SOUTH BEND — There will be no disappointment, right? No upset win like against Marshall. No last-second escape like against Toledo. No chance that the No. 5 Notre Dame football team will be so happy with its Week 1 performance (and road win) against Texas A&M that it will forget to work this week before its home opener against Northern Illinois.
No chance, right? It’s still so early in the college football season, so there’s still a chance. It might be slim, but… we still don’t know, even though we think we do.
Below are four players to keep an eye on in Saturday’s game between Notre Dame and Northern Illinois.
Activities in the depth chart: Notre Dame football lineup vs. Northern Illinois on Saturday in South Bend
NORTHERN ILLINOIS (1-0)
CB Jawaugh Byrd (2)
The tackle total has declined each of the last two seasons for Byrd, a 6-foot-4, 195-pound senior from Milwaukee, but that’s how it should be for any cover corner who can, well, cover.
Opposing teams have learned that it’s best not to test Byrd. He finished last season with 32 tackles (nine solo) and was named to the All-Mid-American Conference second team. His eight pass defenses ranked him second for the Huskies. He was the team’s leading player with three interceptions.
Byrd has played in 36 games in his career and been a starter in 27 of them, but he may face one of his biggest challenges Saturday in South Bend. Notre Dame can unleash receivers in waves. Maybe it’s the speedy Jayden Harrison in one series or the lanky Beaux Collins in the next. Or a physical tight end receiver like Jayden Thomas. Byrd, who was named to the All-MAC first team in the preseason, managed just two tackles in the opening game against Western Illinois. The Leathernecks likely see Byrd as a counter. They know what he can do.
The same may be true for the Irish.
WR Travon Rudolph (3)
Rudolph is a guy that has to be included in any game strategy against any opponent. In any shape or form. Get him the ball. Get him into open space or into a crowded space and let him figure out what he’s doing. He usually does that by either running with the ball, catching it or returning it.
The former walk-on – and All-American freshman – is showing the skills that will lead him to excel as a prep quarterback in Crete, Illinois, not far from South Bend.
The 5-foot-10, 195-pound redshirt senior Rudolph caught four balls for 104 yards (43 after the catch) and scored a touchdown against Western Illinois last week. He also ran twice for 67 yards (long, 60) and scored another touchdown. That’s Rudolph, who entered his final season with 1,660 yards receiving (on 116 catches) and 1,388 yards on kick returns on 58 attempts.
The scary thing is that he might be getting better. Who did the Huskies name as the player who made the most progress after the spring game? Rudolph.
Dynamtie debut: Things are looking good for Notre Dame Football after the win at Texas A&M
No. 5 Notre Dame (1-0)
WR Beaux-Collins (5)
There is simply a bond, a kinship, an understanding between old people, veterans, experienced people.
Collins had done it in the opening game against Texas A&M with fellow graduate Riley Leonard. By the end of the game in College Station, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound Collins had five catches for 55 yards, the most on his team. Collins was one of nine Irish to make at least one catch in the crazy atmosphere of Kyle Field and led the team in number of catches (seven).
When the quarterback needed him, he often found him. Like on the decisive drive, when Leonard looked wide left and found Collins for 20 yards. A lot of it was Collins doing an old man’s job. Put money down, catch money.
Notre Dame could use a new player this month. That player could be Collins, who caught 91 passes for 1,290 yards and 11 touchdowns during his career at Clemson. He plays with a swagger not seen at the position since Chase Claypool. He was good as a veteran, too.
CB Christian Grey (29)
When you’re a sophomore making your first collegiate appearance alongside an All-American captain and well-known front man (Benjamin Morrison), you better be prepared.
The 6-foot-4, 195-pound Gray was ready against Texas A&M. He lost some duels, but he also won some. He finished with two tackles and two passes defended and fit seamlessly into the Irish defense that put pressure on the team in the second half.
The moment wasn’t too big for Gray, especially in the ensuing Texas A&M series after the decisive Irish score. Then, on fourth-and-2 from the Aggie 33, Gray jumped over an inside slant route from Jahdae Walker and broke up a pass from Conner Weigman.
That’s what we should have expected from Gray, who as a true freshman had 11 tackles with nine solos, two pass breakups and a pick. He had a personal best three tackles with a PBU in the Sun Bowl. It was a preview of what was to come, of what we are seeing now.
Follow South Bend Tribune and NDInsider columnist Tom Noie on Twitter: @tnoieNDI. Contact: (574) 235-6153.
