Notre Dame Reportedly Suffered Major Injury Blow This Week
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - DECEMBER 29: A Notre Dame Fighting Irish cheerleader waves a flag during the College Football Playoff Semifinal Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic against the Clemson Tigers at AT&T Stadium on December 29, 2018 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Notre Dame football has struggled to get big plays from its wide receivers this season. Today's injury news won't alleviate that issue.
According to Pete Sampson
A source tells The Athletic that Kevin Austin re-injured his foot in practice this week and is expected to miss the remainder of the season.
A major blow to Notre Dame’s attempt to make progress in the passing game.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) October 24, 2020
" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">of The Athletic, Notre Dame junior wide receiver Kevin Austin re-injured his foot in practice this week and is expected to be out for the rest of the season. This is a massive loss, considering Austin only returned from injury two weeks ago.
As a freshman in 2018, Austin showed flashes of potential while catching five passes for 90 yards. However, he missed the entire 2019 campaign due to an unspecified disciplinary issue.
A broken foot kept Austin out of the first two games of this year, but he returned for the win over Florida State on Oct. 10. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native caught one pass for 18 yards in last week's win over Louisville.
Notre Dame is 4-0 but mostly on the strength of its rushing attack. Ian Book has thrown for only 714 yards in four games, and no player has more than 10 receptions.
Furthermore, no wide receiver has caught more than seven passes for the Irish. If Notre Dame wishes to challenge Clemson in the ACC this season, they have to find a way to get more production out of their wideouts.
The Irish take on Pittsburgh this afternoon at 3:30 p.m. ET on ABC.
