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Notre Dame Football: Julian Okwara was Defensive Player of Game vs. UVA

By Corbin Whitney

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 28: Julian Okwara #42 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish strips the ball from Bryce Perkins #3 of the Virginia Cavaliers during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium on September 28, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, INDIANA - SEPTEMBER 28: Julian Okwara #42 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish strips the ball from Bryce Perkins #3 of the Virginia Cavaliers during the first half at Notre Dame Stadium on September 28, 2019 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images) /
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The Notre Dame football defense showed up big time against Virginia, playing its best game of the season.

Honorable Mentions

Kyle Hamilton

On Saturday, Kyle Hamilton did what Kyle Hamilton does best — and that’s get an interception. After being the talk of the Irish training camp for intercepting numerous balls, the stud Freshman has an interception in each his first two home games. Hamilton finished the game with two tackles and an interception for Notre Dame football. For a full breakdown of Hamilton’s stats, click here.

Khalid Kareem

The senior captain played a fantastic game against Virginia. He and his counterpart — who will be talked about at the end of this article — played up to their preseason hype this game after having a somewhat slow start to the season. Kareem had a total of three tackles, two and a half of which were sacks. For a full breakdown of Kareem’s stats, click here.

Alohi Gilman

Despite the defensive backfield having a tough time in the first half with the dominant performance of Bryce Perkins, they still had a solid game overall. Gilman got his first interception of the season against Virginia. The captain also tallied three tackles — one of which was for a loss — to go along with his interception. For a full breakdown of Gilman’s stats, click here.

Jamir Jones

With Daelin Hayes getting injured early in the game, with what we now know as a season ending injury, Jones got quite a bit of playing time. Jones had a terrific game and made a big impact in his first game of the season. He had a total of two tackles on the day — one of those tackles being a sack — and a forced fumble as well. For a full breakdown of Jones’s stats, click here.

*One thing that I wanted to note was that the entire defensive line play fantastic, and a handful of others from the DL could’ve made it on this list too.

Defensive Player of the Game

Julian Okwara

While only having three tackles in his first three games, Julian Okwara really let loose this week. The potential first rounder in next year’s draft definitely played to his potential. Okwara finished the day with three tackles — all of which were sacks — as well as two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. Hopefully this game got Okwara back to his old self, and if that’s the case, it will be hard to find a more talented defensive end in the country.

Next. Jones Jr. was Offensive P.O.G.. dark

For a full breakdown of Okwara’s stats, click here.

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