With three offensive starters and a key backup in warmups instead of pads on Saturday, Notre Dame needed someone to step up on offense. Javon McKinley saw the opportunity and seized it to emerge as a potential weapon for the Irish offense moving forward. The outburst also had his head coach in a self-deprecating mood.
“He’s been a guy that has been kind of lost in, you know, cyberspace, if you will, and he’s now going to have to play a significant role,” said Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly of McKinley.
McKinley’s breakout performance had reporters asking Kelly if McKinley should get more targets and had Kelly in a joking mood.