SOUTH BEND ― Coming into the 2024 season, Notre Dame football had one linebacker starting spot secured in graduate senior Jack Kiser.
The other two were up for grabs amongst a host of younger faces, with mainly sophomores and freshmen battling through spring and fall camp to determine who’d earn those starting spots.
Sophomore Drayk Bowen ended up nabbing one of those positions, becoming a key fixture from his MIKE linebacker spot. He’ll have to continue his solid performances Wednesday when the No. 7 Irish (12-1) face No. 7 Georgia (11-2) in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals at the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans (8:45 p.m. ET, ESPN).
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“He’s just steady, right?” said Notre Dame defensive coordinator Al Golden of Bowen. “Consistent and continuous improvement ― really, really hard concept for young people. Easy to talk about, but really hard to do. To be the same guy every day and to continue to progress and make the journey.”
Bowen came to Notre Dame after winning the 2022 Indiana Mr. Football Award at Andrean High School, located in the northwest Indiana city of St. John. He was a two-sport star for the 59ers, something he’s carried over to his time with the Irish as well. He saw sparing playing time for Notre Dame baseball last spring, mostly used as a pinch runner for a rebuilding Irish program.
He saw the football field as a freshman in 12 of 13 games in 2023, but didn’t start. Used in special teams primarily, he finished the season with 14 tackles.
The graduations of JD Bertrand and Marist Liufau created competition at the linebacker spot this offseason, though, and Bowen was able to capitalize on it. He’s just one of six Notre Dame players to start all 13 games played so far this season, recording 56 tackles (third best on the team) and one sack.
“The biggest challenge was learning all the different offenses you’re going to see each week,” said Bowen of becoming a full-time starter. “No offense is really the same. They’re all specializing in one or two runs that have some similarities in them, but they’re all not the same. Week to week, that’s the biggest challenge: breaking down which team is doing what.
“Throughout the year, you see so many things that you kind of get ready for everything and have an answer for everything.”
While Kiser is the leader of the linebacking corps, Bowen steps in and signals the play calls to his teammates when Kiser is not on the field. It’s expected for Bowen to take over those duties full-time for next season.
“He’s calling it better when he has the green dot,” said Golden, referencing the button on helmets for the players on the field who call in the plays. “I just think he’s so much better with his hands, getting off blocks and seeing it. I’m just really excited about him and for him because he’s put a lot into it.”
While Bowen and junior Jaylin Sneed ultimately won the starting linebacker spots, the Irish have used a five-man rotation for the bulk of the season at the position, rotating in freshman Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and sophomore Jaiden Ausberry.
That took a hit late in the season, though, when Viliamu-Asa went down with a right knee injury. He missed the regular season finale against USC and first playoff game against Indiana, and is questionable to play Wednesday against Georgia.
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“He was an integral part, and it was hard to not have him,” said Bowen of Viliamu-Asa. “We changed up our rotation a little bit, and hopefully we’ll get him back at some point. … We’ve slowly gotten adjusted to a new rotation and having four linebackers right now.”
While the stakes of a College Football Playoff are much higher, Bowen knows what its like to make lengthy postseason runs in football. He won a Class 2A state championship at Andrean in 2021 and was state runner-up in 2022.
That’s 15 consecutive games each fall respectively, which is one shy of the number of contests Notre Dame would play should they reach the national championship game.
“Going those extra six games in high school … just knowing the wear-and-tear it’s going to take on your body and knowing you have to be proactive and recover,” Bowen said. “I think that’s the biggest thing, just knowing how much hurt it’s going to take on your body. And it takes even more in college because you’re taking bigger hits.”
