Notre Dame suffers season ending losses to key pieces

 

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame takes care of Purdue in 57-point win but at the expense of season ending injuries.

During Saturday's game against the Boilermakers, everything seemed to click regardless of who stepped on the field.

Unfortunately, the Irish would lose three key players. Head Coach Marcus Freeman went through the list of injuries during his Monday press conference. On the offensive line, Right Guard Billy Schrauth will miss a "few weeks" and Center Ashton Craig will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.

"The job that coach Rudolph has done with that offensive line you know, to have Pat Coogan go in there, and Rocco Spindler, you know, I said this after the game, but two guys that could easily, you know, didn't get what they wanted after fall camp. They wanted to be the starters. They weren't, and they prepared, and they were great teammates and leaders for that room, and now they're in there," Freeman said.

Replacing Craig at Center is Billy Schrauth. Rocco Spindler will step in at Right Guard. The two combined for 23 starts in 2023.

On the defensive line, playing the Vyper position, Senior Jordan Botelho has found success this season with 12 tackles and a sack. His production continued in West Lafayette Saturday before being carted off the field.

"Jordan Botelho's a great player. It was playing his best ball since I've been here. You feel awful for the kid. Feel awful for him and but you have to continue to move forward, right? And that's why you have depth," Freeman added.

It wasn't hard to fill Botelho's spot with Boubacar Traore, who made his presence felt in the win over Purdue. His final stat line was two tackles, one sack, and an interception returned for his first touchdown of the season.

Returning from a week one ankle injury is sophomore receiver Jordan Faison.