Notre Dame vs. Tennessee State snap counts, participation chart: Defense
In a 56-3 win over Tennessee State on Saturday, 39 defensive players saw the field for Notre Dame.
Here are the snap counts and run/pass splits for the Notre Dame defense in Week 1. All data is via Pro Football Focus.
Notre Dame defense vs. Tennessee State
| Player | Position | Snaps | Start? | Run D Snaps | Pass rush Snaps | Coverage Snaps |
| Benjamin Morrison | CB | 38 | * | 21 | 1 | 16 |
| JD Bertrand | LB | 37 | * | 21 | 8 | 8 |
| DJ Brown | S | 35 | * | 17 | 0 | 8 |
| Xavier Watts | S | 34 | * | 19 | 0 | 15 |
| Jordan Botelho | VYP | 32 | * | 17 | 14 | 1 |
| Marist Liufau | LB | 32 | * | 19 | 7 | 6 |
| Howard Cross III | DT | 31 | * | 17 | 14 | 0 |
| Cam Hart | CB | 28 | * | 15 | 0 | 13 |
| Thomas Harper | NCB | 28 | * | 16 | 3 | 9 |
| Rylie Mills | DT | 26 | * | 18 | 8 | 0 |
| Ramon Henderson | S | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | |
| Javontae Jean-Baptiste | SDE | 23 | * | 12 | 11 | 0 |
| Jaylen Sneed | LB | 22 | * | 11 | 7 | 4 |
| Jason Onye | DT | 21 | | 12 | 9 | 0 |
| Nana Osafo-Mensah | SDE | 19 | | 12 | 6 | 1 |
| Junior Tuihalamaka | VYP | 18 | | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Jaden Mickey | CB | 17 | | 9 | 0 | 8 |
| Joshua Burnham | EDGE | 16 | | 10 | 5 | 1 |
| Donovan Hinish | DT | 15 | | 10 | 5 | 0 |
| Adon Shuler | S | 14 | | 10 | 0 | 4 |
| Jaiden Ausberry | LB | 14 | | 10 | 1 | 3 |
| Jack Kiser | S | 14 | | 7 | 2 | 5 |
| Ryan Barnes | CB | 13 | | 10 | 0 | 3 |
| Clarence Lewis | NCB | 13 | | 5 | 0 | 8 |
| Chance Tucker | CB | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 | |
| Micah Bell | NCB | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 | |
| Aidan Keanaaina | DT | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 | |
| Marty Auer | S | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 | |
| Christian Gray | CB | 9 | 4 | 0 | 5 | |
| Brenan Vernon | SDE | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Boubacar Traore | VYP | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Luke Talich | S | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Tyson Ford | SDE | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |
| Antonio Carter II | S | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | |
| Preston Zinter | LB | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| Isaiah Dunn | CB | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Tre Reader | LB | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| Eddie Scheidler | S | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cole Aubrey | VYP | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Notes
• Notre Dame, if it wasn’t clear already, is a nickel-first team. 11 personnel is by far the most common personnel package offenses use in today’s game, and smart defenses match 11 personnel with nickel. That showed in Saturday’s snap counts.
• That means only two linebackers will play most of the snaps, and judging by Saturday’s snap counts, the majority of those snaps will go to graduate students JD Bertrand and Marist Liufau. I wouldn’t read much into freshman Jaiden Ausberry matching graduate student Jack Kiser — non-starting veterans kind of got stuck in the middle, in that they didn’t play a ton early but also got taken out when the benches cleared — but Bertrand and Liufau appear to be the top-two linebackers on the Irish.
• Bertrand and Liufau blitzed on more than half their combined snaps against the pass.
• Graduate student Thomas Harper also appears to have the edge over senior Clarence Lewis at nickel cornerback, despite Lewis’ pick six in the second half.
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 |
| JD Bertrand | LB | 2 | 78 | 57 | 11 | 10 |
| Marist Liufau | LB | 2 | 77 | 56 | 8 | 13 |
| DJ Brown | S | 2 | 72 | 52 | 1 | 19 |
| Benjamin Morrison | CB | 2 | 68 | 49 | 1 | 18 |
| Howard Cross III | DT | 2 | 62 | 45 | 17 | 0 |
| Xavier Watts | S | 2 | 61 | 44 | 0 | 17 |
| Jordan Botelho | VYP | 2 | 59 | 41 | 17 | 0 |
| Rylie Mills | DT | 2 | 57 | 46 | 11 | 0 |
| Cam Hart | CB | 2 | 57 | 40 | 0 | 17 |
| Ramon Henderson | S | 2 | 52 | 28 | 0 | 24 |
| Jaylen Sneed | LB | 2 | 49 | 33 | 7 | 9 |
| Nana Osafo-Mensah | SDE | 2 | 49 | 36 | 12 | 1 |
| Jack Kiser | LB | 2 | 48 | 37 | 3 | 8 |
| Javontae Jean-Baptiste | SDE | 2 | 48 | 34 | 14 | 0 |
| Jason Onye | DT | 2 | 45 | 30 | 15 | 0 |
| Jaden Mickey | CB | 2 | 44 | 31 | 0 | 13 |
| Thomas Harper | NCB | 2 | 40 | 26 | 4 | 10 |
| Clarence Lewis | NCB | 2 | 33 | 18 | 0 | 15 |
| Junior Tuihalamaka | VYP | 2 | 32 | 21 | 11 | 0 |
| Joshua Burnham | EDGE | 2 | 30 | 20 | 9 | 1 |
| Christian Gray | CB | 2 | 30 | 18 | 0 | 12 |
| Donovan Hinish | DT | 2 | 20 | 13 | 7 | 0 |
| 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 |
| Antonio Carter II | S | 2 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 |
| Chance Tucker | CB | 1 | 12 | 8 | 0 | 4 |
| Micah Bell | NCB | 1 | 11 | 8 | 0 | 3 |
| Aidan Keanaaina | DT | 1 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 0 |
| Marty Auer | S | 1 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 3 |
| Brenan Vernon | SDE | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Boubacar Traore | VYP | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| Luke Talich | S | 1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 |
| 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 |
