Players Of The Game From The Notre Dame Victory Over Syracuse
Notre Dame wasn't sharp against Syracuse, but that didn't stop the Fighting Irish from overwhelming the Orange by a 45-21 score.
There were several standouts, but a few stood above the rest.
OFFENSE - JAVON McKINLEY, WIDE RECEIVER
Stats: 7 catches, 111 yards, 15.9 YPC, 3 touchdowns
Runners Up: QB Ian Book, RB Kyren Williams
McKinley wins this honor for the second straight game after setting career bests with seven catches and three touchdowns. The senior went over 100 yards receiving for the third time in the last four games.
I wouldn't have pegged McKinley for top player honors after the first series, which ended with the veteran dropping a third-down pass in the end zone.
He started to heat up in the second quarter, making three straight grabs to get Notre Dame into Syracuse territory. He set up Ian Book's first touchdown run with an 11-yard grab on the next series (and a strong block near the goaline on the run itself), which was followed by McKinley turning a short throw into a 21-yard touchdown on the following series.
The half ended with McKinley out-playing a Syracuse cornerback for the football, giving him a second touchdown in the opening half, which put the Irish up 24-7.
McKinley helped put the game away in the third quarter when he beat a Syracuse corner off the ball before hauling in a 26-yard throw for a score, his third of the game.
DEFENSE - JEREMIAH OWUSU-KORAMOAH, LINEBACKER
Stats: 5 tackles, 0.5 TFL, 2 pass break ups, 1 forced fumble, 1 fumble recovery
Runners Up: DT Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, DE Adetokunbo Ogundeji, DE Daelin Hayes
Owusu-Koramoah was all over the field for Notre Dame, and his statline is incredibly impressive. There wasn't one stat that you look at and say, "Wow, that's outstanding." The part that shows how good he was is how many areas he recorded a stat.
Owusu-Koramoah was a force against the run, the perimeter pass game, in coverage and as a blitzer.
Owusu-Koramoah made a number of hustle plays from the backside, including recovering a fumble on a snap where he started the play on the opposite side of the field. His forced fumble in the third quarter was another hustle play where Owusu-Koramoah came from distance to make the play.
The Irish senior linebacker didn't bring down the quarterback on an early third quarter blitz, but he forced the quarterback out of the pocket and into the arms of defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa, who stripped the ball out for the turnover.
Owusu-Koramoah also had two pass break ups in coverage.
SPECIAL TEAMS - JAY BRAMBLETT, PUNTER
Stats: 4 punts, 38.2 avg.
Syracuse decided not to return a single punt or kick, so the options for special teams player of the game was limited. Bramblett had a solid but unspectacular game. He did have one boot that pinned Syracuse at the 2-yard line
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