Notre Dame Football: Grading the Irish defensive position groups vs. USF
Linebackers: A
It’s quite apparent why this group is getting an A grading. As mentioned previously, two potential starting linebackers in Simon and Liufau were scratched before Saturday’s game, leaving third string linebacker Jack Kiser to step up into a big role.
The sophomore more than delivered, notching a team-high 8 tackles, including 7 solo, 2 tackles for loss, and 1 QB hurry. He had a nose for the ball and made great plays all afternoon, including a few impressive open field tackles.
Game ball goes to linebacker @jbkiser4, who stepped up when the team needed him.
— Brian Kelly (@CoachBrianKelly) September 19, 2020
He made some key plays for us today. #GraduatingChampions pic.twitter.com/AddTwCDvqe
Both Drew White and Jack Lamb also had solid outings, combining for 7 tackles and 3 QB hurries. While Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah didn’t fill up the stat sheet as he normally does, this is mostly due to South Florida not looking or running his way most of the time. Not surprisingly, he didn’t play much once the game got out of hand.
Overall this group was extremely solid and combined with the defensive line to make life very difficult for the Bulls all game long.
This game was a great chance for a lot of different faces to see the field and get valuable game experience. Considering the personnel changes, mobile quarterbacks of USF, and tricky style of offense they run, this was an extremely encouraging performance from the linebackers.