Ra-Gone For The Year

According to WNDU and several other sources, Notre Dame sophomore tight end Mike Ragone will miss the entire 2008 season with an ACL tear. The injury is the same one that prevented Ragone from playing during his senior year at Camden Catholic in New Jersey.

Ragone was the expected starter at tight end and would have likely split time with Junior Will Yeatman, who has returned to the team after a DUI arrest cost him the spring with both the football and lacrosse teams. Yeatman will move up the depth charts and is the new projected starter. He was one of the Irish's best players as a freshman attacker on the lacrosse team and was sorely missed during last spring during the post-season.

True freshman Kyle Rudolph and junior converted fullback/running back Luke Schmidt are the likely candidates vying to serve as Yeatman's backup. Joseph Fauria, another true freshman, was expected to preserve a year of eligibility but could see the field in lieu of Ragone's injury.