Junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison’s last game in a Notre Dame uniform may have come against Stanford, and nobody in the crowd had any idea. On Monday, head coach Marcus Freeman announced that the star cornerback would miss the remainder of 2024 with a season-ending hip surgery, a devastating blow for the Preseason All-American and the Irish defense. The question now becomes: what does this mean for Notre Dame’s season and Morrison’s future?
The secondary is arguably the strongest part of No. 12 Notre Dame’s elite defensive unit, which ranks fifth nationally in pass efficiency defense. It has allowed 148.7 pass yards per game on only 5.28 yards per attempt through its first six games this season. Morrison has been a key reason why, the junior captain ranking second on the team in snaps played behind only All-American graduate safety Xavier Watts, and commonly shadowing the opposing team’s top receiver.
“Obviously, it’s a blow to our team,” Freeman said. “You lose a captain, a great football player, and you feel terrible for the kid because he gives football and preparation everything he has. It’s just tough, but he’s a tough kid, he’s a tough individual. He’s been through this before. He’ll have surgery and get back to work to becoming the best version of Benjamin.”
The loss is a significant blow to a group that has been among the nation’s best. But as devastating as losing a player of his caliber is, there remains experienced depth at the position. Sophomore Christian Gray has been a mainstay in the starting lineup barring the Louisville game where he was sidelined with a shoulder injury. Freshman Leonard Moore, who started in Gray’s place that game, has proven capable after replacing junior Jaden Mickey on the depth chart.
“You understand he has the talent, he has the length, he has the skillset,” Freeman said of Moore. “He was a guy in fall camp that you said, ‘Okay, he’s playing fast already.’ We knew he would help us this year, and at some point, if injuries happen, he would have to start for us. He’ll be ready. We have a lot of confidence in Leonard Moore.”
Morrison adds to a laundry list of Irish injury issues, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. Already without graduate student Jordan Botelho and sophomore Boubacar Traore on the defensive line for the rest of the season, Notre Dame gets stretched thinner by the week. In light of these casualties, the returns of Gray, junior tackle Joshua Burnham and senior tackle Gabriel Rubio to the lineup against Stanford proved all the more important. After a five-tackle performance that included a tackle for loss and forced fumble, Burnham looked to be back to full strength against the Cardinal. The emergence of true freshman defensive lineman Bryce Young has also provided a much-needed boost to the banged-up unit. Freeman reaped high praise on the budding young star.
“Bryce has been tremendous,” Freeman said. “We knew he was a special player when he first got here, but he’s developing faster probably than we all thought. He is physically ahead of most people his age and he plays the game with an effort that is uncommon at times. When you put those two things together, he’s continuing to learn the game of football. That’s why he’s performing at a high level.”
Freeman would go on to highlight Burnham and Rubio’s returns as well, emphasizing how encouraged he was by Burnham’s showing against Stanford after a cautious week of ramping up in practice. Those kinds of contributions will be necessary down the stretch for this team with injuries piling up. And yet the question remains: when will it be too much to overcome?
Looking closer at Morrison, his next game will almost certainly be in an NFL uniform. The junior entered the season as a projected first-round draft choice, and has consistently showcased sound coverage and high-level ball skills since breaking into the starting lineup as a freshman against Ohio State in 2022. While he has occasionally struggled with play strength in the run game and when matched up against bigger receivers, Morrison possesses the tools to succeed at the next level. But questions may be raised about his first-round status in light of a recurring durability question, with an offseason shoulder surgery and now a hip surgery. That said, NFL teams will anticipate his return for the pre-draft process in the spring.
