Logan Diggs Is Ready For An Expanded Role

When Notre Dame running back Logan Diggs jumped over Virginia cornerback Anthony Johnson on the sidelines to finish off a 26-yard run, he surprised even himself.

Johnson is 6-foot-2.

It looked like Diggs had two options. Barrel into Johnson and try to get a few extra yards or run out-of-bounds.

The third option was the superman leap.

Diggs wasn’t planning on it, it was just instinctive. Diggs said Johnson tried to tackle him low on a previous play. That’s why he went for the leap.

Johnson did put his shoulder down to try to tackle Diggs, but he got nothing but air, and it fired up his teammates.

“Everyone was so excited,” Diggs said, “but it was like my third or fourth time doing it. It was kind of normal for me. Once I went back and watched the video, though, it like, ‘ Damn.’”

Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said he’s glad to have a guy like Diggs who can leap over tall defenders.

“If he can do it, do it,” Rees said. “I was never fortunate enough to be able to do it.”

Diggs said that he jumped over defenders in a similar manner in high school three times. In Louisiana, it’s illegal to hurdle a defender in high school.

Diggs got away with it twice. A penalty was called against him his senior year when he did it that cost his team the game, Diggs said.

Those kinds of plays by Diggs, a 6-foot, 215-pound freshman, are why Notre Dame fans are excited about what’s in store at running back.

Losing Kyren Williams to the NFL hurts. Getting more playing time for Diggs lessens the blow.

Diggs has rushed for 201 yards on 43 carries with three touchdowns.

He has worked himself into a position where he’ll likely get equal reps with sophomore Chris Tyree for the Oklahoma State game. Tyree’s season has been slowed down by a turf toe injury.

For Diggs, who is supremely confident, it was just a matter of time.

Diggs is ahead of the Williams’ curve. Williams was redshirted as a freshman after playing in just four games.

Diggs said he had a setback in fall camp after he was quarantined because of Covid-19 protocols. Rees said Diggs wasn’t available for the first game because of the issue.

Diggs didn’t get his first carry until the Virginia Tech game, which was the last game of the first half of the season.

Tyree injured his toe in that game and Williams had a minor injury that kept him on the bench for part of it.

Diggs said it wasn’t easy watching from the sidelines for six weeks.

“It was tough,” Diggs said of not playing. “I had to sit out the whole first half of the season. I knew I was going to get a couple of carries against Virginia Tech. When Kyren and Chris got hurt, I had to step up. I had prepared hard all week so I was ready to go.”

Rees said the plan all along was to get Diggs on the field because he was impressive in fall camp.

He would’ve played earlier than the Virginia Tech game but Covid set him back. Rees said he had to prove himself over again in practice after he missed two weeks because of the Covid protocols.

“It was like coming out of camp, ‘You’re ready to go,” Rees said. ‘Let’s go. You’re up.’ Then there was another adjustment (because of Covid). He had to get back to how he was practicing. We got him back to how he was practicing and then you saw him come to life a little bit by necessity. The plan was to have him play. He was going to play.”

Rees said that Diggs has fast-tracked the running back learning curve. He’s picking up blitzes and he’ll be a good receiver. Diggs has only caught two passes but that will change.

“His natural vision and shiftiness-we had nothing to do with that,” Rees said. “What Coach Lance (Taylor) has done with him is to mentally prepare him week-in-and-week out. Seeing him come out of the backfield and make plays in the passing game and see him recognize protections and pick people up. That's been the process for him. The other stuff was given to him. He has natural ability and it’s our job to make sure we maximize it.”

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge