Seemingly flying under the national radar, Notre Dame senior defensive end Romeo Okwara is tied for eighth among FBS players with nine sacks. Eight of those sacks have come in Notre Dame’s last five games.
Okwara generated three sacks against Wake Forest, including one in which he leaped over a blocker to take down Demon Deacons quarterback John Wolford. It was a highlight-reel moment for the North Carolina native in his final game at Notre Dame Stadium, a worthy showing of just how well Okwara is playing as his college career nears its end.
“He came onto campus as a 17-year-old that just really was a raw player and has grown in a very short period of time this year into the kind of football player that I think has a huge growth potential in front of him,” Kelly said. “We're just seeing that maturation process kind of come together. Long, athletic, starting to really understand the game of football, and I think that's what we're seeing in front of us.”
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Okwara began his college career as a defensive end and/or a drop and rush linebacker who never found a permanent home in Bob Diaco's 3-4 scheme. But he's in Year 2 as a defensive end in Brian VanGorder's scheme and began to grasp his position much better heading into 2015.
The 6-foot-4, 270-pound Okwara has kept his weight all season for the first time in college — Kelly said he previously had dropped down to about 240 pounds in a previous November. Last year, two and a half of his team-leading four sacks came in Notre Dame’s first three games.
His nine sacks are the most by a Notre Dame player since Stephon Tuitt racked up 12 in 2012. With at least three games remaining — and, if Notre Dame manages to reach the College Football Playoff championship, a fourth — Tuitt’s total is in sight. And, as unlikely as it sounds, if Okwara continues to average 1.6 sacks per game (as he has over his last five), he’d be on pace to tie or break Justin Tuck’s school record of 13 1/2 sacks.
“I wouldn’t say anything has really changed,” Okwara said. “I still prepare the same way. I guess I got lucky a couple times, but I still prepare the same way I do each and every week.”
Okwara is helping his NFL stock, too, by proving he can not only hold up for a full season, but thrive in spite of the college grind. He’s a young senior who’s going to turn pro on an upward trajectory.
“As we continue to talk to NFL scouts, we tell them, look, you're just getting a kid who is just learning how to play the game,” Kelly said.
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More important for Notre Dame is Okwara’s second-half surge gives it another fearsome piece in a defense that’s been as disruptive as it’s been defective. VanGorder’s group is still prone to allowing big-chunk plays, but it’s only allowing opponents to covert 32 percent of their third down tries. The backfield disruption caused by Okwara, Sheldon Day, Isaac Rochell & Co. on first, second and third down have a lot to do with the boom in a boom-or-bust defense.
“He’s a heck of a football player,” linebacker Joe Schmidt said. “He’s getting sacks, he’s playing the run well, he’s a good leader. Romeo’s always had the kind of ability and he’s been playing well for a long time. It’s always fun to play out there with Romeo.”