Brian Kelly gives injury update on Kevin Bauman, Jacob Lacey

Notre Dame is one of many teams this season that needed their bye week to regroup and deal with quite a few injuries. On Monday, Irish head coach Brian Kelly spoke about a few of his backups at positions that have been two of Notre Dame’s strengths this season. 

What is arguably the most talented tight end room in the country has been plagued by misfortune on the injury front. Redshirt freshman Kevin Bauman has been sidelined since the Florida State opener with a leg fracture which required surgery, but he could be ready to return in the coming weeks.

“We think he’s within two weeks, give or take,” Kelly said. “He’ll have another bone scan this week, and then I think we’ll have a really good sense of where that leaves us in terms of exact time frame.”

Like many Notre Dame tight ends, Bauman was a four-star recruit and one of the most coveted at his position in the country in the 2020 class. He saw action in four games last season.

Starting tight end Michael Mayer is reportedly 100% after sitting out against Virginia Tech on Oct. 9. He leads the team in receptions and yards with 32 and 360, respectively. Despite missing a game, Mayer leads Power Five tight ends in receptions and is third in receiving yardage.

Tight end Cane Berrong will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a torn ACL against Virginia Tech, and Mitchell Evans will have to sit out the first half of Saturday’s game after a rare offensive targeting call in the same game.

With the injuries in the position group, Notre Dame has cycled an offensive lineman into the tight end rotation. Left tackle Michael Carmody will serve as the third-string tight end behind Mayer and George Takacs against USC this weekend. Joe Alt, who was a tight end in high school but is now a starter at left tackle, has basically switched positions with Carmody.

Irish could be without defensive line backup against Trojans

On the defensive side of the ball, lineman Jacob Lacey seems to be the only questionable player for Saturday after leaving the Virginia Tech game with an ankle injury.

“I’ll have a better idea [Tuesday] when we move him around,” Kelly said. “He has an ankle sprain. We put him in the boot for three days. He was out [Monday], weight trained. We do a short, 20-30 yard movement, and he looked pretty good there, but we gotta put him out on the field before I can get a better sense of where he’s at.”

Lacey has five tackles on the year and has been a critical backup at both defensive tackle and nose guard, especially when Irish starter Kurt Hinish missed time at the position earlier this season. Lacey is listed on this week’s depth chart behind Jayson Ademilola and Rylie Mills at defensive tackle.

The USC-Notre Dame game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. ET on NBC, and Notre Dame is a touchdown favorite as of Tuesday morning. The last five meetings between these two teams in South Bend have also been primetime contests.