SOUTH BEND — On a Saturday morning when quarterback pressures were plentiful at Notre Dame Stadium, Boubacar Traore loomed ever larger.
The redshirt freshman defensive end from Boston torched Charles Jagusah, the incumbent starting left tackle from the Sun Bowl, for a pair of sacks and another hurry. Those disturbances came with Steve Angeli at quarterback, including a blindside destruction that went for a strip sack even with red-jersey protection.
“I tell Boubacar, ‘Just keep showing up,’ and he keeps showing up,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said. “And that isn’t just against the 3’s and the 2’s. He’s shown up against the 1’s, and so that’s what you want to see: that depth, that competition and those guys that can step up and make plays.”
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Listed at 6-foot-4 and 240 pounds, Traore accounted for a quarter of the eight unofficial sacks Al Golden’s defense managed on 53 drop-backs. Others who got home with Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard watching and pantomiming from a safe distance: defensive tackles Rylie Mills (two sacks), Jason Onye and Sean Sevillano Jr.; linebacker Drayk Bowen and nickelback Jordan Clark.
Vypers Jordan Botelho and Josh Burnham also gave right tackles Tosh Baker and Aamil Wagner all they could handle in an 80-snap exercise that saw Angeli throw a pair of interceptions and Kenny Minchey throw another.
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Cornerback Jaden Mickey, jumping Kris Mitchell’s out route, took the first one back for a 75-yard touchdown, and All-America safety Xavier Watts victimized Minchey (and young tight end Cooper Flanagan) for a 65-yard score.
Redshirt freshman safety Adon Shuler, shaking off an earlier steamrolling by running back Jeremiyah Love, closed out the scrimmage with a tumbling interception in the flat of an Angeli rollout pass from the plus 7-yard-line.
No doubt some of the offensive struggles were due to the absences of Leonard, tight ends Mitchell Evans and Kevin Bauman; and slot receivers Jayden Harrison (left foot plantar fasciitis), Jayden Thomas (hamstring) and Jordan Faison (lacrosse).
But a third spring in Golden’s scheme had something to do with Saturday’s ugliness as well.
“It’s an NFL, pro-style defense,” Freeman said. “They’re going to get every look imaginable. They’re not playing against a Marcus Freeman defense that you’re going to see a couple different things. You’re going to see everything with Al Golden.”
More of that will be on display on April 20 in the Blue-Gold Game.
“This is going to be one of the best defenses in the country,” Freeman said. “That’s what our offense is going against every day. This is going to make our offensive team better.”
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for NDInsider.com and is on social media @MikeBerardino.
