The Notre Dame football team played in their first game of the season on Sunday, and suffered a disappointing 27-24 loss to the Miami Hurricanes.
Something always exciting about week 1 for fans is being able to get a feel for the players that have heard, read, and seen so much about all spring and summer long.
Week 1 for Notre Dame was no different, and there were definitely some surprising performances that fans did not see coming in the game. Below are three of the most surprising individual results that fans did not see coming against Miami.
Kyngstonn Villiamu-Asa showed out for Notre Dame football
Villiamu-Asa (KVA) had a standout opening night effort against Miami despite limited playing time in the game.
The Irish were on the field for 70 plays against Miami, and KVA only played in 36 of them, barely 50%. However, he made his mark on the game in a few major ways.
KVA finished with four tackles, including three solo tackles and a tackle for loss in his limited snaps, good for fifth on the team. Everyone with more played significantly more in the game.
Villiamu-Asa also makes this list because I think many fans have forgotten about how good he can be when healthy and at his best. All summer long, coaches were praising other linebackers on the team, including Jaylen Sneed, Jaiden Ausberry, and Drayk Bowen.
However, it was Villiamu-Asa that truly had the best game of the bunch, and the tape backs that up. KVA had a huge highlight play early in the 3rd quarter as Miami pushed for a touchdown. He took on a block from a pulling lineman, discarded him, and leveled the running back in the backfield. It was one of the only examples of a Notre Dame player getting penetration and making a tackle in the backfield all game.
KVA really stood out when watching the game live, and it was a really pleasant surprise to see him making plays again after getting injured late last year. His growth as a player is crucial to the Irish team, which is in desperate need of some playmakers on defense.
Donovan Hinish will wish he had a do-over against Miami
It was a rough debut for Hinish as a starting defensive tackle in this one and he never really seemed to be up for the task against a good Miami offensive line.
Fans were concerned coming into the year, as were many analysts and media members, about Hinish and the other interior defensive lineman for the Irish, ultimately calling them too small. They were surprisingly correct for sure.
Hinish, especially, was on display a few times, being driven down the field five or more yards as running backs sliced off him for huge chunk plays. Despite being labeled as a pass-rushing defensive tackle, he generated 0 pressures against Miami Quarterback Carson Beck.
Hinish finished as the lowest graded Notre Dame defensive player and only registered one assisted tackle for the game. The rest of the defensive tackles did not fare much better either, but Hinish, as a team captain and being talked up all offseason, really stood out the most, and not in a good way.
Jalen Stroman emerges as a strong Notre Dame weapon
Let's end on a positive note for the Fighting Irish and throw a huge shoutout to safety Jalen Stroman.
I have to be honest, I did not know much about Stroman coming into this game, which definitely qualifies him for this list. I had heard a lot about returning safety Adon Shuler and star Freshman Tae Johnson, but Stroman seemed to fly under the radar all offseason. He was only recently named the starter.
Stroman responded by turning in a really solid Notre Dame debut. He finished with a team high nine tackles and had some really solid open field hits on receivers and running backs alike.
The rest of the defensive secondary seemed outmatched in this one, and really that was a major surpise, but Stroman, a graduate transfer from Virginia Tech, really stood out for me.
Stroman definitely should have the inside track at getting some more time against Texas A&M over fellow safeties Luke Talich and Tae Johnson, and I look forward to watching him play the remainder of the season.