Literally and figuratively.

Michael Floyd and Brian Smith, two of ND’s biggest playmakers, are out for the rest of the regular season.  A really tough game against USC just got a bit tougher.

Smith has been a leader on defense for the Irish, despite being just a Sophomore.  He’s displayed great instincts, and great athletic ability, and probably most importantly has been an emotional leader for the unit.  Junior Toryan Smith filled in for Brian early against Navy and performed admirably, but this D will certainly miss Brian’s presence in the coming weeks.

I don’t need to even mention how important Floyd has been to the Irish offense.  With Floyd out, opposing defenses will be able to key in on Tate to try to shut him down.  That will limit the offensive package options, and will force Clausen into more of his down reads - throwing more to the TE and RBs out of the backfield.  This really shortens the field for the Irish, and takes away one of our key threats.  Unless Parris can step in and really fill in for Floyd, we’ll be looking at an Irish offense that lacks one of its major threats.

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