Noah Burnette injury update: Marcus Freeman explains Notre Dame kicker's absence

Shortly before kickoff on Saturday afternoon, Notre Dame learned that it was going to be without redshirt senior kicker Noah Burnette against Boise State. That was after he had been listed by head coach Marcus Freeman as questionable in the week leading up to the game.

Freeman would address Burnette’s absence after the game. There, he explained that Burnette has been dealing with a lingering issue that flared up.

“He had the injury two weeks ago,” Marcus Freeman said. “He missed the game, came back last week, was good enough to kick from a certain distance. This week, he kicked on Tuesday, was really sore, and was questionable. He wanted to go try in pregame, and it was a no-go.”

In place of Noah Burnette, Notre Dame turned to freshman kicker Erik Schmidt. He had his first extra point attempt of the game blocked. From that point forward, junior kicker Marcello Diomede handled the extra points without missing.

In all of that, Marcus Freeman never elected to kick a field goal. That wasn’t for a lack of opportunities, though. Twice within normal field goal range, he left the offense on the field to go for it on fourth down. Neither one of those would be converted by the offense and, after the game, Freeman admitted the kicking situation played a role in his decision making.

“Yes, it factors into the fourth-down decisions. We’ve got to continue to build confidence,” Freeman said. “I have to make sure I have confidence to kick it from certain distances instead of saying, telling our offense to go for it. I’ve got a lot of confidence in our offense. We’ve got to keep building that confidence in me and in those guys. So, yeah, that played a factor into it.”

Noah Burnette came to Notre Dame this offseason as a transfer from North Carolina. There, he had previously been a Second Team All-ACC selection. When he made the move to South Bend, it was with the expectation he’d be the team’s primary kicker for his sixth season in college football.

When healthy, Burnette has been excellent for Notre Dame. He’s 13 for 13 on extra points and 3 for 3 on field goals this season. All of those kicks have been shorter than 40 yards. He hasn’t been able to kick since the first half of the Arkansas game now.

Freeman will hope to get Burnette back next week, though his status moving forward remains uncertain. Behind him, Schmidt missed a field goal against Purdue, but had been 10 for 10 on extra points after making eight against Purdue and two against Arkansas. That’s before he had his kick blocked against Boise State.

In the end, Notre Dame was able to win fairly comfortably, 28-7, even with those struggles in the kicking game. Still, Freeman is looking to address that soon, get healthy, and be ready for a test against NC State next week.