Charles Jagusah To Start At Left Tackle For Notre Dame In The Sun Bowl
We knew that Notre Dame would need a new left tackle when it takes on Oregon State in the Tony The Tiger Sun Bowl against Oregon State. The assumption was that senior Tosh Baker, who served as the backup left tackle all season, would slide into the starting lineup with All-American Joe Alt off to the NFL.
Head coach Marcus Freeman made a surprising announcement during today's press conference when he stated it would be true freshman Charles Jagusah that would be replacing Alt.
"Charles Jagusah has gotten the majority of the first team reps at the left tackle, and Tosh and (Aamil Wagner) have really been battling it out at the right tackle position," Freeman said. "We've been rotating them through the first six practices or five practices that we've had, but today as we started going towards scout teams, Jagusah will be at the left and then it will be a battle to see whose going to be the right tackle for the game."
The last time we saw Jagusah - which was during the team's 56-23 win over Stanford - he was playing left guard in the final minutes of the game. During fall camp we saw Jagusah play some at left tackle, right tackle and guard, but with the season starters at tackle now gone, Notre Dame has made a major shift.
Baker has started at left tackle in the past, having started two games there back in 2021 before Alt eventually took over. Now Jagusah gets a chance to show what he is capable of.
Jagusah certainly has giant shoes to fill after Alt emerged as the top tackle in the game, earning unanimous All-American honors this season.
Fortunately for Notre Dame, Jagusah is the kind of player that can fill that void. The Illinois native is listed at 6-7 and 330 pounds, showing the massive size and length to handle playing as a rookie. He also came to Notre Dame as arguably the top recruit in the 2023 class.
Jagusah was graded as a five-star recruit and the top player in the 2023 class according to the Irish Breakdown board, and he was also ranked as a five-star recruit and the No. 25 player in the country according to On3.
What made Jagusah such a big time recruit is his combination of elite size, power and athleticism at his size. He was still developing as a player even as he signed with Notre Dame, but the raw tools are enormous. According to Freeman, the talented freshman showed the necessary growth late in the season to earn this position.
"He's got natural ability," Freeman said. "We noticed that in recruiting, we noticed that when he got here. There was just not a need at that moment for him to play for us, we had a pretty good left tackle start for us all year. He's shown on scout team, he's shown in the bye weeks and the individual drills that he's going to be a future great offensive lineman for us.
"Throughout the first couple practices we rotated guys at different positions," Freeman continued. "He continued to flourish at that left tackle position and has done a really good job."
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