Notre Dame linebacker Bo Bauer out for season due to injury
One of Notre Dame’s captains will miss the rest of the season. Grad student linebacker Bo Bauer suffered a knee injury in Tuesday’s practice that will end his 2022 campaign, head coach Marcus Freeman said Thursday.
“Bo will be out for the year,” Freeman said. “Devastating because he’s a captain, provides so much, more than just production, just the energy and ability to motivate our players. It’s going to be a tremendous loss for us.”
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Bauer had played in five games this season, making one start. He had 9 tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss and blocked a punt. He has played 56 career games with zero career absences. He needed to appear in 11 contests this year to break the program record for career games played, which 2017-21 defensive tackle Kurt Hinish set last season with 61.
The ticket to Bauer getting on the field as a freshman in 2018 was special teams. He logged 145 snaps on coverage units that season, per Pro Football Focus, playing on punt return, kick returns and kickoff coverage. He added punt coverage in 2019 and has played all four units each season. He logged at least 230 special-teams snaps each of the last three years and led Notre Dame with 102 this season.
All told, Bauer has played 1,014 special-teams snaps. He led the team in that category every season from 2019-21.
Bauer’s best defensive season came in 2021. He finished sixth on the team in tackles (47), adding 4 TFLS, 1.5 sacks, 5 pass breakups and 1 interception in 13 games. He made one start and played 354 defensive snaps. He returned for the 2022 season using the COVID-19 bonus year.
Without Bauer, Freeman said sophomore linebacker Prince Kollie will see an increase in playing time. Kollie has 4 tackles and 1 sacks in 18 snaps this season. Freshman Junior Tuihalamaka (7 defensive snaps this year) could see a bump as well.
“He played really, really well last game [vs. BYU],” Freeman said of Kollie. “He’s a guy we want to try and continue to get on the field more. Junior, we’ll see more of him too. You’ll see him play in a couple different packages.”
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Freshman Jaylen Sneed, the highest-ranked recruit in Notre Dame’s 2022 class, traveled with the team to Las Vegas for the win over BYU but did not play. Freeman said Bauer’s injury won’t yet open the door for him to play on defense.
“Don’t see him right now being part of the defensive package yet for this game [vs. Stanford], but he’s going to have the opportunity hopefully as the year goes on to get on the field,” Freeman said.
Bauer is the second Notre Dame captain to suffer a season-ending injury since August. Grad student wide receiver Avery Davis tore his ACL in preseason camp.
“You hurt so much for a guy like Bo who gives everything to this place,” Freeman said. “He’s an emotional leader. He’s a captain. He’s unselfish. He’s a guy I coached last year one on one being in the linebacker room. You feel so bad for him.
“But you know what? You have to look at your team and say, ‘It’s the next guy’s opportunity.’ No matter if it’s on special teams or defense, you got to be ready to go. And that’s why depth is so important.”
