What I’m Thankful For This Notre Dame Football Season

The 2019 season is a good lesson that even though you don’t always get what you want, you can still appreciate the things you have.

For many, the Michigan loss puts a pall over everything that’s happened this season. It’s an understandable feeling; Michigan is the devil, and it’s one thing to lose; it’s another thing to get humiliated. That’s tough. It also clinched Notre Dame losing the two marquee games on the schedule this year, which again, can make the whole thing a bit hollow.

However, losing to the marquee teams usually signals some kind of collapse or a poor overall showing in a season, and that didn’t happen this year, albeit with one game to play. And when looking back on what happened and what could have happened, there is a lot to like about how things have transpired.

So, in the spirit of the season and in appreciating the effort put forth by the players and the program, these are the things I’m most thankful for this year.

Kyle Hamilton

I’m not going to beat around the bush, Hamilton is my favorite thing about the team this year, and I’ve enjoyed every second watching him play. The reason we gravitate towards sports is we want to see greatness, to see players do things that can’t be done. That’s why guys like Will Fuller and Jaylon Smith resonate so much. How can Fuller be as fast as he is? How can someone be so big and so athletic like Jaylon? And how can a 6-4, 210-pound freshman be as fluid and smooth as he is, with the ball skills of an elite receiver, and also hit like a truck?

Hamilton has shown us the full repertoire this season, checking off all of the boxes in an elite safety. Can he tackle? Oh, he can tackle. Does he have range? He’s got elite range. Does he play the ball? You know he does. Even on the play against Virginia Tech, when the refs tried to throw him out of the game for targeting, he was shown to have actually played the whole thing perfectly.

They tried to take our beloved Kyle away from us, but all they did was highlight that he is fundamentally perfect. This will be on teaching tapes around the country. pic.twitter.com/ViMSRoAalV

— Greg Flammang (@greg2126) November 7, 2019

You always want the guy on your team that everyone else wants. Every team in the country wishes they had Hamilton. Clemson, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, LSU, everyone. And we’ve got him, and we get him for the next two years. I can’t wait to watch it, and I’m thankful because it doesn’t happen very often.

Shaun Crawford and Trevor Ruhland

How are these guys even out on any field, let alone playing major college football? The chronicles of Crawford are well known. Two ACL tears, one Achilles tear, and a dislocated elbow which occurred this season. He’s 5-8 and 170 pounds. Maybe. He shouldn’t have been able to come back from the first injury and play at a high level, let alone all the others.

And Ruhland, his journey is less known, but equally impressive, if not more so. He’s got messed up shoulders, a messed up back, terrible knees, and a slew of other ailments. No one on the staff, and even Ruhland himself, thought in the offseason that he’d play this season. But, he wanted to give it one more go for and with his teammates. He thought he’d mainly be a reserve, but that all changed when Tommy Kraemer hurt his knee against Michigan. Ruhland has started every game since, and regardless of how well anyone thinks he’s played, the team is 4-0, ranked 15th, and he’s the starting guard.

These are the guys who make us feel foolish for saying anything negative about any of them, ever. They’ve killed their bodies for their teammates and their school for free. Be thankful they do this so we can be happy on fall Saturdays.

Johnathan Doerer And Jay Bramblett

You sneaky devils. Doerer was supposed to be bad and was supposed to cost us at least one game this year. Instead, he probably won us the USC game and kept the momentum going against Boston College when the offense sputtered in the first half, making four field goals. On the season he is 12-14, has made all of his extra points, and he just looks smooth doing it. Johnathan, we salute you.

Bramblett has been mostly steady as a punter, nothing too flashy, but thank you for those quick hands against Virginia Tech. It was magical.

This is some straight sorcery though. pic.twitter.com/KA6XeJExwl

— Greg Flammang (@greg2126) November 2, 2019

Asmar Bilal, Drew White, Jeremiah Owusu Karomoah

Notre Dame had to replace captains Drue Tranquill and Te’Von Coney, plus moves Bilal from Rover to Buck, and it was all supposed to be terrible. No one believed in Bilal, save for a few bloggers like Chris Wilson from the Rakes Report and Ryan Ritter at Her Loyal Sons, and replacing the production of Coney and Tranquill was not possible. It was going to be doom.

Well, that’s not how it went.

Those are three of the top four tacklers in total tackles and tackles for loss, they’ve gone from question marks to the most consistent high performers on the defense, and they are the reason Notre Dame has the record they have.

Owusu Koramoah has been an absolute beast, destroying plays and players, while bringing an athleticism to the position the staff was waiting for when they recruited him. Pound for pound, he’s up there with hardest hitters like Jaylon and Manti, and man he might surpass those guys. He is thunderous.

"Oh yeah, one handed catch, this bad boy is going on my highlight ta…" pic.twitter.com/S2Ces8BiFf

— Greg Flammang (@greg2126) November 23, 2019

What else can be said about Asmar Bilal? Is there a more important player on this team? He’s been incredible this year, and it’s a lesson not to give up on any player, ever, because you never know when the light will turn on. It turned on for Bilal post-Louisville, and he’s never looked back. He made one of the best plays of the season against Georgia when he turned in a play even Jaylon Smith would be proud of tracking down elite running back DeAndre Swift.

Can't get over this play by Asmar against Georgia. Thunders the run, reads play action, settles his feet and stays locked to Swift, reacts to the route and runs him down for a TFL. This is the top of the sport. Put Jaylon in there and he doesn't do it better. pic.twitter.com/7UYz5pROJu

— Greg Flammang (@greg2126) October 1, 2019

Beating USC

A real house of horrors would have been dropping USC and Michigan in back to back weeks, and I’m very thankful that didn’t happen. This has extra significance for me as a Southern California native. Life would have been pretty miserable had they dropped that game. And it looks like Clay Helton could keep his job on top of it, so a perfect scenario.