Loghan Thomas In Beast Mode Might Be Notre Dame’s Biggest 2026 Surprise
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Loghan Thomas has impressed Notre Dame Fighting Irish football fans in his 65 snaps during the 2026 season, but One Foot Down readers would still be very surprised if he supplants Boubacar Traore or Bryce Young in sacks this year.
Thomas has two sacks and two hurries in the Irish’s last two games against Michigan State and Purdue, despite appearing in just one quarter of Notre Dame’s defensive plays. This has put him third on the team in sacks so far, just one behind Traore and Young.
OFD readers were offered four scenarios this week and asked which would be the most surprising outcome (or, if you prefer, least likely):
- Leonard Moore does not lead the team in pass breakups
- Notre Dame scores on a kickoff return and punt return this year
- Nolan James Jr.’s missed tackles forced is greater than C.J. Carr’s rush yards
- Loghan Thomas has the most sacks
The poll had 58 total votes; almost half chose Thomas as their answer.
“Thomas has looked really good and way better than I thought, but this D line has too many studs,” said commenter Cole Lake. “Bryce Young seems unblockable and not sure anyone is going to catch him.”
Twenty-one percent of respondents picked the combined kickoff and punt return, which did occur in 2023 and 2025, but not 2024.
“We were spoiled by the likes of JP (Jadarian Price) and JL (Jeremiyah Love) who had us on the edge of our seats every time they touched the ball,” wrote commenter NDOCD. “I will always remember JP’s kickoff returns vs USC in 2023 and 2025 in front of an Irish home crowd. Both TDs (99 yards and 100 yards) shut down potential USC comebacks. I can’t imagine what Lincoln Riley was thinking the second time it happened. I’d love to see it again this year. Maybe a punt return, maybe a kickoff return, but probably not both.”
The final two choices – Moore PBUs and James’ missed tackles – each garnered about 17 percent of the vote.
“The think with Leonard Moore is that teams are wisely not even testing him,” said commenter The_Godbacker (formerly known as Clearwall). “He’s such a non-factor because of how dominant he is that every team is realizing you cant throw to that side of the field anymore.”
As for this week’s games, Joshua, Brendan and myself were quite bullish on the Irish covering the 21 point spread on this week’s podcast. I guessed 40-6; Brendan laid $5 down on +820 odds that the Irish cover 41 1/2 points earlier this week. Check out your options on FanDuel, the sponsor of this survey, here.
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