Kareem Pleased With Fight From Irish
Notre Dame has needed to build defensive line depth for quite some time, and the persistence is paying off this season. The Irish entered Saturday’s game with Virginia Tech as one of the nation’s top pass-rushing units but found themselves down a starter at defensive end as Daelin Hayes didn’t make the trip due to a stinger.
Then right before halftime, Notre Dame lost defensive end Julian Okwara to a targeting call, which put the Irish in an uncomfortable position of having its top two drop ends out for the second half.
“We went down without Daelin Hayes, and you're down two starting drops,” head coach Brian Kelly said following the game. “Jamir (Jones) has got to play in there, and then Ade (Ogundeji) has to go over and play a position he hasn't played very much. I thought the kids did a really good job of not letting the adversity take advantage of the situation for them. They did their job.
“We're better with Julian and Daelin no question, but those guys stepped up and played to a standard. That's what we talk about with next man in.”
Jones, Ogundeji and Justin Ademilola stepped up, and their peers noticed it.
“We have a next man in mentality,” said starting defensive end Khalid Kareem. “Our guys behind us are ready to go and work really hard. There’s no surprise they came in and did their job.
“Daelin and Julian were two huge losses, but our guys are ready to go in and do their jobs. They did their thing tonight.”
For Jones, it was about an opportunity. The junior defensive end has been patient over his career and even overcame a summer knee operation to find himself in a significant role in Notre Dame’s biggest road game of the year.
“Jamir balled,” stated Kareem. “He was balling. I was proud of him. He has been working really hard, and it was time to shine. He did his thing.”
Kareem is quickly becoming a name heard around the country on Saturday’s, and he raised his game when Notre Dame needed it the most as he forced a fumble and cornerback Julian Love scooped it for a score.
“We just came out with the mentality that we had to finish,” explained Kareem. “We were in this position a lot last year in the fourth quarter, and we didn’t want to come up short. We stayed true to who we are and fought it out.”
Notre Dame and Kareem applied consistent pressure on Virginia Tech quarterback Ryan Willis all night and left Blacksburg feeling they had accomplished their mission.
“That’s our goal with any quarterback we faced,” said Kareem. “We want to get him rattled in the pocket as much as we can and let’s find out who the backup quarterback is.”