Okwara Ready For Homecoming
Going to school 12 hours from home, junior defensive end Julian Okwara rarely gets to play in front of his friends and family.
Saturday, the Charlotte, N.C., native will get that opportunity.
“I knew before I came to Notre Dame that a lot of my friends wouldn’t get to see me,” explained Okwara. “Going home is just a good chance for some of friends to come back and see me play.
“It is a homecoming for me. I get a lot of friends and family that try to come, so it is good.”
It will feel like home for the 6-foot-5, 241-pounder, but for Notre Dame, it is the first road game of the season.
The hostile environment will be different, but Okwara and the Irish insist it won’t be an issue.
“It is not a home environment where you have your fans,” explained the Irish upperclassman. “It is going to be a majority of the away team’s fans, it is not different for us, and you barely recognize who is in the crowd, so it doesn’t matter for us. We just have to go out there and do our job.”
Preparation during the week has the Irish fully prepared for their first road test.
“We played some music to get a loud environment because we need to get our communication up and make sure everyone is hearing out on the field,” Okwara stated.
Wake Forest's high-tempo offense, which shoots for 100-plus plays per game, shouldn’t be a problem for a deep Irish defensive line.
“We can handle it,” Okwara strongly stated. “It doesn’t matter how many snaps we can keep guys fresh and our rotation will help out with that.”
Strength and conditioning coach Matt Balis and his staff have done a great job making sure the team is ready for whatever is thrown at them on game day.
Notre Dame’s defense has been on the field a lot the first three weeks of the season, which includes 97 defensive snaps against Ball State in Week Two.
“We have a great strength and conditioning staff so we will be fine when we go out with tempo,” Okwara praised. “We can definitely handle it and are going to practice it. Depth helps. We will be able to rotate guys in and keep guys fresh out on the field.”
It is evident that the front seven is the strength of the Irish. A deep defensive line rotation has a lot to do with it.
Okwara knows he is surrounded by a ton of talent and players who are capable of making plays.
“We have a mature defensive line, and everybody can step in, play and make plays whenever they can. When their name is called upon we can count on them to go out and play some plays.”