed your article on FSU’s struggles on the field despite their strong recruiting classes. When programs don’t meet expectations, you often hear it said that something has gone wrong with the culture. Without asking you to comment on FSU in particular, when you hear that a team doesn’t have a winning culture, what does that mean to you? Thanks as always.

Eric Hansen

1:04

Lawrence, I appreciate you defining that. I think it would be very difficult to overcome that lack of that dynamic against the caliber of teams you see in the playoff. They're just too balanced and talented offensively and defensively for a team to come into a playoff with that kind of hole in their game and expect to win. Maybe in a freaky turnover game. ... Having said that, I think a healthy Braden Lenzy, a healthy Kevin Austin and a regular old ornery Tommy Tremble can give Notre Dame that kind of dynamic. I know I'm putting a lot on Austin, a player who hasn't been in a game since 2018, but I do believe he has that kind of potential.

Lawrence from San Diego

1:00

can this team have a decent chance of taking down playoff caliber teams without a go-to receiver. By go-to receiver I mean a player who can consistently force a defense to choose between allocating extra resources to help cover him or letting him make plays.

Eric Hansen

1:00

Erik, I am going to oversimplify this and rely on conversations I had with St. Joseph County deputy health officer Mark Fox, who's been a consultant to Notre Dame and the football program. ... 1. USF had zero positives. 2. The thinking in the last 6-8 weeks suggests players who are positive but don't have enough viral load yet to trip a positive test result, also don't have enough viral load to transmit the virus during the game. 3. However, that viral load continues to build and so a player who couldn't spread it Saturday afternoon could very well do so on Sunday or Monday. 4. Close contact is defined as 15 sustained minutes, so a tackle pile would be maybe 1 sustained minute at the most. 5. Teams and doctors are learning every day.

Erik, Granger, IN

12:55

Thanks for being here! Did South Florida really escape South Bend without catching the coronavirus? If so, what are the dynamics that prevented in-game transmission? Just the amount of time players spend breathing on each other in the tackle pile?

Eric Hansen

12:55

I think his biggest challenge right now is consistency, not something lacking from his skill set. ... I repeat from past chats, I think there is a lot of talent at the linebacker positions on this team.

12:53

How Notre Dame is working it goes as follows. If a player is listed on the two-deeps on Monday, that means the expectation is he'll be available Saturday. That goes for both injuries and COVID-19. However, if something happens during the week, the media will be alerted Saturday, 90 minutes before kickoff. The list of unavailable players will NOT distinguish between those out because of injury or those missing because of quarantine or isolation.

Now just because a player isn't in the two deeps does not mean he's unavailable. He might be or he might just be the third option.

In Jack Kiser's case, it it my understanding he IS available to play. I had that in my list of questions for Monday, but the question rotation didn't work its way back to me. I hope to ask it as my FIRST question Thursday. ... From this standpoint. What does the game look like between Liufau/Simon and Kiser? Remember, they won those depth chart spots over weeks, not one day. I think Kiser is going to be really, really good.

12:44

There are a lot of variations on this question today, but this one lets me address the methodology behind the depth charts Notre Dame releases.

bdsailor

12:43

BARNEY,LONG ISLAND: Since Jack Kiser's name is not listed in the current depth chart are we to assume he is either In isolation or quarantine?

Eric Hansen

12:43

Gosh, I hope not, but you never know.

Doug from Sunny Florida

12:43

Am I the only person that caught your Ted Nugent reference?

Eric Hansen

12:42

Well, technically they can all come back because of the NCAA's COVID rule, but I would expect Eichenberg, Kraemer and Hainsey to move on as scheduled. Banks would have another year even without the COVID rule. His return would depend on now the NFL sees him at this point. Whether he leaves or not, there's some good material coming back, just not a lot of experience. I'd say Andrew Kristofic is the likely starting LT. Tosh Baker has freaky upside at that spot. I think Josh Lugg starts at RT. Lots of experience there. Patterson is still at center, so now it's the guards. If there's no Banks, a healthy Dillan Gibbons may grab that LG spot. I think Zeke Correll, who plays center, could compete for a starting guard spot. So might too true freshman Rocco Spindler. Don't rule that out. There are plenty more high-end prospects across the line, including Blake Fisher, Quinn Carroll and Michael Carmody.

Jeff, Cleveland, OH

12:33

Eric, I feel like the OL is going to continue to improve as the season goes along. My question however is related to how you think they are positioned for next year and beyond? If I'm not mistaken (knowing me, I very easily could be....), I believe 4 out of the 5 starting offensive linemen will be graduating at the end of this year. So, in addition to Jarrett Patterson at center, who do you feel will be locking down the guard and tackle spots going forward and are we in good shape with those guys or do you just not know b/c of lack of playing time? Do Kelly & Quinn believe in giving these young guys P.T. when given the opportunity?

Eric Hansen

12:31

There's a difference between the fan base/media/oddsmakers looking at a matchup and how the team itself does. And they're not always linked. I would imagine Notre Dame's layoff will both sharpen its focus and flatten its execution to some extent. One of Florida State's biggest problems is self-inflicted wounds. The Seminoles are one of the most-penalized teams in the country. They're in the bottom 10 nationally in turnovers lost and sacks allowed. What would happen if they got that all together for one game? I question how much loading the box will work, because Georgia Tech and Miami had no trouble running into and through those looks. I think the game may be close in the first half, as ND finds its timing and footing. But I have ND winning 31-13.

RC from Albany

12:22

let me try this a second time ... hi Eric, thanks for keeping up with the chats. Are we overlooking FL St? There is no question that they are struggling - but as you indicated in your article earlier this week they are talented, especially on defense. We have beaten two teams with a combined record of 1-6. I expect FL St will load the box to take away the run and the short passing game forcing ND to win with intermediate & long passes against some talented DBs in 1:1 situations. Could we be in for a low scoring, close game?

Eric Hansen

12:19

Mike, I turned to Carter Karels, our recruiting guy, to help me with this one. Here is his answer: The Texas kids on the roster are wide receiver Avery Davis, tight end Brock Wright, offensive lineman Hunter Spears and defensive end NaNa Osafo-Mensah. I just don't think Texas and Florida are as valuable to Notre Dame as states like California, Georgia, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Ohio. If a recruit attends a Catholic high school, Notre Dame starts his recruitment with a leg up. There are a lot more valuable Catholic schools in that second group of states compared to the first group. Kids from Texas and Florida don't seem as willing to leave the area as much as those from the second group of states. I wouldn't be that concerned about Notre Dame not recruiting Texas as much. I'd be concerned about Notre Dame's issues recruiting Southern California. That is a glaring problem.

Guest

12:17

Mike from Oklahoma, Hi Eric, enjoy reading the chats. Gives us a different perspective. Do you think ND will recruit the state of Texas more aggressively than they have in the past. Looks like they are working NC, Fla and Georgia pretty hard but I don't see as many kids from Texas as I have in the past.

Eric Hansen

12:16

In a small sample size, the numbers (which include scrambles) aren't that far off -- 6.5 carries a game this year vs. 8.6 last year. And he does have 3 rushing TDs. Eventually, the opponents' defensive prowess are going to make the decision to nor not to run Book more urgent in certain games: Pitt. Clemson. UNC. For now, I think a lot of it has to do with quarterback depth. Remember, last year, with Phil Jurkovec as the backup, it was still post-Michigan when ND really committed to Book's planned runs. This year you've got even less experience at the No. 2 QB. And in the USF game Brendon Clark wasn't available because of COVID, so you were down to one scholarship backup and that was true freshman Drew Pyne. The offense runs smoother when Book's running is part of the package. But ND is going to be smart about when and how much to sprinkle that in.

Andrew from Plymouth, IN

12:05

Why do you think ND has been so reluctant to let Ian Book run so far this season? He was one of the most prolific running QB's last season and had a statistically great season when you consider his running and passing numbers. Last season he destroyed Duke on the ground and I don't recall seeing even a single designed run for in that game this season. Is this a philosophical change from Long to Rees?

Eric Hansen

Let's get started.

12:04

Here are the rules.