SOUTH BEND — Right guard Billy Schrauth, out since suffering a sprained right ankle early in Week 3 at Purdue, is available again for Notre Dame football.
Whether that means the third-year lineman returns to the starting lineup this week remains to be seen, Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman said Monday ahead of Saturday’s Top 25 showdown with Navy.
“Billy Schrauth will be available, but in a role to be determined,” Freeman said. “That will be based off this week’s practice. Not 100% sure what his role will be yet.”
Graduate junior Rocco Spindler, who has 14 career starts at right guard, replaced Schrauth in the first quarter of the 66-7 win at Purdue and has been inconsistent.
According to Pro Football Focus, Spindler struggled against Louisville (43.1 overall rating) and was so-so against Georgia Tech (56.5), but the 6-foot-5, 331-pounder also was a mauler against Miami (Ohio) and Stanford (87.5 overall, 91.2 on run blocks).
Schrauth, who has six career starts, excelled in pass blocking before being injured. He allowed just one pressure, a hurry against Northern Illinois, in two-plus games this year.
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Asked Oct. 8 about Schrauth’s impending return, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock offered praise for the 6-5, 310-pounder from Campbellsport, Wis.
“It’s just the demeanor that he plays with, the toughness that he plays with,” Denbrock said. “It just makes us better. It just does. … We’re anxious to have him back.”
As for how the dominoes would fall from there, Denbrock didn’t speculate.
“I just want to get him back, and we’ll worry about that (then),” Denbrock said. “It’ll be an interesting competition and some hard decisions that have to be made when he is healthy enough to kick it into gear and come back.”
Redshirt freshman Sam Pendleton has started all seven games at left guard but trails Spindler by a solid margin in the analytics for all guards with at least 200 offensive snaps. According to Pro Football Focus, Spindler is tied for 115th in overall guard rating (66.4) and Pendleton is 165th (63.0).
Spindler is 50th nationally in run blocking (70.2) and tied for 168th in pass blocking (67.7). Pendleton ranks 103rd (65.3) and tied for 213th (61.8) in those categories, respectively, while pairing with freshman left tackle Anthonie Knapp.
According to Freeman, Schrauth was able to participate in a limited role with the scout team last week. That marked his return to “actual football stuff,” Freeman said, as opposed to rehab work on the side at practice.
“This week it will increase more,” Freeman said.
Kicker Mitch Jeter, the South Carolina grad transfer, remains questionable after giving way to walk-ons Zac Yoakam (placements) and Eric Goins (kickoffs) at Georgia Tech and for the bulk of the win over Stanford.
“We’ll see if he can give it a go,” Freeman said. “He tried to warm up (at Tech) but wasn’t able to feel like he could contribute in a way he needed to.”
Yoakam, in his third year, made a 42-yard field goal in his first career attempt but had a 46-yard attempt blocked later in the fourth quarter against Georgia Tech. Yoakam has made all 13 of his career point-after attempts.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.

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