Freeman is hopeful WR duo will return soon for Notre Dame
DURHAM, N.C. — The depth of Notre Dame football’s wide receiver corps was tested even further in Saturday night’s 21-14 comeback win at No. 17 Duke.
Freshman Jaden Greathouse, Notre Dame’s second-leading receiver, was held out after straining his hamstring during practice two days earlier.
“He’s a tough kid,” Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman said after the game. “He got out there for warmups, and there was just no way he was going to be able to do it.”
Contingency plans were discussed, but the decision was made to give Greathouse more time to heal.
“We were talking about maybe using him in the red zone, but he just couldn’t with how hard he plays, the way he runs routes,” Freeman said. “It wasn’t what was best for him or for the team.”
Redshirt sophomore Jayden Thomas, who led the Irish through five games in receptions with 13 along with 195 receiving yards and a touchdown, was ruled out before Saturday’s game after suffering a strained hamstring last week against Ohio State.
Freeman expressed optimism that both Greathouse and Thomas would be cleared to practice soon with a trip to unbeaten Louisville up next on Oct. 7.
“I believe (Greathouse) will be back,” Freeman said. “I believe JT will be back. JT was running today in our pregame practice. Just not ready to compete in a game yet. … We were thin. We need those guys to get back for next week.”
In addition, junior wideout Deion Colzie underwent arthroscopic knee surgery on Thursday and his timeline for a return is unclear.
Greathouse, a four-star recruit from Austin, Texas, had 12 catches for 166 yards and three touchdowns through the first five games of his college career. Greathouse had at least two catches in every game, including a two-touchdown debut in the season-opening blowout of Navy on Aug. 26 in Dublin, Ireland.
Notre Dame’s wideouts managed just four catches for 56 yards against Duke’s veteran secondary. Senior Chris Tyree and freshman Rico Flores Jr. split that production down the middle on 10 combined targets (seven for Flores).
Flores also caught a two-point conversion pass in the final minute.
Freshman Tobias Merriweather was targeted four times but had zero catches and incurred a pair of penalties: one for lining up offsides, and another for offensive pass interference on the game-winning drive.
“We didn’t have much depth,” Freeman said. “(Freshman) Braylon James is close. He’s getting there, but he just wasn’t ready today. What you see over the course of the game, you can’t rotate wideouts. They get tired. I’m so proud of the gutsy performance they had out there.”