Notre Dame, No. 11, lost another lineman to injury for the remainder of the season.
Defensive end Boubacar Traore will miss the rest of the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, head coach Marcus Freeman announced Monday. Traore was injured in the first half of Notre Dame’s 31-24 win over Louisville in Week 5.
The redshirt freshman led the Fighting Irish with three sacks and five tackles for loss (11 total tackles) in five games from the defensive end position. He also returned an interception for a touchdown in a 66-7 win over Purdue in Week 3.
Traore, a four-star recruit in the 2023 recruiting class, was inserted into Notre Dame’s starting lineup after senior defensive end Jordan Botelho injured his right knee against Purdue.
The Irish also lost starting center Ashton Craig against the Boilermakers. Freeman said in a press conference Monday that Craig underwent surgery to repair his left anterior cruciate ligament.
Junior Tuihalamaka is expected to replace Traore at defensive end. The junior linebacker has seven tackles, one half-sack and two tackles for loss this season.
Notre Dame (4-1) hosts Stanford (2-3) on Saturday with kickoff scheduled for 3:30 p.m. ET.