Players of the Game From Notre Dame's Victory Over Duke

Notre Dame kicked off the 2020 football season with a sluggish, but hard-fought 27-13 victory over Duke. It was Notre Dame's first ever victory as a member of the ACC.

There were a number of standouts from the game, but there were some that stood above the rest. Let's take a look at Notre Dame's players of the game on offense, defense and special teams.

OFFENSE - RB Kyren Williams

Stats: 19 carries, 112 yards, 5.9 YPC, 2 TDs / 2 catches, 93 yards

Runners Up: TE Tommy Tremble, WR Avery Davis

Williams stepped into the starting role and played well, leading the Irish in rushing yards and receiving yards. What I liked about Williams was how well he ran throughout the game, even when there wasn't much room to work. He picked up just nine yards on his first four carries, and had just just 39 yards on 12 carries at the half.

But Williams kept hammering, and he did rip off a 75-yard gain on a screen in the second quarter. In the second half, his patience and willingness to stay on track allowed him to start to take the game over. Williams rushed for 66 yards on six carries in the third quarter, including a great read on a 4th-and-1 that broke the game open.

Williams with room to run! ☘️

The Irish extend their lead 17-6 with the point after. #DUKEvsND pic.twitter.com/5Qu3Cze0cc
— Notre Dame on NBC (@NDonNBC) September 12, 2020

This was a great read by Williams, who saw the inside clogged and saw that left tackle Liam Eichenberg had a good body on the edge, so Williams bounced it outside. He trusted his blocking, kept pushing to the outside and then got vertical. It was a strong all-around play by the blockers and Williams.

The sophomore's first touchdown went for just two yards, but it was also an impressive run. He was initially hit behind the line, but Williams showed great balance and pushed his way into the end zone.

DEFENSE - LB Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah

Stats: 9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 forced fumble

Runners Up: DE Isaiah Foskey, DT Kurt Hinish, CB TaRiq Bracy

Notre Dame played good team defense against Duke, but there was no one on defense that played an overly clean game. While that's good for the future of the defense, it makes it a big challenging to pick one player of the game.

Had he not gone down with an injury I likely would have chosen safety Kyle Hamilton, who was making a lot of plays early in the game. I went with Owusu-Koramoah because he was the most consistently effective player for the Irish defense.

Owusu-Koramoah got off to a rough start, losing contain on the first snap of the game, giving up a 26-yard gain on a bootleg. He settled down after that and made a lot of plays. Owusu-Koramoah impacted the game in every aspect. The senior led the defense with nine tackles, and he made plays against the run both inside and on the perimeter. He was solid in the pass game outside of a couple mistakes, and he was impactful as a blitzer.

He got beat on one third-down slant throw, but after giving up the catch he quickly closed on the receiver and knocked the ball out, and the Irish got the ball back. It was a quality start for Notre Dame's top defender.

SPECIAL TEAMS - P Jay Bramblett

Bramblett was a bit spotty as a punter, especially late, but he was strong early and averaged 43.8 yards on his six punts. Half of his boots were pinned inside the 20-yard line, including a 52-yard punt that landed Duke at its own 10-yard line and a 45-yard boot that pinned Duke at its own 16-yard line.

Bramblett also had a 53-yard punt that flipped the field, with the Irish punting from their own 19-yard line and the coverage unit stopping Duke at their 36-yard line.

Of course, Bramblett's biggest play brought him back to his high school days. Remember, Bramblett was a quarterback in high school, so he's not your typical punter, which you saw when he ran for 14 yards to convert a 4th-and-8 at Notre Dame's own 21-yard line. Notre Dame was trailing 3-0 at that point, and his run sparked an Irish drive that ended in the end zone.

Textbook tackling, if you ask us. #DUKEvsND pic.twitter.com/YWjkH6H1N4
— Notre Dame on NBC (@NDonNBC) September 12, 2020

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