Notre Dame football loses breakout defensive star for the rest of the season, brings major questions for the Irish defense

As it was feared, Notre Dame redshirt freshman pass rusher Boubacar Traore is officially out for the rest of the 2024 season due to a left knee injury. Traore left their contest against Louisville a couple of weekends ago, appearing to injure that knee in a non-contact situation. Anytime something like that happens, there is usually not a positive outcome that follows.

A former member of the 2023 recruiting class, Traore played seldomly as a true freshman last fall, helping to preserve his redshirt. As a fanbase, we still got a glimpse of what Traore can accomplish when he was able to sack former USC quarterback Caleb Williams during the Irish victory. He was viewed as a developmental player that needed time, and we have seen just how talented he is this season, that development clearly taking place.

For a couple of games in a row this season, Traore had an argument as one of the top players for the Notre Dame team overall. On the season, he had recorded 11 total tackles, five tackles for loss, and three sacks. Traore also forced a fumble, and an interception that he returned for a touchdown.

The Vyper position was a major question mark for Notre Dame heading into the season. With the breakout of Traore, as well as the outstanding play of Jordan Botelho, it had suddenly become a major strength for the team. Botelho was lost a couple of weeks ago due to a knee injury, which was a major blow. With the loss of Traore now, that position has a lot more doubt.

Without Traore, the Irish will be leaning on Junior Tuihalamaka moving forward. We could also see true freshman Loghan Thomas get increased reps as well, and that would be huge from a pass rush perspective. It will also be interesting to see if Notre Dame utilizes other options to supplement some of that production.

It would not be surprising to see linebackers Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa and Jaylen Sneed get some increased reps on the edge on obvious pass rush downs, which we have already seen in the past. With Joshua Burnham set to return, we could also see some big ends utilized at Vyper as well, which would be a major help to the defense.