NEWSLINK WNDU: “Notre Dame moves up 3 spots; now ranked 11th in the country”
Author: Leprechaun Express - Steve Welsh
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Notre Dame DB Drue Tranquill Out For Season with ACL; Sixth Irish Player Lost
Sophomore Irish defensive back Drue Tranquill, who played a dynamic partial game in a dramatic win over Georgia Tech, is out for the season with a torn ACL to his right knee.
Tranquill likely will undergo surgery in a few weeks, having already had surgery for a torn ACL on his other knee about a year ago. According to a Notre Dame release:
University of Notre Dame head football coach Brian Kelly announced that sophomore safety Drue Tranquill will be out for the remainder of the 2015 season. Tranquill suffered a torn ACL to his right knee in the victory over No. 14 Georgia Tech on Saturday. Tranquill underwent surgery for a torn ACL on his left knee in November 2014.
At his Sunday press conference, Kelly said that there was a hope for some pre-surgery rehab, apparently to help tee up the surgery more effectively, pushing back the new surgery for about two weeks.
Here is a tweet issued by Notre Dame Football media affairs personnel (it might take a moment to load).
Sophomore S Drue Tranquill is out for the season. He suffered a torn ACL (right knee) in win over #14 Georgia Tech. pic.twitter.com/dEET0swk2P
— Michael Bertsch (@NDsidBertschy) September 20, 2015
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Tranquill is a 6-2, 225-pound sophomore safety from Fort Wayne. He played extensively as a freshman, including starting three games as a freshman before suffering a season-ending injury against Louisville, a game in which he also had an interception. Tranquill reportedly started against Georgia Tech because he brought hard-hitting to the contest.
Against Georgia Tech, Tranquill had 4 solo tackles, including 2 tackles for loss, and a pass break-up that helped prevent a touchdown and forced a Georgia Tech field goal attempt that was missed.
Tranquill majors in Engineering, one of the more demanding majors at Notre Dame.
While some media might be quick to jump on the cliche of someone supposedly injuring himself while celebrating, a view of the replay during the game made it look unlikely that Tranquill did so. After participating in a dramatic play, Tranquill simply jumped straight up off the ground in celebration. There was nothing unusual about his movement to suggest that it could have caused an otherwise healthy knee to suddenly become injured. It seems more likely that a latent potential for the injury had somehow been building without the fact being realized, and the injury simply picked that moment to reveal itself. Or perhaps the injury started wanting to emerge during the previous play, and the player jumping in celebration just happened to be the next time that he exerted himself with the knee.
One recalls former Notre Dame quarterback Dayne Crist’s second season-ending injury, which occurred when Crist was simply running out-of-bounds in a natural manner, without being hit, only to then go down with a season-ending injury. Likewise, Crist’s injury seemed to be something that had been building, and was not actually caused by Crist running out-of-bounds at that moment.
As mentioned above, Tranquill actually had his other knee operated on about a year ago. One gathers that the former surgery must have been completely successful, and Tranquill must have demonstrated that he had healed and rehabbed completely from it, to play as strongly as he was. So perhaps there is hope that, after the surgery on the second knee, Tranquill will also rehab successfully and return to the same dynamic intensity and athleticism.
Links & Further Reading
Notre Dame loses S Drue Tranquill (ACL), its sixth player out for season – CBS 9.20.15
Notre Dame safety Drue Tranquill out for season with torn ACL – Sports Illustrated 9.20.15
Notre Dame safety suffers season-ending knee injury – AP/Fox Sports 9.20.15
Drew Tranquill – player bio – UND.com
NEWSLINK UND.com: TRANSCRIPT: Brian Kelly Sunday Press Conference After Notre Dame Victory Over Georgia Tech
Q. Couple questions about Drue Tranquill. Surgery next week to ten days?
COACH KELLY: I asked that question this morning, and probably closer to two weeks. I think Rob Hunt, our trainer, would like to rehab him a little bit first before we have surgery.
Q. I don’t think Max Redfield played yesterday; was that because of his injury or because of the option?
COACH KELLY: Both. You know, we had made a decision that Elijah would be playing, chiefly be middle of the field for us. And then obviously when we went to two-safety look, it was Drue and Matthias’s position. So Max was backing up Elijah Shumate.
So Elijah played very well, and he was in a backup position because of the opt
VIDEO: Brian Kelly Post-Game Press Conference After Notre Dame Victory Over Georgia Tech
Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly meets with the media following Notre Dame’s 30-22 victory over ACC powerhouse Georgia Tech. – click here for transcript.
Proud of my team today; obviously my staff, coaches, I thought we had a very good plan. Our players executed it and beat a very good football team in Georgia Tech. * * * It was a program win today. Having to overcome injuries, playing a very good football team in Georgia Tech this early after two very difficult teams. Really pleased with the way our kids executed in all areas. …
NEWSLINK Chicago Tribune: C.J. Prosise rushes for three TDs as Notre Dame overwhelms Georgia Tech
What’s the best way to usher in a new starting quarterback against a top 15 opponent?
A smothering defensive performance helps. A career-high outing from the starting running back wouldn’t hurt, either.
No. 8 Notre Dame got both in a 30-22 victory Saturday against No. 14 Georgia Tech in front of 80,795 fans at Notre Dame Stadium.
NEWSLINK NBC Sports: “Five things we learned: Notre Dame 30, Georgia Tech 22”
Notre Dame’s defense pulled off a magic trick. In broad daylight, with 80,000 fans watching intently, Brian VanGorder’s defense took the power out of Georgia Tech’s triple-option attack.
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The Irish have a running game. The Irish have a nasty defense. The Irish have a dark-horse Heisman Trophy candidate. That’s more than enough for Notre Dame to make a run with redshirt freshman quarterback DeShone Kizer, and there are more-than-enough chances left on the schedule to prove it.
NEWSLINK South Bend Tribune: “Notre Dame defense makes statement in smothering of Georgia Tech “
Isaac Rochell couldn’t remember when his body ached so much.
And someday maybe the Notre Dame defensive lineman will look back, and the indelible takeaway will be how much that didn’t matter.
No. 8 Notre Dame’s 30-22 smothering of 14th-ranked Georgia Tech Saturday at Notre Dame Stadium — the dominance vandalized by a late, flailing burst of Yellow Jacket offense — didn’t reek of upset, but rather a big-picture big step.
NEWSLINK Fox Sports: “Notre Dame safety Tranquill injures knee after pass breakup”
Notre Dame safety Drue Tranquill sustained a right knee injury while celebrating a pass break up just before halftime against Georgia Tech.
Coach Brian Kelly said it was too early to know how bad the injury is, but that he wasn’t optimistic. Notre Dame already has lost four starters, including quarterback Malik Zaire and running back Tarean Folston, to season-ending injuries and another player who was expected to contribute.