Notre Dame football without key player once again vs Navy

The Notre Dame football team is gearing up for one of its biggest games of the year but the Irish are going to be without one of their key players when they do. Or at the very least, it seems likely they will be without him.

The Irish are taking on the Navy Midshipmen and it certainly seems like this game could end up being close. If it does come down to a kick or two, there’s a chance ND is in a spot of trouble.

Earlier this week, Notre Dame football coach Marcus Freeman said that kicker Mitch Jeter is still questionable to be able to play against Navy. 

Notre Dame football without kicker vs Navy

Jeter injured his right hip following a kickoff in the first half of the Stanford game and hasn't returned to action since then. Junior Zac Yoakam has replaced Jeter on extra points and field goals in the past two games. Yoakam, who also made two extra point attempts in a blowout win over Purdue, has made all nine of his PAT attempts in the past two games.

Jeter made five of his seven field goal attempts for Notre Dame football season before he was injured with both of his misses being blocked. He was 20-of-20 on extra points and averaged 63.3 yards per kickoff with 18 touchbacks on 28 kicks.

While all of those numbers show that the Irish wouldn’t necessarily be worse off without Jeter, the difference between a big miss and a big make can be a win or a loss. The Notre Dame football team would love to have a veteran they specifically went into the portal to get. It doesn’t appear they’ll get their wish.