Notre Dame 2021 Spring Game: The Players Who Starred

Spring is a beautiful time of year, the weather is warming up, the days get longer and college football teams hold fifteen practices usually culminating with some form of spring game. That spring game is often the first chance fans have to see their team in action. Sure, the rules vary depending on the team, players rotate in and out, and some of the big stars don’t play much, but it’s still the first look at the team. It’s dangerous to read too much into spring game performances, but that won’t stop us from highlighting a few players who impressed in Notre Dame‘s spring game.

Lawrence Keys

Keys was targeted often and made several big plays for the Blue offense during the spring game. He was a big play threat over the middle of the field and was able to get open for several big plays. He had a good connection with both Drew Pyne and Tyler Buchner, and was a key part of the Blue team’s first touchdown drive. On back to back plays, Keys was able to get free and Buchner found him for gains of 23 and 22 yards to get the offense inside the ten yard line. Keys had the most catches and receiving yards during the game, finishing with 5 catches for 115 yards.

Jack Kiser

With Jeremiah Owusu-Koromoah off to the NFL, Notre Dame will need linebackers to step up and fill the void. Kiser, a member of the 2019 recruiting class, proved he has a nose for the football and made several tackles during the spring game. He was instinctive and showed a good feel for where running plays were going, and diagnosed bootlegs and passes in the flat quickly. Several times he closed on ball carriers that appeared to have some room to run and held them to a minimal gain. Kiser had a game high eight tackles, which should come as no surprise because the linebacker was always around the football.

Chris Tyree

After a good freshman season that saw him carve out a role despite Kyren Williams being the lead back, expectations are high for Tyree in 2021. He displayed all of the tools that make him such an exciting player during the spring game. Tyree was explosive running the ball and got through the hole quickly and has the speed to pick up big yardage on any play. He makes good quick cuts to find open space where he can use his big play speed. The young running back is also an effective receiver and showed his ability to make an impact in the passing game as well. Despite running behind a relatively new offensive line he ran for 46 yards on 10 carries and caught 2 passes for 16 yards in the game.

Cam Hart

The defense dominated for most of the game and Hart was a key player that shined at cornerback. He looks the part of a long athletic outside cornerback that can take on the bigger and better receivers in college football. Hart was good in coverage throughout the game and was rarely tested, but when Jack Coan and company did throw his way he was usually in tight coverage and the result was an incomplete pass. Hart has developed well and showed the cover skills needed to excel on an island. He had just three tackles in the game, but that was because he did such a good job in coverage.

Shayne Simon

Simon is another player that will be asked to step up at linebacker in 2021. Simon is a fantastic athlete and on a few occasions was able to show off the athletic ability. Simon showed his speed and explosiveness when he blitzed off the edge and pressured the quarterback to force a throw away. A few plays later Simon showed his ability to cover in space when he was in man coverage against Kyren Williams and undercut the route to make the interception. Simon showed the ability to make wow plays during the spring game.

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Notre Dame Pregame Image taken by Chad Kainz is licensed under CC BY 2.0.