Day one of Fall Camp is day one of Fall Camp.
There were good plays, bad plays and everything in the middle on Friday as Notre Dame opened up the 2018 season.
“Let’s Go” by Trickdaddy was the first song on the playlist as the Irish started stretching. Only sophomore linebacker Drew White was held out of practice, but he got quality work in with a strength coach.
PARTICIPATION REPORT
As usual, Notre Dame started with the tempo drill.
First-Team Offense
QB - Brandon Wimbush
RB - Tony Jones Jr.
WR - Miles Boykin
WR - Chase Claypool
WR - Chris Finke
TE - Alizè Mack
OL - Liam Eichenberg
OL - Alex Bars
OL - Sam Mustipher
OL - Tommy Kraemer
OL - Robert Hainsey
Second-Team Offense
QB - Ian Book
RB - Avery Davis/Jahmir Smith/Jafar Armstrong
WR - Micah Jones
WR - Javon McKinley
WR - Michael Young
TE - Cole Kmet
OL - Aaron Banks
OL - Dillan Gibbons
OL - Trevor Ruhland
OL - Josh Lugg
OL - John Dirksen
Third-Team Offense
QB - Phil Jurkovec
RB - C’Bo Flemister
WR - Kevin Austin Jr.
WR - Lawrence Keys III
WR - Braden Lenzy
TE - George Takacs
OL - Jarrett Patterson
OL - Logan Plantz
OL - Colin Grunhard
OL - Luke Jones
OL - Cole Mabry
The drill went as you would expect. There were several completions and smoothness with the first two groups. The third group had a rough time as they were struggling to get lined up and carry out the correct assignments. After a few plays, Kelly had seen enough and huddled the group together and called the drill. It wasn't ideal, but not unexpected when you have a group of that many freshmen together on the first day.
During the defensive work, the first and second team looked like this.
First-Team
DE - Daelin Hayes
DT - Jerry Tillery
DT - Jon Bonner
DE - Khalid Kareem
LB - Drue Tranquill
LB - Te’von Coney
Rov - Asmar Bilal
CB - Julian Love
CB - Troy Pride Jr.
S - Alohi Gilman
S - Jalen Elliott
Second-Team
DE - Julian Okwara
DT - Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa
DT - Kurt Hinish/Jayson Ademilola
DE - Ade Ogundeji
LB - Jordan Genmark Heath
LB - Jonathan Jones
Rov - Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah/Isaiah Robertson
CB - Donte Vaughn
CB - Shaun Crawford
S - Houston Griffith
S - Devin Studstill
EARLY OBSERVATIONS
The quarterbacks looked sharp early in 1-on-1s, 7-on-7 but then struggled when they went into 11-on-11 periods. Timing with the receivers, organization and pass protection were all issues on day one, but it’s day one things.
Freshman quarterback Phil Jurkovec was impressive. He had some great throws, good throws, and bad throws. He wasn’t overwhelmed and didn’t look nervous. He was confident in his reads and where he was going with the ball. I remember watching Ian Book and Brandon Wimbush on their first day out, and it was night and day as Jurkovec looked much better.
Dexter Williams participated in drill work and some 11-on-11 stuff, but his reps were given out sparingly.
Defensive end Jamir Jones has put on weight and looks good.
Linebacker Te’von Coney looked like he had shoulder pads on compared to everyone else.
Freshman defensive end Justin Ademilola looked good physically and did some good things. Mike Elston was working with him on hand placement during positional drills.
Notre Dame did a lot of work in drills with two-back sets.
The first-team offensive line was setting the tone in positional drills. They were making sure they were physical all the way through the drills and even knocked some of the freshmen offensive linemen off balance as they were finishing drills.
The defensive backs spent time working on defending the read option and getting downhill.
PLAY OF THE DAY
During 7-on-7, Ian Book found Javon McKinley on a slip screen. McKinley weaved his way through some traffic and took it about 60 yards downfield. Julian Love and a safety caught him inside the 10, but it also looked like all the players were going at about 80%.
It was good to see McKinley make a big play.
A close second would have been Wimbush finding Keys for a deep touchdown on cornerback DJ Brown.
UPS
Quarterback Brandon Wimbush looked sharp. He has improved in the spring with his consistency to get the football to the right spot. Wimbush missed a few screen passes and a check down to a running back, but overall, it was a solid first day for the New Jersey native.
Quarterback Ian Book had a nice day and what we’ve come to expect. He’s going to get the job done and take what the defense gives him. Book didn’t make as many highlight throws as Wimbush or Jurkovec, but he didn’t make as many bad throws.
Receivers Miles Boykin, Chris Finke, Chase Claypool, Michael Young, Lawrence Keys III and Kevin Austin Jr. all stood out. All of them made difficult catches in traffic at points in practice. They are starting to attack the ball more as their confidence grows.
Cole Kmet and Brock Wright made tough catches all day across the middle. Wimbush was looking hard the tight ends today, and it paid off.
Left tackle Aaron Banks looked good.
Drue Tranquill picked off a Wimbush pass, so it was good to see him already making plays from his new position at Buck.
The overall depth in the secondary was noticeable. Julian Love and Troy Pride Jr. had good days. Donte Vaughn made a few plays. At safety, it was sound football today. They weren’t getting beat deep. Freshman Noah Boykin picked off Jurkovec and returned it for six in 7-on-7.
DOWNS
Wimbush and Jurkovec threw interceptions on the day. Both rebounded.
Receivers had drops throughout the day. Alizè Mack, Braden Lenzy, Joe Wilkins Jr., Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool had the most noticeable ones.
The receivers were also not sharp in their assignments. Several plays had receivers in the same spots, which caused bad throws on timing routes. I’ll stress again…it was day one.
The offensive line allowed a little too much pressure during 11-on-11. Once again, if it’s happening in two weeks, it will be something to watch, but without pads, it’s hard to really give too much thought to it.
