Notre Dame: Asmar Bilal was Defensive Player of the Game vs. Michigan

Well… there weren’t many positives for Notre Dame to take away from Saturday’s game.

It’s pretty tough to pick a standout individual performance when a team collectively plays like Notre Dame did on Saturday night.  To be honest, it was just plain awful. That said, there were some under the radar bright spots in that dark downpour. Here are a couple defensive players who had some positive plays in Notre Dame’s brutal loss to Michigan.

Honorable Mention

Drew White

While Notre Dame’s defense did not look impressive in the majority of Saturday’s game, White did have a couple of impressive stops. The one that stands out to me was when Michigan was in the red zone and its freshmen running back was trying to get into the endzone, but White stopped him before he could cross. While the Notre Dame front seven should be to blame for much of the defense’s lack of stops and Michigan’s dominant run game, White did have some moments where he stood out. White finished the night with 11 total tackles. For a full breakdown of White’s stats click here.

Defensive Player of the Game

Asmar Bilal

While the same thing I mentioned above goes for Bilal along with White and the rest of the front seven, Bilal did have some plays where he flashed brilliance, including one where he tackled a Michigan player in the backfield for a loss. Another one that stands out, even though it ended up with a Michigan touchdown, was his big hit on Shea Patterson in the second half. Bilal finished the night with a total of nine tackles — one of which was for a loss. For a full breakdown of Bilal’s stats click here.

This week, the Notre Dame defense looks to put that game behind them as they match up against Virginia Tech.