PROVO, Utah – All-America cornerback Leonard Moore returns to action for Notre Dame football tonight at BYU, but the second-ranked Irish will be without tight end Cooper Flanagan for the first top-10 matchup in Edwards Stadium history.
Flanagan, a fourth-year junior who has started every game this season, was ruled out with a left hamstring injury in the official pregame availability report released by the school.
Flanagan, so valuable as a run blocker, has averaged 41 offensive snaps per game this season. The Pleasant Hill, CA product has six catches for 48 yards and two scores.
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All other Irish tight ends have combined for nine catches totaling 69 yards and one score this season.
James Flanigan, a second-year player, had the only other scoring toss to an Irish tight end, that coming in the season opener against Wisconsin in Green Bay, his hometown.
Flanigan has caught four passes for 22 yards. Jack Larsen has two grabs for 21 yards; Arkansas transfer Ty Washington has two catches for 12 yards, and freshman Ian Premer made his first career catch (for 14 yards) last week against Stanford.
Cooper Flanagan had also joined Flanigan as the primary shield protectors on punts through the first six games.
Moore, meanwhile, wore sunglasses as he took the field for the team prayer hours before kickoff, but he returned without protective eyewear as he went through a pass breakup drill with teammate Christian Gray.
A junior All-America from Texas, Moore suffered the first documented concussion of his college career in the final three minutes of the Oct. 3 win at North Carolina. Trying to tackle Tar Heels tight end Jelani Thurman on a 10-yard touchdown pass, Moore went down in a heap after banging his helmet off the upper body of the 6-foot-6, 245-pound Thurman.
Jason Onye, Notre Dame’s sixth-year defensive tackle, is set to return for his first action since suffering a left ankle injury against Wisconsin.
Linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa, who missed the Stanford game with a left wrist injury, went through warmups with what appeared to be a hard cast on his left wrist/hand area.
The protective cast looked similar in size to what safety Luke Talich has worn since his return at UNC two weeks ago.
Mike Berardino covers Notre Dame football for the South Bend Tribune and NDInsider.com. Follow him on social media @MikeBerardino.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Notre Dame football injury report | Leonard Moore in, Flanagan out vs BYU