Sports Journalism Blog

By Chris Schumerth

Sports Capital Journalism Program

NEW ORLEANS—Injuries and their consequences are a fact of football. But not all injuries are created equal.

So far during the 2024 season, Notre Dame—and especially its defense—has been a model for the mantra “Next Man Up.”

Even so, the Fighting Irish will enter their College Football Playoff Quarterfinal matchup against Georgia in the Allstate Sugar Bowl with a glaring gap in their defensive line, as fifth-year defensive tackle Rylie Mills left the first-round playoff victory over Indiana with a knee injury. Mills leads the Irish with 7.5 sacks this season, including three against Florida State.

“You can’t replace Rylie Mills,” Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman said. “Yes, the production, but the leadership, a captain, very similar to the things I said about Benjamin Morrison.” Morrison is an All-American talent at cornerback that Notre Dame lost to injury earlier in the season but who has been replaced admirably by freshman cornerback Leonard Moore.

Perhaps Mills’ absence would be a less-obvious possibility for the Bulldogs to exploit if Notre Dame was not already vulnerable in the defensive line. The Irish have already lost their first- and second string “viper,” a hybrid linebacker/rush end position.

Against Purdue, it was fellow fifth-year senior Jordan Botelho who was lost for the season, but sophomore Boubacar Traore filled that void as aptly as Moore has at cornerback. Traore showed an immediate explosiveness, recording an interception touchdown against the Boilermakers and picking up three total sacks against Purdue and Miami of Ohio.

Traore subsequently tore his left anterior cruciate ligament against Louisville, and redshirt sophomore Joshua Burnham has held down that role ever since. Burnham hasn’t been able to bring down the quarterback in the backfield yet, but he did register a season high five tackles against Stanford.

“I’m really just trying to be like an extra social motivation for them,” Traore, who made the trip south to support his teammates, said about teammates who are healthy and playing in his slot. “Shows them that you care about them.”

Then ever-reliable sixth-year defensive tackle Howard Cross endured a high ankle sprain against Florida State. Cross returned to the field in the first-round playoff victory over Indiana after missing three games, though on paper his playoff production dipped a bit from previous efforts.

Redshirt sophomore Donovan Hinish—brother of former Notre Dame defensive lineman Kurt, who now plays for the Houston Texans—served as Cross’s main replacement, and all he did was pick up three sacks in the Florida State and Virginia games. His total of 3.5 sacks trails only Mills and Cross.

Hinish is expected to pick up at least some of Mills’ reps. “You just got to be more thorough in your preparation if now you’re learning two positions instead of just one,” Hinish said. “You really have to put your head down and go to work.”

Hinish is not actually the guy who shows up as Mills replacement on Notre Dame’s recently-released depth chart. That distinction goes to redshirt junior Gabriel Rubio, who is credited with 14 tackles and a sack. It will be quite the task for him to take on this role against a school that has won two of the last three national championships.

Rubio credited Mills with helping him get ready: “Riley is really good at talking about nuances…he has always been, you know, a part of my learning,” Rubio said. “…Every now and then he drops a little snippet of information…just knowledge that you can’t get anywhere else.”

If Mills is helping Rubio and Hinish with the mental part of the game, it may be redshirt freshmen Armel Mukam, who has only played in two games this season, who will be giving them a break when they need it or who would be next in line if there’s another injury.

“You never know when the opportunity is going to come,” Mukam said. “Just keep your head down and keep working because you never know when your number is going to be called.”

The likelihood has certainly increased that it may be this season that Notre Dame needs Mukam, not to dominate but possibly to at least step onto the field to line up alongside Cross across from Georgia offensive line that has given up the eight-fewest sacks in the country and with two running backs who average five yards a carry.

“You don’t prepare them in a week,” Freeman said about Rubio and Mukam. “They’ve been preparing every single day all season long, and that’s why every rep you do in practice matters and is evaluated. Because you don’t know when that rep is going to be against Georgia.”