Shortly before the 2020 college football season began, Kristy Woodley debated which early-season Notre Dame game she and her twin daughters would attend: Duke in week two or South Florida in week three?
Given the Blue Devils poor reputation on the gridiron, her initial inclination was to fly to South Bend for week two. But her son, junior wide receiver Joe Wilkins Jr., assured her that, as a reserve player, the Bulls provided him with the best opportunity to see the field.
Woodley booked her flights accordingly.
Though Wilkins Jr. knew he may not play against the Blue Devils, his preparation during that week of practice never wavered. Once the game started and he was on the sidelines as the second-string boundary receiver, his only focus intensified. Wilkins Jr. honed in on every move of the man ahead of him: graduate senior Ben Skowronek.
“I didn't take my eyes off him at any period of time,” Wilkins Jr. said. “I'm always watching him, listening to the play calls, looking at everything, looking at signals, and I'm just studying. Mental reps.”
Then, late in the second quarter, Skowronek came up lame with a hamstring injury, and Wilkins Jr. was thrust onto the field at Notre Dame Stadium in a first-team role.
None of the other wide receivers had caught a pass up to that point in the game and the Irish were barely ahead 7-6.
But Wilkins Jr. was ready. On second down and five, he caught a four-yard pass on a crossing route. A few plays later, he followed that up with receptions of 15 and then 13 yards, pushing the Notre Dame offense well into Duke territory with 13 seconds to go in the half. The Irish elected to kick a field goal and senior Jonathan Doerer drilled a 48-yarder as time expired.
Wilkins Jr. was the spark the team needed, and his mom was jumping for joy and screaming at the television screen as she watched from her living room in Fort Myers, Fla. If she was disappointed to not be there in person, it would have been impossible to tell at that moment.
“Everybody else from our area was watching it, too,” Woodley said. “They were all calling me and texting me and just totally excited for him because he definitely has a huge fan base here.”
Much of the excitement stemmed from all Wilkins Jr. had gone through to see the field in a meaningful moment at Notre Dame.
In his first two seasons in South Bend, he played a total of 92 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus. He was targeted once during that time span and didn't have a catch.
