Notre Dame redshirt junior wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr. and sixth-year graduate student safety Avery Sebastian are both going through the team’s concussion protocol after suffering injuries during Sunday night’s 50-47 double-overtime loss at Texas, coach Brian Kelly said Monday. Kelly added it’s “too early to tell’ if either player will be available for Notre Dame’s home opener against Nevada on Saturday.
But Notre Dame did send video of DeShon Ellliott’s vicious hit on Hunter to the ACC’s supervisor of officials, who confirmed that a targeting violation “most likely” occurred on the play.
“We just don’t understand why that was not reviewed by the Big 12,” Kelly said. “I guess (the ACC) is going to be reaching out to them to find out why it wasn’t reviewed. Clearly, win or lose, player safety should be at the front of this game and we don’t believe that was the case in this instance.”
Had targeting been called on Elliott’s hit, Notre Dame would’ve got a fresh set of downs inside the red zone while still down three in the third quarter. Justin Yoon’s field goal was blocked, though it didn’t stop Notre Dame from still coming back to take the lead on DeShone Kizer’s 17-yard touchdown toss to Josh Adams.
Sebastian was injured in the second overtime period shortly before Tyrone Swoopes plowed six yards for a walk-off touchdown. Due to a “personnel” decision to sub out junior Drue Tranquill in the second half, Notre Dame ended the game with freshmen Jalen Elliott and Devin Studstill at safety.
Studstill was a solid performer, though, in his first college game after taking over for Tranquill. His strong coverage on a vertical route forced Texas quarterback Shane Buechele to throw high on a ball that was picked off by Shaun Crawford in the third quarter.
“He did some pretty good things,” Kelly said. “His fits were really good in the run game, made a couple of plays at the line of scrimmage that I liked. He was on body in coverage on a double move in a third down situation and then in a couple of our dime looks, and was instrumental in the interception. … So he did some good things in a short period of time out there.”