Notre Dame TE Mitchell Evans to Undergo Season-Ending Surgery on Torn ACL Injury

Notre Dame tight end Mitchell Evans, who leads the team with 29 receptions and 422 receiving yards, will miss the remainder of the season with a torn ACL in his left knee.

Fighting Irish head coach Marcus Freeman confirmed the news to reporters on Monday (h/t LeVon Whittaker of ABC57 News).

"He will have surgery here in the next week or so, depending on when the doctors decide to do it," Freeman added.

Per ESPN's Adam Rittenberg, the injury occurred during the third quarter of Notre Dame's 58-7 win over Pitt on Saturday. Evans was seen clutching the back of his left leg after attempting to catch a pass from quarterback Sam Hartman. The junior out of Wadsworth, Ohio had five catches for 66 yards before exiting.

Losing Evans, who is third among Division I FBS tight ends in receiving yards, is obviously a tough blow for the Fighting Irish.

"You don't make up for the production that Mitch gave our offense with one guy," Freeman said, per Mike Berardino of the South Bend Tribune. "Every person in that tight ends room will be asked to do more, and I'm confident they'll be able to."

That room includes sophomore Holden Staes, who has 12 catches for 63 yards and four touchdowns. Freshman Cooper Flanagan, who caught his first career pass (a 19-yard score) on Saturday against Pitt, may also be in line for more work.

As for Evans, the 6'5", 251-pound junior did amazing work just to come back from a broken foot suffered during 2022 offseason workouts.

He missed part of the 2022 season and sat behind starter Michael Mayer upon his return, but he emerged as a superstar when given his shot to shine in 2023. Evans' best game this season came in a night matchup against Duke, when he caught six passes for 134 yards in a 21-14 win.

Unfortunately, the Notre Dame offense will now be without him for the remainder of the season. Up next is a road matchup against Clemson on Saturday at 12 p.m. ET.