Notre Dame Showed Off Is Cornerback Depth In Win Over Pitt

Playing without an All-American in the secondary is a potentially perilous proposition. That’s the situation Notre Dame faced going into Saturday’s game against visiting Pittsburgh. The Fighting Irish found out just before what turned into a 58-7 victory that they would be without the services of sophomore cornerback Benjamin Morrison.

"Ben strained his quad during the week,” Irish head coach Marcus Freeman explained after the win. "He was getting closer and closer to playing and we were going to try and warm him up and see if he could go, and he just wasn't in a position to go. We didn't really know until we had to test him out in warmups.”

Morrison earned Freshman All-American honors from seven different organizations last year after swiping six interceptions in his first season on campus. He has two interceptions and a team-high six pass breakups this season.

With Morrison out, sophomore Jaden Mickey stepped in and provided one of the top highlights of the day, if not the season, when he returned an interception off Pitt quarterback Christian Veilleux 43 yards for his first career score.

"He's a great example of one play, one life,” Freeman said. "So, if you look at the first - what game is this, nine? You look at the first eight games, and he didn't know how much he's going to play. He's rotating in there. Take advantage of that play. Today he's in a starting role. Take advantage of those opportunities, which he did. So, I'm really pleased with how he performed, how he’s practicing, how unselfish he is. I love Jaden Mickey, man, he's a great player and doing great things for us.

Mickey had just missed earlier on the chance for two other interceptions before his third quarter score on his first career interception. Veteran cornerback Cam Hart started the game but left with an injury of his own.

"I don't know if it was a shoulder or arm,” Freeman remarked. "But he came out at some point during the game, too.”

Hart has had two previous shoulder injuries in his career, including at the end of last season when he missed the Southern Cal game and the Gator Bowl against South Carolina.

Hart’s absence provided true freshman Christian Gray the opportunity to make a highlight of his own. Gray made a one-handed interception in the third quarter for what was also the first interception of his young career to give the Mickey/Gray duo a pair of interceptions on the day.

"They did a great job,” Freeman said of the two young corners. "It was one of the first things we did was give those two credit for stepping up in big roles. Neither of them knew they were going to start or play. They probably thought they were going to play, but in the role they played previously. For those guys to find out in warmup, hey, you're starting, at some point, Christian Gray, you're going in with Jaden Mickey. It's a credit to those guys being ready, also to Coach (Mike) Mickens for having those guys ready.”

Safety Xavier Watts had two interceptions as well. He now has four interceptions in the last two games.

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