Notre Dame head coach Marcus Freeman has named freshman Erik Schmidt to handle kicking duties this week after last week's team struggles against Boston College
Notre Dame will make a change at kicker this week when the Fighting Irish host Navy. A week after Noah Burnette, Erik Schmidt and Marcello Diomede all missed place kicks in a win over Boston College, Irish head coach Marcus Freeman has opted to move away from Burnette at the top of the depth chart in favor of a freshman.
“We’re going to go with Erik Schmidt,” Freeman said in his Thursday call with the media. Alot of things went into those decisions; how we feel about the health of Noah, and what's best for the team. I think at the end of day, that's the ultimate decision maker, what is best for the team. What do we feel like is going to be best for the team to have the confidence to make the field goals when we ask our football kicker, our field goal unit, to make it. That's probably the best answer I can give you for that.”
Burnette, who transferred to Notre Dame from North Carolina this season, has been hampered by a hip injury all season. He missed both an extra point and a short field goal in Notre Dame’s Oct. 18 win over Southern Cal and then missed an extra point after Notre Dame’s first touchdown in last week’s 25-10 win over BC. He is 5 of 6 on field goal attempts and 20 of 22 on extra points this season.
Schmidt, a freshman who was the top rated in the country in his class, has been Notre Dame’s primary kickoff specialist this season. He missed a 35-yard field goal against the Eagles but ultimately had the team’s only successful point after kick in the game after Jeremiyah Love’s 94-yard touchdown run.
He converted all eight of his extra point kicks earlier this season in Notre Dame’s September win over Purdue, becoming the first Irish kicker to convert an extra point since 2015 in the process.
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