BlueandGold.com will release a countdown article highlighting a significant Notre Dame football statistic every day until the 2024 season opener at Texas A&M at 7:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 31 in College Station, Texas. Today, there are 27 days until the Irish and Aggies kick off at Kyle Field.
Notre Dame running backs coach Deland McCullough is not easily shocked. One pass-rush rep from freshman linebacker Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa (No. 27 ) shocked him.
Viliamu-Asa came in on a blitz and two players, including a running back, tried to block him. The Bellflower (Calif.) St. John Bosco product worked a filthy spin move past both of them and got to the quarterback.
“Are you kidding me?” McCullough said after watching the tape. “You gotta be kidding me.”
Viliamu-Asa entered Notre Dame as the second-highest-ranked player in the 2024 recruiting class, just one spot (No. 43 in the On3 Industry Ranking) behind offensive tackle Guerby Lambert (No. 42). He was widely considered — and Irish head coach Marcus Freeman outright said it, too — the most college-ready player in the class.
Everything he’s done since enrolling in January has proven that. Viliamu-Asa might not start, but he’ll definitely play. And a significant portion of his role will include rushing the passer.
“He’s a good player,” McCullough said. “He makes us better, because we gotta make sure all our details are on point when we’re going against him.”
Viliamu-Asa is big (6-foot-3, 240 pounds), long and fast. He’s faster than many believed he was coming out of high school. He knows the defense well enough to play multiple roles, Mike and Will, early in his career.
More to the point, though, Viliamu-Asa is crafty. That’s the first word McCullough used to describe him.
For example, his most eye-popping rep during practice No. 1 of fall camp Wednesday was a blitz rep in which he stepped right then bolted left, ducking under his blocker and reaching the quarterback. He knew exactly what he planned to do before the ball was snapped, as he always does. That’s what makes him so dangerous.
“It’s one thing to say, ‘Oh, well, guys are fast,'” McCullough said. “If a guy is just a speed rusher and is taking a soft shoulder, you know how to deal with that. But some of these guys who come through, they got true plans. Like, ‘Okay, I’m gonna work this, I’m gonna get you off balance over here,’ those are the guys who are arguably the hardest.”
The length is a big part of Viliamu-Asa’s effectiveness, too, and it’s giving defensive coordinator Al Golden visions of what Marist Liufau — an eventual third-round pick of the Dallas Cowboys — did last season. Liufau blitzed a ton, often lining up as an edge rusher on third downs.
Notre Dame has said it’s not afraid to sub liberally up front in obvious passing situations, playing the best pass rushers above all else. Viliamu-Asa is part of that plan.
“Then you have the lengthy linebackers,” Golden said. “Kyngstonn comes to mind. Guys like that have an opportunity.
“Like Marist was kind of a spinner last year — inside, outside, off the ball. So, when you have length in your system, when you can recruit to that, it just gives you a lot of different answers.”
As with any freshman, it’s important to temper expectations. Debut seasons like junior cornerback Benjamin Morrison ‘s in 2022 are rare, even for future stars like Viliamu-Asa appears to be.
However, No. 27 is making that awfully difficult in fall camp.
The post 27 days until Notre Dame football: Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa’s Day 1 impact appeared first on On3 .
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