Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is suddenly much closer to giving Notre Dame’s defense a major lift.
When fall camp opened, getting the linebacker back for Week 1 felt like a long shot. Now, two weeks into camp, the picture looks a lot brighter. On Sunday, Viliamu-Asa was back in practice, taking full contact and doing it without a knee brace.
That’s a significant development this early in camp, and while Notre Dame hasn’t officially said he’ll be ready for the opener, everything is pointing in that direction.
If Viliamu-Asa does get back on the field to start the season, Notre Dame would be adding one of the nation’s top linebackers to a defense that already has a strong reputation. The Irish may not need him right away in matchups with Wisconsin and Rice, but the sooner he’s back, the more time he has to get rid of the rust before bigger tests arrive against Miami, BYU and SMU. Those are the three toughest games on Notre Dame’s schedule, and all of them come in the final six weeks.
Head coach Marcus Freeman had already signaled that Viliamu-Asa would be available for the start of fall camp, though he also made clear the linebacker wouldn’t be “full go” right away. At this point, it appears he’s either there already or very close.
Freeman has said from the start that the timeline for a game return depends on when Viliamu-Asa can handle everything asked of him in practice. The next step is less about the calendar and more about how many full practices Notre Dame wants to see before letting him back into live action.
The injury that put his status in question came last November, when he tore a ligament in his left knee in Notre Dame’s second-to-last game of the year against Syracuse. He posted 2 tackles and 2 quarterback hurries in the first half, and his last recorded stat came on a QB hurry with 13:19 left in the second quarter. There were also theories that he kept playing a few downs after the injury.
Even with that setback, Viliamu-Asa was Notre Dame’s top defensive player. Pro Football Focus gave him an 87.2 grade for the season, which ranked fourth among Power 4 linebackers in college football. Through the first 10 games, he had 46 tackles and a team-high 7.5 tackles for loss, along with 3 sacks, 2 pass breakups, 3 quarterback hurries, an interception and a fumble recovery.
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