Notre Dame coaches decided senior tailback Ryan Grant, hampered by a sore left hamstring, should rest it against Washington. Will Grant be ready to go next Saturday, when the Irish take on undefeated Purdue?
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“It’s really too early to speculate,” Irish coach Tyrone Willingham said.
Grant, asked after the game if he would play next week, was more definitive.
“You better believe it, because this is frustrating,” he said. “We should have had a lot more [points Saturday] than we did.”
Freshmen debut
Tailback Justin Hoskins was not the only freshman to make his Notre Dame debut Saturday. Freshman quarterback David Wolke made his first career appearance about seven minutes into the final quarter, relieving backup Pat Dillingham. Why now? “We need to develop a third quarterback. Pat’s No. 2, but we need to get a third quarterback ready as well,” Willingham said. . . . Freshman tailback Darius Walker, who scored Notre Dame’s final touchdown against the Huskies, made his first career start Saturday. . . .
Receiver Matt Shelton, who scored Notre Dame’s first two TDs, also made his first career start. The coaches, Shelton said, did not tell him he would be starting, but “I figured it out Thursday. The first play of the game, I knew what it was and I knew I was in there.”