BREAKING: Notre Dame Loses Star Defensive End for the Season

The fifth-year edge rusher hurt his knee against Purdue and will miss the remainder of the season.

Sep 14, 2024; West Lafayette, Indiana, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Jordan Botelho (12) is carted off the field with an apparent injury during the second quarter against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross-Ade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images | Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images

The only part about Purdue that gave Notre Dame any issues Saturday was their turf.

The Irish suffered injuries to defensive end Jordan Botelho and offensive linemen Ashton Craig and Billy Schrauth. All three injuries will likely be costly for the Irish as they were all starters and expected to have big years.

Once the injury cart came out for Botelho, it was always going to be bad news. The fifth-year defensive end has had an up-and-down career at Notre Dame but was finally starting to put it all together this season before his knee injury suffered Saturday in West Lafayette.

Notre Dame defensive end Jordan Botelho was having the game of his life before he was carted off the field at Purdue. He exited with a team-high Pro Football Focus defensive game grade of 87.6.

Terrible to see him go down like that after playing so well.https://t.co/mO90xUkENY pic.twitter.com/JyU0FsoBzb

— Tyler Horka (@tbhorka) September 15, 2024

The Hawaii native had a great start to the season, tallying 12 total tackles and one sack. Botelho is a leader on this 2024 Notre Dame team as well, becoming more and more vocal. The younger defensive ends, Boubacar Traore specifically, have been taken under Botelho's wing and will need to step up in his absence.

Traore was a problem all day long against Purdue, causing issues in the Purdue backfield left and right. He finished the day with two tackles, both tackles for loss, one sack and one interception return for a touchdown.

WATCH: #NDFootball redshirt freshman Vyper Boubacar Traore on the right leg injury fifth-year veteran @Jordanbotelho_ suffered in Saturday’s first half. #NotreDame pic.twitter.com/5pylf0arOS

— Mike BerardinoNDI (@MikeBerardino) September 15, 2024

At the Vyper position Botelho is vacating, expect Traore to slide up into the starting role and expect to see more from junior Vyper, Junior Tuihalamaka. It's possible that sophomore Joshua Burnham or true freshman Bryce Young move over and cross train from the strong side defensive position as well.

We will wait to see the updated depth chart this week from Notre Dame to see exactly how the Irish staff plans to cope with the loss of Botelho, but expect to see a ton more of Traore. Ideally he would have had this year to learn and grow under Botelho, but it is showtime for him now.

Notre Dame vs Purdue: Irish Unload Frustration on the Boilermakers