Notre Dame’s impressive 52-0 win last week over the University of South Florida, has been dampened by an outbreak of COVID-19 positive tests, and tracing procedures, that has resulted in today’s scheduled game at Wake Forest being called off. The game has been rescheduled by the ACC for Dec. 12.

Sunday, the day after the USF game, ND officials announced that 10 players sat out the game due to four positive tests results and six others placed in quarantine from contact tracing from last week’s Tuesday-through-Friday window.

Monday COVID-19 testing for 94 players revealed seven new positive tests prompting ND to notify the ACC and Wake Forest it could not play this week due to the spike in cases.

In a release, Notre Dame said that as of Tuesday 13 players are currently in isolation as a result of positive test results with another 10 in quarantine because of contact tracing. That includes players who had previously been identified as positive or in need of quarantining because of contact tracing. Right now the 2020 season is temporarily on hold until more information is gathered and decisions made. ND was due for an open date the week after the Wake Forest game. Now it will have two weeks off. All football practices have also been put on hold this week.

USF game

Head coach Brian Kelly challenged his team last week for a fast start of offense and for the defense to continue to dominate as it did in the Duke game.

The Irish listened, and responded, to Kelly’s words, scoring touchdowns on the first four possessions of the game and opening up a 35-0 halftime margin on the undermanned Bulls.

ND got four of its running backs into the action in the rout.Third-stringer C’Bo Flemister, who missed the Duke game due to a injury, had 127 yards on 13 carries and one TD. Others racking up yards were Chris Tyree (8 carries, 65 yards, one TD): starter Kyren Williams (10 carries, 62 yards); and Jafar Armstong (7 carries, 7 yards, one TD).

Ian Book improved his game from the Duke contest, but he is still not up to where he should be. Book completed 12 of 19 passes for 143 yards. He still missed several receivers who were open and his throws were generally too high. Freshman Drew Pyne got a lot of unexpected playing time. He threw just two passes, completing one for five yards. The regular backup, Brendon Clark, was not available for the game. One of the 10 who were probably being held out due to COVID-19 reasons.

Tight end Tommy Tremble was the top receiver in the game with 3 catches for 60 yards. Braden Lenzy added three catches for 34 yards.

Jonathan Doerer missed his first field goal of the young season, a 38 yarder, but hit on a 22 yarder.

For the game, Notre Dame had 429 yards of total yardage.

Defensively, Jack Kiser, who won the praise of many and was awarded a game ball, led the team with eight tackles from his linebacker position. Kiser, a sophomore, didn’t know until Saturday morning that he was going to start. He, along with several other of the normal backups, played due to other players being unavailable. Kiser also had two tackles for losses. Sacks were also recorded by defensive linemen Isaiah Foskey and Alexander Ehrensberger.

IRISH NOTES ... The Irish utilized 12 (one running back, two tight ends) and 13 (one running back, three tight ends) personnel groupings often against USF ... Safety Kyle Hamilton was out due to the ankle injury he sustained in the Duke game. The othe players who were labeled as unavailable included starting cornerback TaRig Bracy, QB Clark, co-starting buck linebackers Marist Liufau and Shayne Simon, backup slot receiver Lawrence Keys II, third-team defensive end Ovie Oghoufo and reserve running back Jahmir Smith. Because of the reduced roster several true-freshmen saw action. In addition to Pyne and Ehrensberger, they included wide receivers Jordan Johnson and Xavier Watts, cornerback Ramon Henderson and Caleb Offord, defensive linemen, Rylie Mills, Jordan Botelho and Aidan Keanaaina and long snapper Alex Peitsch ... ND extended its home winning streak to 20 games, breaking the school’s modern record of 19 from 1987-90 ... The ND defense now has four shutouts under Kelly, the most of any ND coach since Lou Holtz ... Book became the first ND QB in modern history to rush for three touchdowns in a half. He passed Steven Beuerlein for No. 5 on the all-time career passing yards with 6,529. He also passed Ron Powlus and Tommy Rees in total career yards, becoming No. 3 all-time in school history ... ND’s big and experienced offensive line looked like what most expected it to be. After a poor showing against Duke, the line took charge right at the start and completely dominated USF. ND then started substituting freely near the end of the second quarter to give younger linemen a chance ... We will be back with our next column on Oct. 10 since the Irish are scheduled off next week.