When starting left tackle Charles Jagusah got injured during preseason practice, Marcus Freeman and the coaching staff were left with a big decision: turn to the experience of fifth-year graduate student Tosh Baker, or bet on true freshman Anthonie Knapp to play the first snap of his college career in front of over 100,000 Aggie fans in week one. After a fall camp competition for the spot concluded, Notre Dame released its depth chart for the Texas A&M game. It read: “Left Tackle 1-54, Anthonie Knapp, Fr.”
When Jagusah first went down, Knapp continued to run with the twos. The veteran Baker, who appeared in 11 games as a senior, seemed to be the clear replacement. It made sense to Knapp at the time. Only a true freshman, he would likely have to wait his turn. But that didn’t stop him from continuing to compete for the job. Eventually, his hard work and preparation paid off. Offensive line coach Joe Rudolph made the call for Knapp to run with the ones.
“He gives me the job. I worked for the job. Now it’s my time to show that I’m capable of doing that job,” Knapp said in a press conference Tuesday. “I wasn’t surprised, but I was definitely excited.”
After receiving the opportunity, Knapp had a chip on his shoulder, something to prove. The storylines going into the A&M game were heavily focused on the offensive line’s inexperience, the group only sharing six starts between them. The biggest question was whether or not a true freshman left tackle could hold up in one of the most hostile environments in the sport. He had to have heard all the noise, but it didn’t affect his preparation.
“I wouldn’t say [I was] nervous for the fact that I thought I was going to fail. I’d say [I was] more excited,” Knapp said. ”I spent so long preparing, watching so much film. Everything I could possibly do. You kind of just want to take the test, you just kind of want to go.”
Knapp set himself up to succeed, not only with his confident mindset going into the game, but also with an understanding of his own limitations. At 6-foot-4 and 290 pounds, it’s no secret he is undersized for his position. This is something Knapp is well aware of, and uses as motivation to find other advantages.
“I kind of missed a lot of physical attributes of a tackle so I try to find every edge I can get,” Knapp said. “I’m still not too big. I’m 290 [pounds] right now, 290-ish, which isn’t the ideal size for a left tackle at Notre Dame. So any edge I can get watching all the film, anything I can do. Notebook full of what their moves are, what their tendencies are and I try to study that the best I can and perform the best I can.”
No matter how much preparation you do and no matter how experienced you are, stepping on to the field is always a different beast, especially in College Station. In the heat of the game, most thoughts give way to pure instinct and emotion. When the nerves start to set in, it helps to have the belief in the 21 other guys joining you on the field and most of all, your head coach who chose you for this moment.
“It’s just a great program. It’s truly family here,” Knapp said. ”Since I stepped on campus, I could feel it. I knew these guys had my back. They wouldn’t put me in a position like that if they didn’t have my back. They all believed in me.”
Fueled by that belief, Knapp helped his team to a monumental victory to start his college career 1-0. Behind the young offensive line, the Irish rushed for 198 yards and two touchdowns, all while keeping projected first-round edge rusher Nic Scourton at bay. As expected, the game had highs and lows for the true freshman.
Knapp described the feelings of stepping on to the field and making contact on the first block.
“Obviously, you get those emotions coming into Texas A&M. You’re walking in the tunnel, you get that feeling behind your neck. I’m pretty sure all of us have felt that before. Then once you get that first, for us it was a screenplay, a quick firm set, I got my hands up and was like, ‘Alright, now it’s just one play at a time,‘” he said.
Despite settling in nicely, it was not all smooth sailing. Knapp had two penalties in the game, a false start and a hold that killed any opportunity for points heading into halftime. And while he held his own against Scourton all night, Knapp admitted to a lapse in judgement reflecting on a rep where he got torched with the spin move.
“I was like, ‘Alright, I’m feeling myself a little bit.’ And then I open up a little bit and try to be an athlete with him, and bam, [he] just spun me around. I just learned right then and there, you gotta stay true to your game," Knapp said.
These are mistakes Knapp is expected to make. It’s his self-awareness to understand his strengths and weaknesses that encourages the coaching staff. Graded on a curve, Knapp met the standard on Saturday. He was thrown in the deep end and managed to keep his head above water. Mistakes are a part of growth, something we are watching happen in real time. But life should only get easier as the season goes on. The A&M defensive line may be the best Notre Dame faces all season, and Knapp more than survived with as little preparation as one could have. Given more time to integrate with the rest of the line as the season goes on, the arrow is pointing in the right direction for the true freshman. To use his words at the end of the press conference, “it’s only going to be up from here.”
