Thin Notre Dame football position group takes another hit ahead of NIU game
A position group that can hardly stand to lose another body, is without another body on Saturday afternoon. That's the bad news. The good news is that if there is a game on the schedule where the Notre Dame football team should be able to cope with a little lack of depth, it would be against Northern Illinois.
Just head of the Fighting Irish's game against the Huskies, the team announced that backup senior offensive lineman Tosh Baker is out for Saturday's game. The injury is a shoulder problem, though beyond that, there isn't any more information.
The @NDFootball availability update for this afternoon’s game vs. NIU (3:30 p.m. ET, NBC/Peacock):
— Notre Dame Football PR Team (@NDFootballPR) September 7, 2024
Senior offensive lineman Tosh Baker (shoulder) is unavailable for the game today.
All other student-athletes listed on the Notre Dame two-deep this week are available.
The announcement is a bit of a surprise for Notre Dame football considering he was not listed on their injury list earlier in the week. Head coach Marcus Freeman also did not announce any such injury during any of his press conferences.
Baker, of course, was thought to be the guy when Charles Jagusah went down but he lost the starting job battle to Anthonie Knapp during fall camp. Knapp then went out and played very, very well against Texas A&M in Week 1, cementing his starting spot.
Notre Dame football out Tosh Baker for Northern Illinois
Is the injury going to be a big worry this week? Almost certainly not. However, one has to wonder just how severe the shoulder might be.
There are a few games on the schedule a little further down the list that could be huge if Baker can't play. There is also the fact that Notre Dame football can hardly afford to take many more hits on that position group.