Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 17, 2018 11 UNDER THE DOME Notre Dame Defenders Honored After Opener Similar to a veteran and NFL-laden offensive line in 2017, the upperclassman-dominated defense was projected to be the strength of the 2018 Notre Dame football team. Based on the season-opening 24-17 victory versus Michigan, such expectations appeared to be well founded. Making his first career start, junior defensive end Khalid Kareem, who hails from the Wolverine state, was named the Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week for his eight-tackle performance (six solo), which included a 16-yard sack that knocked Michigan out of field goal range. Kareem's ascent began showing in the spring when he began to overtake fifth-year senior Jay Hayes, who started all 13 games last season, at strongside end. Hayes left the team midway through spring and is now enrolled at Georgia. Meanwhile, two seniors — defensive tackle Jerry Tillery and Mike linebacker Te'von Coney — were named to Pro Football Focus' first-team defensive unit in week one for the way they graded out against the Wol- verines. PFF features 500 analysts of football who dissect and grade every snap of every game, and also factor in quality of competition played. Tillery's 92.2 grade was the second highest by a defenseman in college football during week one, behind only Alabama safety Deionte Thompson's 94.0. Michigan end Chase Winovich, who had eight pressures against Irish quarterback Brandon Wimbush, also made the first team. Coney had a team-high 10 tackles against the Wolverines, including a sack. He also added a hurry on his four blitzes. In other news from the week: • It was a rough evening for sophomore kickoff man Jonathan Doerer against Michigan, including one that fell out of bounds and another that inadvertently sailed down the middle for a 99-yard touchdown return. The kick was supposed to be aimed to the left, but the mis-hit helped result in coverage men getting out of lanes and ended up with a score. Senior Justin Yoon kicked off in the second half and was effective, but head coach Brian Kelly prefers that Yoon concentrate solely on field goals and extra points. "We needed to go rescue him and get him out of the game — he wasn't throwing strikes," Kelly said of Doerer. "But he's going back in, and he's going to kick off and he's going to get it right. "He's a talented player, and he's committed to doing it, so he'll be back out there." • Junior quarterback Ian Book was in for two snaps against Michigan, and both resulted in touchdown runs by sophomore Jafar Armstrong. The first time Book was inserted was a result of starter Brandon Wim- bush getting poked in the eye, but Kelly said it is going to be important to keep Book engaged. "There's a package set up for him in short yardage and in some blue zone situations where we think he can handle some direct snap offense, pro style … that really fits him," Kelly said. "We want to keep [Book] in- volved in the game. Brandon is going to run the ball a lot this year. He's going to need a blow here and there. "That's why it's important we have those packages in there … that's going to be the nature of the offense." Junior defensive end Khalid Kareem was tabbed as the Walter Camp Defensive Player of the Week after recording eight total stops (six solo), 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack in his first career start. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA 800.777.1574 meridiantitle.com PROTECTING YOUR PROPERTY RIGHTS FOR 80 YEARS