Notre Dame is reaping the benefits of its win over Boston College. Not only did it retain its No. 2 ranking, but the ACC has decided to reward a couple of players for their performances in that game. Shaun Crawford and Tommy Kraemer have been named the conference’s Defensive Back and Offensive Lineman of the Week, respectively. That makes 11 weekly ACC awards for the Irish.
Against the Eagles, Crawford had a team-leading and career-high nine tackles, an 8-yard sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. No other defensive back in the ACC this past week recorded nine tackles and a sack. Without him, Phil Jurkovec would have had a better day against his former team.
Anyone on the offensive line could have won Offensive Lineman of the Week, but the honor went to Kraemer. The Irish’s offense gained 561 total yards, and Ian Book never was sacked during the contest. If the unit is to repeat that success at all the rest of 2020, it will have to do so without starting center Jarrett Patterson, who suffered a season-ending foot injury in the game.