ATLANTA – Notre Dame football, favored by two touchdowns this afternoon against Georgia Tech, will make a game-time decision on its kicking situation.
South Carolina grad transfer Mitch Jeter, listed as questionable with a hip issue, came out for early warmups but the pregame placekicks were limited to walk-ons Zac Yoakam (first team) and Eric Goins (second team). Notre Dame did not eliminate Jeter from the equation in its pregame availability update.
Defensive tackle Jason Onye, who also missed last week’s game against Stanford, remains out due to personal reasons, according to Notre Dame.
Jeter handled the first conversion kick and one kickoff in Saturday’s win over Stanford before giving way to Goins, the 30-year-old Army veteran, on kickoffs. Yoakam, the kickoff specialist in 2022, made all five conversion attempts against the Cardinal, while sophomore walk-on Marcello Diomede made the final PAT.
Since going 3-for-3 on field goals in the season-opening win at Texas A&M, Jeter has split four attempts. He had two field goals blocked in the Week 2 loss to Northern Illinois, but Jeter has hit from 42 yards at Purdue and 48 yards against Louisville.
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Georgia Tech is reportedly set to go with backup quarterback Zach Pyron in place of the injured Haynes King (shoulder). Pyron is making his third career start and his first since 2022.
The Yellow Jackets also will reportedly be without linebacker Kyle Efford, their leading tackler, due to an undisclosed injury. Efford’s 52 tackles are 17 more than the runner-up for Georgia Tech, cornerback Ahmari Harvey.
Redshirt sophomore linebacker E.J. Lightsey (three tackles) is listed behind Efford on the official depth chart.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football takes it to the wire with kicking situation
