Notre Dame defeated Duke 27-13 to start the 2020 season as a member of the ACC for the first time in program history. It was far from perfect but it was a win. Here at Fighting Irish Wire we’ll give out game balls for the best players on both the offense and defense each and every week, here is what we came up with from Saturday’s victory.
First from Geoffrey Clark:
Offensive: Kyren Williams
The Irish have a lot of faith in this kid, and he showed why against Duke. Scoring twice and gaining 205 all-purpose yards, including 112 on the ground, was enough to sway at least some people who might have had any doubts about him. He was the only offensive player to look consistent from start to finish on a day when most of the unit took time to wake up. While he can’t be the Irish’s only weapon if they’re going to succeed, there’s no question he’ll be a big one.
Defensive: Isaiah Foskey
Duke threatened to take control of the game when it got to Notre Dame’s 2-yard line in the second quarter. Instead, Foskey blitzed and was ruled to have sacked Chase Brice for a 10-yard loss after a replay review. The Irish’s lead never felt seriously threatened after that because the offense started to get it going. Foskey also recorded two quarterback hits and 1.5 tackles for loss, which cost the Blue Devils 11 yards.
Next: Mike Chen’s Game Balls