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Notre Dame 2020 BGI Football Awards: Part II

Yesterday, we featured the top freshmen and the "next option" players during another run to the College Football Playoff. Today we look at the top surprises and most underrated figures from the season.

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish football freshman cornerback Clarence Lewis
Freshman cornerback Clarence Lewis came out of nowhere to become a mainstay over the back half of the season. (Notre Dame Athletics)

Top Surprises

Bronze Medal: Matt Salerno

Back in August we could have given you 50 guesses on who would be Notre Dame’s No. 1 punt return man in 2020 — and you probably still wouldn’t have given the right answer with this junior walk-on. If that doesn’t constitute a surprise, we don’t know what does.

He finished the season with 10 returns for 45 yards with a long of 13 yards, but was consistently reliable at fielding the punt with no drama. The competition is expected to be ratcheted up this year with the enrollment of freshman wide receiver Lorenzo Styles Jr., who returned three punts for scores his senior year and provides a potential game-breaking element in that area.


Silver Medal: Clarence Lewis

The freshman cornerback was also on our list yesterday with the silver medal as the Freshman of The Year for the Fighting Irish.

Cornerback was an area of need the program desperately needed to restock after not signing any in 2017 and then having only one remaining from the 2018 haul — junior TaRiq Bracy, who was recruited more as an athlete than pure corner. The position was becoming so threadbare that 2019 wideout recruit Cam Hart was shifted there midway through the campaign that year. Then last summer North Carolina State grad transfer Nick McCloud was signed to help shore up the boundary side, while Shaun Crawford was brought back for a sixth year.

In addition to McCloud, Crawford, Bracy and Hart, sophomores K.J. Wallace and Isaiah Rutherford, and freshmen Ramon Henderson and Caleb Offord — who enrolled in January, unlike Lewis — also were vying for spots.

Yet by the season opener, it was the relatively unheralded Lewis who was listed as the co-starter at field corner with Bracy, the 2019 team leader in passes broken up. It also led head coach Brian Kelly to make comparisons to 2012 FWAA Freshman All-American KeiVarae Russell. Both would start on unbeaten regular season teams that eventually lost to Alabama in the postseason.

“I don’t know if Clarence has the same raw athletic ability,” said Kelly in the preseason. “But Clarence has clearly demonstrated that as a true freshman we could put him on the field at the same level, or possibly even higher, than the level KeiVarae had to play as a true freshman.”

Crawford and Wallace moved to safety in part because of Lewis’ emergence, while Rutherford transferred recently to Arizona.

By November, Lewis took over as the full-time starter, finishing second in passes broken up (seven) and fifth in tackles (33). No way we could see that coming.


Gold Medal: Shaun Crawford

The first surprise was that the resilient Crawford returned for a sixth year despite sitting out three different seasons with devastating knee or Achilles injuries. He also missed several weeks in 2019 with a gruesome elbow injury.

The second was that after playing nickel or corner his entire career, he was shifted to safety, which he had to learn on the fly while not possessing the classic stature at the position with his 5-9, 180-pound frame, the smallest on the two deep.

The third was that not only did he make it through a full season, he played the most snaps among anyone on defense (654, 54.5 per game), seven more than unanimous All-America rover Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah. What odds would you have given that back in August when the staff was looking at Crawford mostly as a potential stop-gap measure at safety?

The captain-elect tied for third in tackles (57, with 4.5 for loss and two sacks) with Mike linebacker Drew White while also batting away five passes, intercepting one and recovering a fumble. Sheer lion heart.

(Note: Fifth-year senior Javon McKinley also could have been on here, but we have him for a different category tomorrow.)

Most Underrated

Bronze Medal: Ben Skowronek

As a Northwestern graduate transfer, he was the offense’s version of McCloud on a receiving corps that incurred numerous setbacks with health issues after having already graduated second-round pick Chase Claypool and slot Chris Finke.

Skowronek himself was sidelined several weeks early with a hamstring injury, but the 6-foot-3 wideout emerged as a reliable target and blocker with his 220-pound frame, finishing with 526 snaps, a 15.1-yard average on his 29 catches and a team-high five scoring receptions — plus another on a surprise reverse.

Despite the time missed, his snap count was the fourth highest total among Irish receivers, tight ends and running backs this season. Skowronek might not get drafted, but with his size and sneaky speed, it would not be a major surprise if he latched on with an NFL team next fall as a free agent.


Silver Medal: Nick McCloud

As noted above with Lewis, the cornerback position was the most vulnerable on the 2020 team entering the season.

Like Skowronek at Northwestern, McCloud was a captain elect in 2019 at North Carolina State but was sidelined because of an injury. Deciding to attend Notre Dame as a grad transfer was a much needed boost at the position in skill, experience and especially leadership.

At the boundary corner position that in 2017-18 included consensus All-American Julian Love and in 2019 speedster Troy Pride — both fourth-round selections — McCloud provided a quality campaign, leading the team in passes broken up (eight) while supplying much-needed direction and savvy on the back end. His 624 snaps were more than 200 than any other corner (Lewis had 421), and the third most on the entire defense.


Gold Medal: Ade Ogundeji

One of the best testaments to Notre Dame’s development program, the former Western Michigan commit blossomed into a bona fide pro in his fifth season, pacing the Irish in sacks (seven) and quarterback hurries (seven) while also holding the point of the attack versus the run.

One of five captain on this year’s team, he played the most snaps (483) among all the defensive linemen. His work ethic has been considered among the hungriest on the team for years, and he combined that with a skill set and durability that came to the forefront.

In his 2016 recruiting class, all four defensive end prospects became captains: Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara last year, and Ogundeji and Daelin Hayes as fifth-year seniors this season. All four also could be in NFL uniforms in 2021.

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