NC State's Ashford won't play against No. 13 Notre Dame after leaving opener on stretcher

Published Sep. 4, 2023 2:49 p.m. ET

Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina State safety Rakeim Ashford won't play this weekend against No. 13 Notre Dame after he was taken off the field on a stretcher during the season-opening win at Connecticut, coach Dave Doeren said Monday.

Ashford spent Thursday night in the hospital for tests before being released on Friday and returning to Raleigh. Doeren said Ashford will play again, but the timetable is uncertain.

“He's probably going to need at least a week probably to shake that one off,” Doeren said. “I would equate that to a whiplash-type thing, so he's pretty sore. We've just got to get the soreness out and get him back to who he was. He'll play again and all that, we just don't know how long it's going to take.”

Ashford was hit late by a UConn player at the end of a kickoff return with 1:54 left in the third quarter. He went down and lay motionless for about 10 minutes as both teams knelt and watched emergency crews work on him. The Huskies' Isiah Davis was called for unnecessary roughness for the blindside hit on the play.

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