After a key guy goes down for season, where does Notre Dame football offensive line turn?

SOUTH BEND − Nobody wore black.

Nobody stood in silence or sought a sympathetic shoulder for support. Nobody shed a tear or wondered how all that looked so right only three days earlier could go so wrong.

In other words, nobody died. It was business as usual Tuesday morning for Notre Dame football.

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It may have felt funeral-like on Monday when Notre Dame, a potential Top 10 team, a certain College Football Playoff participant, announced that it had lost its starting left offensive tackle, sophomore Charles Jagusah, for the entire 2024 season. Jagusah, whose next regular-season start at left tackle would be his first regular-season start at left tackle, suffered a right pectoral injury Saturday that needed season-ending surgery.

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The reaction was predictable. The Irish are doomed. A season that could be special cannot even get out of August. How does an offensive line already suspect recover?

Outside the walls of Notre Dame football, it made for curious content and mindless message board banter (This season’s shot!) for a few hours. Inside Irish football, it was a non-issue.

Jagusah’s gone, but not forgotten while fifth-year veteran Tosh Baker is the new starting left tackle. Put it in pen. It’s permanent. Notre Dame moves on from Jagusah and moves forward with Baker.

“Obviously, it sucks,” left guard Pat Coogan said of Jagusah’s injury. “On Saturday, it’s a low moment; it’s a sad moment.”

But…

“We reload; we reset,” Coogan said. “We take a deep breath and we’re like, let’s get back to work. That’s the nature of the game. It’s a beast of a game and that’s what happens.”

The offensive line was going to be an area of interest for just about everyone with a…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/key-guy-goes-down-season-183902447.html

Author : South Bend Tribune

Publish date : 2024-08-06 18:39:02

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