Notre Dame offense practice notes 4-6-16

SOUTH BEND — Practice No. 10 this spring took a special teams bent out of the gate on Wednesday at the Loftus Center.

And there was a twist on place kicks. Quarterback Montgomery VanGorder was handling the holds for Notre Dame kicker Justin Yoon, rather than his 2015 holder, QB DeShone Kizer.

Yoon showed plenty of lift and distance but sporadic accuracy with the new holder. He went 3-of-6 on his field goal tries.

Kizer then held for walk-on John Chereson, who nailed both of his attempts.

When the Irish offense took the field for tempo drills, Kizer worked with the first unit at quarterback. Up front — from left tackle to right — were Mike McGlinchey, Quenton Nelson, Sam Mustipher, Hunter Bivin and Alex Bars.

Torii Hunter Jr., Corey Holmes and Equanimeous St. Brown comprised the receiving corps, with Josh Adams and Tarean Folston rotating in at running back. Durham Smythe was the first-team tight end.

Teaming with Malik Zaire with the second group were running backs Dexter Williams and Justin Brent; wide receivers Kevin Stepherson, Chris Finke and Miles Boykin; tight end Alizé Jones; and linemen — from left tackle to right — Jimmy Byrne, Trevor Ruhland, Tristen Hoge, Mark Harrell and Colin McGovern.

Senior wide receiver Corey Robinson again was held out of practice. ND head coach Brian Kelly said last week that Robinson was expected to see a specialist this week for his lingering concussion symptoms.

With the third unit, converted nose guard Jacob Matuska looked natural catching the ball at tight end — a position he excelled at in high school and was recruited at by some schools.

Among the visitors at practice was area standout Cedric Mitchell, a 6-foot-1, 190-pound wide receiver/defensive back from Concord High.

Also visiting were three sophomores from Thomson, Ga. — cornerback Christian Tutt, wide receiver Marcus Cade and defensive back Jacorey Crawford. Tutt transferred to IMG Academy at the start of the current semester, but has since transferred back to Thomson. 247Sports rates him as a five-star prospect.

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