1/7/2021 football Edit

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Earns Unanimous All-America Status

Patrick Engel • InsideNDSports

Beat Writer

Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah added another major honor to his accolade-filled 2020 season.

Unanimous All-American.

Notre Dame’s senior linebacker was selected as a Walter Camp first-team All-American, wrapping up his unanimous status. He was previously named first-team All-America by the other four major selections needed to earn unanimous recognition: Associated Press, FWAA, AFCA and Sporting News.

Get a two months FREE using promo code Irish60

Notre Dame Fighting Irish football senior rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah — Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah led Notre Dame with 11.0 tackles for loss this season. (ACC/Notre Dame Athletics)

Owusu-Koramoah is the first Notre Dame unanimous All-American since guard Quenton Nelson in 2017 and first Irish defensive player to earn the honor since Manti Te’o. All told, he’s the 30th in team history.

The 6-2, 215-pound senior from Hampton, Va. was previously named the ACC Defensive Player of the Year and won the Butkus Award, which goes to the nation’s best linebacker. In 12 games, he posted a team-high 11.0 tackles for loss, along with 62 tackles, 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbles, three pass breakups and two fumble recoveries and an interception.

Owusu-Koramoah has already declared for the NFL Draft, bypassing a return for a fifth season. He’s a projected first-round pick and landed at No. 9 overall in ESPN Analyst Todd McShay’s most recent mock draft.

“I love Owusu-Koramoah's range, instincts and suddenness,” McShay wrote. “He found his way into just about every statistical category in 2020.”

Elsewhere, offensive tackle Liam Eichenberg and guard Aaron Banks earned consensus All-American status. Eichenberg’s Walter Camp first-team selection was his fourth among the five major outlets (he was named a second-teamer by the AP), while Banks claimed a spot on the Walter Camp second-team to clinch consensus status. The AP and AFCA named him a first-team All-American.

Eichenberg and Banks were first-team All-ACC selections and anchored the left side of Notre Dame’s line. Neither was charged with a sack this year, per Pro Football Focus. Eichenberg won the ACC’s Jacobs Trophy as the conference’s top offensive linemen and was a finalist for the Outland Trophy, which went to Alabama’s Alex Leatherwood.

Safety Kyle Hamilton was also a Walter Camp second-team All-American. He had a team-high 63 tackles to go with 4.5 tackles for loss and six pass breakups.

With Eichenberg and Banks, Notre Dame now has 105 all-time consensus All-Americans.

Owusu-Koramoah remains in contention for the Bowden Trophy (“student-athlete combining athletics, academics and faith”) and the Lott IMPACT Trophy (best defensive player in “character and performance”).