Notre Dame starting center Jarrett Patterson will miss the rest of the season following foot surgery, while starting guard Tommy Kraemer is out for Friday’s game at No. 25 North Carolina.
Coach Brian Kelly on Monday confirmed the outlook for Patterson, who has started the past 21 games for the second-ranked Fighting Irish. Patterson, a junior, sustained the injury in a Nov. 14 win against Boston College.
“He’ll recover and do extremely well, and we’ll have him back, obviously, next year,” Kelly said of Patterson. “Disappointed for him, he was having a great season, but again, he’ll do quite well from this surgery.”
Kraemer recently underwent an emergency appendectomy and will return to football activities next week. Kelly said Notre Dame “dodged a bullet” with Kraemer, whose appendix didn’t rupture. Sophomore Zeke Correll is set to start at center for Notre Dame this week, while senior Josh Lugg will replace Kraemer at right guard against the Tar Heels.
“Zeke’s a highly recruited player for us, and we’ve been waiting for him to get his opportunity,” Kelly said. “He has been waiting, more importantly, and he’s going to get that chance this weekend against North Carolina. Josh Lugg played quite a bit of meaningful football for us last year at the tackle position. … He’s ready to play and compete at a high level.”
Lugg started five games for Notre Dame at tackle in 2019. He’s also now listed as Notre Dame’s backup center.
