The Irish were in Notre Dame stadium today and the focus was more on details than competition for a majority of practice. Things ramped up at the end, though, as the Irish got after it and left me excited about what I saw from several players.

Let’s get to it…

- We can start with Brandon Wimbush. I and everyone else had a better chance to watch him today because of where we were situated watching practice. It was a bit concerning seeing him perform at the beginning of the day, although he bounced back later on.

His first five throws of the day he either sailed it over the running back’s head or put it into the dirt on a simple flare route. There was a big difference between him, Ian Book and Phil Jurkovec doing this. They were far more accurate.

Shortly after they were doing drills where they were throwing it at a target and Wimbush was again erratic. Extremely erratic. I don’t think it had anything to do with mechanics. I believe it wasn’t that because later on he got settled down and started to be on target. I thought he had to take some zip off the ball to do so, though. He doesn’t look comfortable letting it rip.

Obviously his misses are going to be amplified because of his struggles last year so when he missed a wide open Jafar Armstrong in team for what could have been a huge gain, that’s going to stand out. It wasn’t like he didn’t make some good throws and good decisions as well. He made a terrific scramble play escaping what should have been a sack by Khalid Kareem and Jonathan Bonner and turned it into a positive gain.

- Unfortunately the inconsistency throwing the ball is what I and most others who watched him will remember most. Book was far more accurate than Wimbush today and did a better job of moving the second team offense when on the field.

The biggest difference in ball placement. Book gave his receivers and backs more of a chance to make a play and it made a difference. We’ll see what happens in the next couple of weeks, but more days like this one and it will be tough to not play Book over Wimbush versus Michigan.

- I really only got see Phil Jurkovec throw the football during drill work, but his ball placement was the best out of the group. His velocity on the football was also at a different level. The ball got there in a hurry on slants. It’s tough to get him reps in team at this point with what is happening in front of him on the depth chart.

There’s a lot to be excited about with him physically, though. It’s impossible to say about how he has grasped things mentally so far.

- Jeff Quinn seems like he lost his voice and he was extremely vocal today despite that. He was pushing his offensive lineman hard.

- It’s really difficult to get a good view of what is going on with the interior of the line, but in ones versus ones in team the duo of Jerry Tillery and Jonathan Bonner seemed to get the better of Sam Mustipher, Trevor Ruhland (in at right guard), and Alex Bars.

Tillery and Bonner weren’t getting a ton of penetration, but they held up well at the point of attack and allowed Te’von Coney the freedom to make tackles. Coney looked fantastic versus the inside run in the first chance we’ve seen him go up against that so far. That wasn’t surprising to see, although I was surprised to see him wear a hoodie under his pads in 82 degree weather.

Coney also jumped all over an out to Jafar Armstrong in skelly. The other practices were a bit quiet for Coney, but this one he made his presence felt.

- Asmar Bilal looks like he has distanced himself from Shayne Simon at Rover. We don’t know about Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah right now because has been dealing with a hamstring issue. Bilal combined with Coney for a tackle for loss on one play today.

- There was one play this afternoon where Clark Lea brought additional pressure and Drue Tranquill timed it up perfectly. I’m excited to see what he can do inside as a blitzer because he is one of those players who has a knack for getting skinny and making himself tough to block in those situations. He got picked up, but it helped another rusher come free and Wimbush was sacked on the play.

- Bo Bauer continues to prove people wrong who questioned his athleticism. He ran with Avery Davis on a crossing route today and gave Davis no space to make a catch. On paper that is mismatch, but on the field that wasn’t the case.

- Kelly compared Jafar Armstrong to Theo Riddick after practice, which is one of the highest compliments anyone could give a running back. The word Kelly used to describe Armstrong was tenacious and I can see that pretty clearly. Both him and Davis are going to fun to watch if they can get them the football in space.

Armstrong caught a wheel route in team and just barely went to the ground after almost running through a Jalen Elliott tackle. Kudos to Elliott for finishing the play. Last season that’s the kind of play he did not make.

- I thought Chase Claypool bounced back and practiced much better than he did on Thursday. He was really good in the red zone period and made a terrific catch he high pointed the football over DJ Brown.

- Speaking of high pointing the ball, Kevin Austin made his presence felt today. He went over the top of Donte Vaughn in team for a touchdown and fought through a jam from Vaughn in one on ones to make a play too. He had another touchdown in red zone one on ones against great coverage from Noah Boykin.

The only bad things I saw from Austin today were a couple of routine drops versus air, but when he was being covered his compete level was awesome. Austin and Lawrence Keys are the two freshmen wide outs that are noticeable right now. Keys has been really difficult to cover man to man.

- The tight ends made more of a splash today, at least through my eyes. The short area quickness for Cole Kmet is so impressive at his size and freshman Tommy Tremble showed a little something when he beat Ovie Oghoufo bad in the red zone. That separation from Tremble was impressive.

The best of the bunch has been Alize Mack. He continues to consistently make great catches and not have the issues with drops like he had previously. It’s great to see him start to shine and have it stick.

- I didn’t get to see all of the one on one pass rush drill because I was watching the first part of skelly instead. missed the starters going up against each other. I thought I’d get to see them take more reps, but did get a chance to see them work on games (stunts).

Tillery and Khalid Kareem ran a stunt where it looked like they had been working together for years. They were both lined up on the interior (like in Notre Dame’s nickel package) and Tillery crashed hard from his 3-tech spot with Kareem coming off of tight to get in free. The T-T (tackle-tackle) stunt is something to watch out for this season if they can run it that effectively.

- I did get to see some of the younger defensive linemen take reps and the one who impressed the most was Ja’mion Franklin. He was explosive and decisive with three wins out of four reps inside. On the offensive line, Jarrett Patterson as the number two left tackle was good. He could be a bit more physical with his punch, but he has great feet.

- Kareem knifed in for a tackle for loss on the very last play in team. He originally missed the tackle, but Julian Love shot in to help finish the play. In addition that, Love looked like the old Julian Love in coverage today. He was all over the back shoulder throws to Miles Boykin and was so much tighter with everything he did. When he came up for a jam against Javon McKinley, Love shocked him with how violent it was and it completely threw off McKinley’s route.

It was another strong practice for Troy Pride again today too. He hasn’t seemed to give up anything and has been virtually unbeatable in one on ones. He got team started off with a nice pass breakup on Chris Finke as well.

I think everyone should feel very good about Notre Dame’s starting cornerbacks right now. This is the best pair I have seen from an Irish defense in a long time.

- The defense was working on nickel for the first time today and got confused when they had to make adjustments on the fly a couple of times. It was on the defensive line and in the secondary as the linebackers seemed fine.

Not something to worry about in my opinion because it was one of the only bad things I saw from the group as a whole. Just thought it was worth mentioning.

- All three of the young corners for Notre Dame have shown me something so far. Boykin looks the furthest along of the group, but I loved how DJ Brown competed today. Maybe he was a bit grabby, but give me a guy who is fighting tooth and nail over a soft corner any day.

TaRiq Bracy is so thin right now and needs to get a lot stronger to finish plays, but he can run with just about anyone. Once he physically puts it together he has a chance to be very good.

- It’s too bad we haven’t seen much of Houston Griffith with him working through a hamstring problem, but both Alohi Gilman and Nick Coleman have looked very good. Gilman is so physical with everything he does. Whether it’s one on one, team, or a regular individual drill. He wins a lot by playing stronger than his opponent and he flies to the football.

I think the biggest difference with Coleman is his ability to finish. He is not doing that extra to bump off a receiver enough to disrupt a route or he is working through a receivers hands to knock the ball away at the last minute. Things are clicking for him.

- Obviously the kick return stuff we watched isn’t the same as it will look in a game, but Coleman and Shaun Crawford were the two that jumped out to me when they returned the ball. Crawford was a dynamic returner in high school so I would love to see him get a chance to do so for Notre Dame.