While Notre Dame was able to defeat the Duke Blue Devils 38-7 on November 9, 2019 – news broke this afternoon that a Notre Dame star will be out for the rest of the year.
Julian Okwara is going to miss the rest of the season. The senior captain Okwara fractured his fibula.
During the the game, Okwara’s counter part, Khalid Kareem rolled up on Okwara’s leg.
Coach Brian Kelly said in his post game press conference that Okwara would under-go x-rays to determine the severity and the worst case scenario unfortunately came true.
What Could Have Been
The combination of Okwara and Kareem was the duo to watch coming in to the season. They were both named to the Bednarik award preseason watch list.
Okwara has four sacks this season and is popping up on many draft boards as an early round talent.
In addition to Okwara, linebacker Jack Lamb will also miss the remainder of the season due a hip injury.
Next Man Up
Jamir Jones and Ovie Oghoufo were plugged in to his place when Okwara went down and will be a big part of the defense moving forward.
Life without Okwara is going to be difficult as he is an exceptional talent. The Irish take on the Naval Academy next week and Okwara’s absence is going to be immediately felt.
At this point you have to hope he is able to recover in time for the NFL Draft.