Notre Dame vs. NC State snap counts, participation chart: Defense
Here are the snap counts and run/pass splits for the Notre Dame defense in Week 2 against NC State, as well as this season so far. All data is via Pro Football Focus.
Notre Dame defense vs. NC State
| Player | Position | Snaps | Start? | Run D Snaps | Pass rush Snaps | Coverage Snaps |
| Xavier Watts | S | 72 | * | 23 | 0 | 49 |
| Marist Liufau | LB | 70 | * | 22 | 14 | 34 |
| Benjamin Morrison | CB | 64 | * | 19 | 0 | 45 |
| DJ Brown | S | 61 | * | 21 | 0 | 40 |
| Howard Cross III | DT | 58 | * | 16 | 42 | 0 |
| Cam Hart | CB | 56 | * | 17 | 0 | 39 |
| Javontae Jean-Baptiste | SDE | 56 | * | 16 | 40 | 0 |
| Jordan Botelho | VYP | 54 | * | 17 | 34 | 3 |
| Thomas Harper | NCB | 52 | * | 15 | 0 | 37 |
| Rylie Mills | DT | 49 | * | 18 | 31 | 0 |
| JD Bertrand | LB | 45 | * | 13 | 1 | 31 |
| Ramon Henderson | S | 40 | 6 | 0 | 34 | |
| Jack Kiser | LB | 38 | * | 13 | 1 | 24 |
| Jaden Mickey | CB | 26 | | 8 | 0 | 18 |
| Nana Osafo-Mensah | SDE | 26 | | 8 | 18 | 0 |
| Jaylen Sneed | LB | 21 | | 7 | 3 | 11 |
| Donovan Hinish | DT | 21 | | 9 | 12 | 0 |
| Clarence Lewis | NCB | 20 | | 4 | 1 | 15 |
| Jason Onye | DT | 18 | | 6 | 12 | 0 |
| Christian Gray | CB | 18 | | 6 | 0 | 12 |
| Junior Tuihalamaka | VYP | 17 | | 6 | 11 | 0 |
| Joshua Burnham | VYP | 9 | | 1 | 8 | 0 |
| Antonio Carter II | S | 9 | | 2 | 0 | 7 |
| Aidan Keanaaina | DT | 1 | | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Notes
• PFF thinks freshman safety Adon Shuler started, which he definitely did not. It only credited him 1 snap, so I’m going to assume he didn’t play.
• Sophomore Vyper Joshua Burnham only played 9 snaps after being one of Notre Dame’s more disruptive players through two games. The defensive tackle rotation also tightened up, with junior Jason Onye playing only 18 snaps. Onye was fourth in that group, trailing sophomore Donovan Hinish (21 snaps).
• Graduate linebacker JD Bertrand did not play a large portion of the second half after leaving with a head injury. Graduate student Jack Kiser and sophomore Jaylen Sneed took the reps in his place.
Top 10
- 1New
Top 25 College QBs
Ranking best '25 signal callers
- 2
Top 25 Defensive Lines
Ranking the best for 2025
- 3
Big Ten Football
Predicting 1st loss for each team
- 4Hot
College Football Playoff
Ranking Top 32 teams for 2025
- 5Trending
Tim Brando
Ranks Top 15 CFB teams for 2025
Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
• Senior safety Xavier Watts led all safeties, and the entire team, in snaps after graduate student DJ Brown was the leader through two weeks.
• After a relatively even split with graduate student Nana Osafo-Mensah through two weeks, fellow graduate student Javontae Jean-Baptiste is the clear starter at strong-side defensive end. Ditto graduate student Thomas Harper over senior Clarence Lewis at nickel cornerback, although that was evident last week, too.
Notre Dame defense this season
Note: Games played only includes defensive participation, not special teams.
| Player | Position | Games | Snaps | Run D Snaps | Pass rush Snaps | Coverage Snaps |
| Marist Liufau | LB | 3 | 147 | 78 | 22 | 47 |
| Xavier Watts | S | 3 | 133 | 67 | 0 | 66 |
| DJ Brown | S | 3 | 133 | 73 | 1 | 59 |
| Benjamin Morrison | CB | 3 | 132 | 68 | 1 | 63 |
| Howard Cross III | DT | 3 | 120 | 61 | 59 | 0 |
| Jordan Botelho | VYP | 3 | 113 | 58 | 41 | 4 |
| Cam Hart | CB | 3 | 113 | 57 | 0 | 56 |
| Rylie Mills | DT | 3 | 106 | 64 | 42 | 0 |
| Javontae Jean-Baptiste | SDE | 3 | 104 | 50 | 54 | 0 |
| Ramon Henderson | S | 3 | 92 | 34 | 0 | 58 |
| Thomas Harper | NCB | 3 | 92 | 41 | 4 | 47 |
| Jack Kiser | LB | 3 | 86 | 50 | 4 | 32 |
| Nana Osafo-Mensah | SDE | 3 | 75 | 44 | 30 | 1 |
| Jaylen Sneed | LB | 3 | 70 | 40 | 10 | 20 |
| Jaden Mickey | CB | 3 | 70 | 39 | 0 | 31 |
| Jason Onye | DT | 3 | 63 | 36 | 27 | 0 |
| Clarence Lewis | NCB | 3 | 53 | 22 | 1 | 30 |
| Junior Tuihalamaka | VYP | 3 | 49 | 27 | 22 | 0 |
| Christian Gray | CB | 3 | 48 | 24 | 0 | 24 |
| Donovan Hinish | DT | 3 | 41 | 22 | 19 | 0 |
| Joshua Burnham | VYP | 3 | 39 | 21 | 17 | 1 |
| Antonio Carter II | S | 3 | 22 | 11 | 1 | 10 |
| Gabriel Rubio | DT | 1 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 0 |
| Adon Shuler | S | 1 | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 |
| Jaiden Ausberry | LB | 1 | 14 | 10 | 1 | 3 |
| Ryan Barnes | CB | 1 | 13 | 10 | 0 | 3 |
| Aidan Keanaaina | DT | 2 | 12 | 9 | 3 | 0 |
| Chance Tucker | CB | 1 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
| Micah Bell | NCB | 1 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 |
| Marty Auer | S | 1 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| Brenan Vernon | DL | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Boubacar Traore | VYP | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Luke Talich | S | 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| Tyson Ford | SDE | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Preston Zinter | LB | 1 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| Isaiah Dunn | CB | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Tre Reader | LB | 1 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Eddie Scheidler | S | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Cole Aubrey | VYP | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
