SOUTH BEND — For ex-Duke defensive end RJ Oben, walking off the field at Wallace Wade Stadium after a last-minute defeat against Notre Dame football was almost too much to process.
Certainly, that was the case in the raw moments that initially followed the 21-14 thriller on the final Saturday night in September, and it became ever stranger to ponder after the offseason developments that landed Oben and Riley Leonard, the losing quarterback that night, on the Irish roster as high-profile transfers.
“It’s surreal, honestly,” Oben said recently. “During the season, playing that game, I didn’t think of being on the other sideline, being in those colors.”
Not after watching Leonard hobble off on crutches as a result of Howard Cross III’s game-clinching strip sack.
“It’s hard when the quarterback, the centerpiece of that offense, of that team, goes down,” Oben said.
And now? Still learning their way around the Notre Dame football facilities, Oben and Leonard keep stumbling upon reminders of that pivotal night in Durham, N.C.
“I see (video) clips around the building of our game against Notre Dame,” Oben said.
He paused, caught himself and smiled.
“Going against Notre Dame when I was at Duke,” he added. “It’s crazy to think, when you look back.”
This whole us-and-them conversion might take some time.
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At 6-foot-3 and 263 pounds, Oben already was squarely on Notre Dame’s radar in early December when Joe Alt helped put him over the top.
For 60 grueling minutes, Oben and the rest of the Blue Devils’ talented defensive front, including former Irish defensive tackle Jamion Franklin, had given Notre Dame’s All-America left tackle all he could handle.
Riding in the car with Alt after the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/rj-oben-sesame-duke-grad-003708899.html
Author : South Bend Tribune
Publish date : 2024-02-15 00:37:08
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