How this Notre Dame football player can break a program record in 2022
Former Notre Dame defensive tackle Kurt Hinish, he of black face-paint on game days and loving all things Fighting Irish football fame, might only last a year as the program’s all-time record holder for games played. There is a current Irish player closing the gap with a chance to surpass it in a bowl game.
That player is graduate student safety Houston Griffith, who appeared in his 58th game in a Notre Dame uniform in the Irish’s win over Clemson on Nov. 5. Hinish played in 61 games for Notre Dame from 2017-21. Griffith needs to play in every regular season game plus the bowl to break Hinish’s record and finish his career with 62 games played.
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Four other current Irish players appear in the top 10 in this statistical category. They’re all graduate students. Through Week 10, sixth-year offensive lineman Josh Lugg and fifth-year linebacker Bo Bauer have played in 57 games. Bauer tore his ACL in October. His career is finished. Had he stayed healthy, he’d have not missed a game in his five-year career and finished with 65 games played if he appeared in every regular season game plus a bowl.
Fifth-year defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola has played in 53 career games through Week 10. Fifth-year cornerback TaRiq Bracy has played in 52.
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The extra year of eligibility granted to all student-athletes who performed in the 2020 season heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic has allowed for these sorts of records to be smashed. Former Irish defensive lineman Daelin Hayes (2016-20) tied the previous games played record of 52 in 2020. He shared it with Romeo Okwara (2012-15) and Drue Tranquill (2014-18) for one year before Hinish and kicker Jonathan Doerer (2017-21) flew past that trio at the end of the 2021 season. Doerer played in 55 Notre Dame games.
If nothing else, the pandemic let Notre Dame fans hang on to the careers of some recent Irish players just a tad bit longer. It has allowed those players one more year to do the thing they love at the place they love to do it, too.
**This Notre Dame football article will appear in the next magazine issue of Blue & Gold Illustrated. Sign up for a subscription or order a single issue here.**
