SOUTH BEND — Notre Dame football opens fall training camp on Thursday Aug. 6 amid sky-high expectations, both national and internal.
Even Pete Bevacqua, the Irish’s third-year director of athletics, told a local podcast this is the most he’s looked forward to any football season since the fall of 1989, his freshman year on campus.
“We had just come off being national champions,” Bevacqua told Irish Illustrated. “We had Tony Rice coming back, (Michael) Stonebreaker. We had that unbelievable backfield. … And I remember coming here and showing up for my freshman year thinking, ‘This is going to be a really fun year.’ I’m that excited again.”
Toward that end, here are five burning questions coach Marcus Freeman and Co. must answer in the coming weeks before the season opens on Sunday, Sept. 6 against Wisconsin at Green Bay’s Lambeau Field.
Who is QB2?
CJ Carr returns for what should be his second and final season as the starting quarterback, but who will the Irish anoint as Carr’s primary backup heading into the opener?
It’s a three-horse derby at this point between second-year man Blake Hebert and freshmen Noah Grubbs and Teddy Jarrard.
“You have to name a backup quarterback by Week One,” Freeman said recently. “Now, that doesn’t mean that backup quarterback is going to be backup quarterback week two, three, or four. We’ll have a process and a system to evaluate all three of those guys and we’ll have to name a backup quarterback for the first game.”
Kenny Minchey, you may recall, transferred to Kentucky last offseason.
Who starts at center?
Joe Otting has held things down admirably ever since Ashton Craig suffered his second ACL tear in as many seasons last October against N.C. State.
Craig would seem to have the higher upside, but will he be ready to reclaim his old job in time for the opening assignment? And if Otting takes the starting job into the season, how hard would he be to supplant if he keeps taking care of business?
And while we’re talking offensive line drama, will it be Sullivan Absher or Matty Augustine starting off the year at right guard? The Irish used two right guards, Absher and Guerby Lambert (now at right tackle), in the 2025 opener at Miami.
Who are this year’s team captains?
Four of the traditional six choices already seem obvious, based on who joined Freeman in New York City for the annual media whirlwind in mid-July.
Carr and returning All-America cornerback Leonard Moore were there along with returning defensive captains Drayk Bowen (linebacker) and Adon Shuler (safety).
Beyond that, the Irish have no shortage of solid options, including Jordan Faison and Anthonie Knapp on offense and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, Jaylen Sneed, Tae Johnson and Pittsburgh transfer Francis Brewu (among others) on the nation’s most experienced returning defense.
Then again, there’s nothing that says the Irish have to cap their captains list at six.
How good is DJ McKinney?
The Colorado graduate transfer, who started his college career at Oklahoma State with former Irish nickelback Thomas Harper, enrolled in June.
McKinney has plenty of catching up to do after multiyear starting corner Christian Gray bumped inside for the bulk of spring practice. If Gray completes that transition, or even if he shares the role with second-year man Dallas Golden, the spotlight will find McKinney out wide as he tries to give co-defensive coordinator Aaron Henry another lock-down corner to go with Moore.
Is the kicking problem fixed?
With Purdue transfer Spencer Porath on hand, it certainly seemed that way during the spring. Still, every competitive kicking period in which Porath and freshman Micah Drescher swap strikes will be closely monitored.
It has to be that way after injuries and inconsistency made every Irish field goal try (and some extra points) a coin flip for large chunks of the past two seasons.
Same for Australian punter Jasper Scaife, who took on the holding chores for placements in the spring along with succeeding countryman James Rendell after two seasons.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Five burning questions Notre Dame football must answer this August
Reporting by Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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By Mike Berardino, South Bend Tribune | USA TODAY Network
