Notre Dame Football: Grading Irish defensive groups in a 27-13 win over Duke

While the Notre Dame football offense left a lot to be desired Saturday, the defensive unit was a bright spot in their 27-13 win over Duke.

In a rainy, slow, nearly empty stadium on Saturday, Notre Dame kicked off their 2020 campaign as full-fledged ACC members with a victory over Duke in South Bend.

It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win.

Much of that win can be attributed to two key factors. One being sophomore running back Kyren Williams, whose 112 rushing yards, 93 receiving yards, and 2 scores highlighted an otherwise underwhelming and disappointing day for the offense.

And two, the defense.

By far the bright spot Saturday, the defensive unit looked as advertised most of the game. After allowing a few first downs to start the game, a 4th down pass break-up by safety Kyle Hamilton set the tone for the rest of the afternoon.

The unit looked fast, constantly moved the line of scrimmage, got pressure on Duke quarterback Chase Brice, and for the most part overwhelmed the Blue Devil offense for four quarters.

When it was all said and done, the Irish held Duke to just 75 rushing yards, 4-15 on 3rd downs, 3 sacks, 7 tackles for loss, and 2 fumble recoveries.

Let’s take a look at each position’s grades:

Defensive Line: B+

Overall it was a solid day at the office for the defensive line. Outside of a few early runs where Duke found a hole between the tackles, the group moved the line of scrimmage back and plugged running lanes all afternoon.

The star of this group from Saturday was sophomore Isaiah Foskey, who chipped in a sack, 1.5 tackles for loss, a pass deflection, and 2 QB hurries. His sack and one of his QB hurries both came on 3rd downs in the red zone that forced a field goal.

Kurt Hinish added a sack of his own and 2 tackles for loss, Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa led the group with 4 total tackles, and Adetokunbo Ogundeji had a fumble recovery late in the 4th quarter.

Daelin Hayes was relatively quiet, but that didn’t prove to be much of a factor as this unit is one of the deepest on the team and one of the most talented groups in the ACC.

With the impact and potential Foskey showed Saturday, this defensive line is only going to get better, and that is scary to think about.

Linebackers: C

The linebacking unit didn’t make or break Saturday’s win, they just seemed to play good enough. That isn’t a dig or necessarily a bad thing, but there seems to be some moving pieces that the coaching staff is trying to figure out moving forward.

Duke’s first two possessions were reminiscent of last year’s season opener vs Louisville where the Cardinals came out and ran the ball down the field. The results weren’t the same for Duke, but they were having success running between the tackles and linebackers were out of place and failing to get off blocks.

The first quarter saw four different faces playing the interior linebacker spots; Marist Liufau, Drew White, Bo Bauer, and Shayne Simon.

Again, the star of this group was obviously Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, who wasted all of six seconds picking up right where he left off in 2019 as he made the tackle on the opening kick of the season.

JOK finished the game with 9 tackles, 1 sack, 2 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble. He is and will be one of the most important players on this team and especially on the defense. His versatility was on full display vs Duke and elevated the play of the entire defense.

Outside of JOK, there doesn’t seem to be any eye-popping play-makers, just a handful of really good, physical players. There’s nothing wrong with that, but more will be demanded of them as the season wears on and better competition is played.

Secondary: B-

The secondary overall played well Saturday. Outside of the 55-yard pass completed early in the game (with a missed OPI call), Duke was relatively held in check through the air.

The front seven had a lot to do with that, notching eight QB pressures and forcing errant passes by Chase Brice, but I’ll give credit where it’s due.

Duke only managed 259 yards through the air, with Notre Dame’s secondary never letting a receiver get behind them or busting coverage for a big play. They were aggressive when the ball was in the air and generally were in position to make plays on the 50/50 balls.

Kyle Hamilton kicked off his sophomore campaign looking every bit as good as last year, notching 7 tackles, a 4th down pass deflection, and QB pressure before exiting the game with an ankle spain in the second half.

TaRiq Bracey looked solid in coverage as well, adding two pass breakups and generally blanketing whoever he covered all game.

There were some issues with tackling and penalties that will have to be addressed moving forward. Shaun Crawford had a rough day, getting beat twice for 25 and 16-yard gains and adding a personal foul penalty in the 3rd quarter after inexcusably kicking the ball following a pass breakup.

At the end of the day, the secondary did their jobs and looked solid vs a talented Duke receiving corps and quarterback.