While most of the Notre Dame football program is busy celebrating one of the biggest blowouts in school history, there is one black spot that has tamped down excitement a bit. That's because linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa left the game against Syracuse early and didn't return.
The defender seemingly left the game due to an injury that, at least to onlookers, seemed serious. However, because the game was such a massive blowout, it wasn't something the broadcast or most of the Fighting Irish media seemed to notice at the time. Because of that, head coach Marcus Freeman wasn't even asked about the man known as KVA and his status.
Because the NBC broadcast covered the blowout but didn't even notice Viliamu-Asa was hurt, there wasn't much footage of what could have happened. One Notre Dame fan noticed he limped to the sideline and then fell to the ground. Later, eagle-eyed viewers saw him on the bench in street clothes. Now another Irish fan seems to have found the moment when KVA suffered the injury.
@greg2126 I don’t know if you’ve looked much into it but here’s the play @AsaViliamu gets hurt. pic.twitter.com/kOBhA9Rfeu
— Caco (@Caco0003) November 23, 2025
New view of Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa clip could show Notre Dame football linebacker's injury
The play in question shows the linebacker exploded through the Syracuse and disrupted a run play, though he did initially miss the ball carrier. However, as the running back shifted his route, Viliamu-Asa got up and joined a pile of Notre Dame defenders to bring the runner down.
Unfortunately, this is seemingly where KVA got injured as several players fell backwards onto the linebacker. He may have landed hard on his hip, and at the end of the play, he can be seen sitting on the ground.
Just as bodies are pulled apart, Viliamu-Asa goes into a squat and then stands up awkwardly before running off. It's possible he was headed for the sideline, where he was seen to hit the ground again.
There's no guarantee this was how the injury happened, since Notre Dame hasn't commented on if anything is injured at all, but the clip seems to be the most likely view of how Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa suffered his mystery injury.