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Already iffy Notre Dame Football offense suffers massive loss

By Oliver Vandervoort

Dec 30, 2022; Jacksonville, FL, USA;Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Mitchell Evans (88) celebrates his touchdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the fourth quarter in the 2022 Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 30, 2022; Jacksonville, FL, USA;Notre Dame Fighting Irish tight end Mitchell Evans (88) celebrates his touchdown against the South Carolina Gamecocks in the fourth quarter in the 2022 Gator Bowl at TIAA Bank Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-USA TODAY Sports /
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A Notre Dame Football offense that has already had some issues this season just lost their top receiver in both yards and catches.

Feeling good about the Notre Dame Football win against Pittsburgh? Savor that moment because some very bad news hit on Monday morning.

During Marcus Freeman’s press conference on Monday, he delivered the news that Fighting Irish fans were fearing. Star tight end Mitchell Evans‘ injury against Pitt wasn’t a minor one. In fact, he’s officially out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

While this particular news is not something that was all that surprising, there was some hope that it wouldn’t be that serious. However, even after the game, Freeman made it clear that the Fighting Irish might be without Evans for quite a while.

The Evans injury also reverses what had been a string of relative luck by Notre Dame Football when it came to injuries. While the Irish did have a few players banged up here and there, including two of their top receivers, they hadn’t had anyone missing the season.

Evans’ injury is absolutely a blow for the Notre Dame Football offense considering the tight end was in the midst of a breakout season. Evans was even emerging as one of the best tight ends in college football. PFF has him with the third-highest grade at the position and he has the fourth most yards out of any tight end in the country.

Notre Dame Football needs to find a replacement for Mitchell Evans

Evans had 29 catches for 422 yards and a touchdown on the season. That included 5 catches for 66 yards against Pitt before he got hurt.  Now that he’s gone, it’s not entirely clear where the Irish offense might turn to next.

Holden Staes and Eli Raridon look like they’ll be “next men up.” Though neither one has the same total skillset that Evans has. That means a Notre Dame Football offense that was struggling even with Evans as a Sam Hartman safety net, if going to have to adapt quickly with Clemson on the horizon.

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