Five Notre Dame Defenders Hold The Key To Success vs. Michigan

Good play from five Notre Dame defenders could hold the key to victory over Michigan

Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports

DT Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa

Notre Dame absolutely must get strong play up the middle of its defense, and it starts with Tagovailoa-Amosa. Michigan’s interior offensive line is one of the best Notre Dame will face this season, so the challenge will be difficult for Tagovailoa-Amosa and his teammates.

Winning the battle inside on a snap-by-snap basis is essential to shutting down the Michigan ground game. When Michigan has run the ball effectively the interior players were key figures, and running between the tackles was the primary factor. If Notre Dame can win up the middle it will limit the effectiveness of the ground game and means the Irish don’t have to overplay the safeties into the box to stop the run.

Getting a push inside in the pass game is also an essential ingredient to slowing down Shea Patterson and the Michigan wideouts. When Patterson can sit comfortably in the pocket he’s quite good, and his ability to get the ball downfield makes the offense dangerous. When teams have been able to get a push inside the pass game has not been effective.

Penn State had a hard time getting pressure up the middle against Michigan, which is a big reason Patterson was so good in the second half.

DE Khalid Kareem / DE Julian Okwara

So I am cheating a bit here, but it’s hard to separate Kareem and Okwara when breaking down this game. Kareem was brilliant in the win over Michigan last season, and Okwara made his only career interception in the victory. Notre Dame needs that duo to be at its best against Michigan again.

The Wolverines gave up a lot of pressure early in the season, but since left tackle Jon Runyan returned to the starting lineup the pass protection has steadily gotten better. If Notre Dame’s ends are unable to have big games it will make shutting down Michigan far more difficult.

Kareem needs to be a force against the run and get pressure on Patterson, and Okwara needs to be a nightmare on the edge as a pass rusher. The less time Patterson has to get the ball downfield the better it is for Notre Dame, and the less comfortable Patterson becomes the more prone he is to mistakes and turnovers.

Both Kareem and Okwara struggled to start the season, but both have been coming on in recent games. The duo took over the second half of the Virginia game, but against Michigan they need to be strong for four quarters.

S Alohi Gilman

Despite being named a semi-finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, the fact is Gilman is not playing as well as he did last season. Gilman isn’t making as many impact plays, he’s missing too many tackles and his coverage hasn’t been to the same standard.

Of course, all of this criticism is relative to how good he was last season. Gilman has still been a solid player for the Irish.

But against Michigan, Notre Dame needs Gilman to get back to playing like the version we saw last fall. That means taking good angles to the football, playing sound football, showing good route recognition and impacting the football.

If we see a player that resembles the 2018 version of Alohi Gilman it will have a significant impact on the Irish defense and its ability to shut down Michigan.

LB Drew White

White has been up and down this season. When he’s been good the junior has been aggressive attacking downhill, beating blockers to the ball and showing instincts in coverage. When he’s been off there are too many snaps where he catches blockers, gets knocked off the ball, opens up creases in the run game and is late getting on routes over the middle.

White must be the good version of himself against Michigan. The Wolverine interior blockers are big and physical, especially center Cesar Ruiz (6-4, 319) and right guard Michael Onwenu (6-3, 350). If White isn’t aggressive against these two they will dominate him, which means open holes in the run game.

In the pass game, White needs to be quick to recognize and jump screens, he needs to be prepared to pick up and cover crossing routes, and when he isn’t threatened short he needs to effectively get underneath the deep in routes, drags and seam throws Michigan likes to throw.

Michigan will look to attack White, and if he’s ready for it and plays well the defense will have a chance to thrive.

CB TaRiq Bracy

I have doubted Shaun Crawford before and looked bad for doing so, which means assuming he won’t be an every down player against Michigan might be foolish of me, but I just don’t see how he gets back to being an every down player just weeks after tearing multiple ligaments in his elbow. At least not against the long and talented Michigan wideouts.

Bracy will be a key figure in the game plan regardless of whether or not Crawford is back to full speed, but if the senior corner isn’t full-go then Bracy’s role becomes even more important. Michigan likes to attack down the field with its pass attack, and it has long and talented wide receivers to use to stretch the field.

Michigan is going to see Bracy’s lack of size - and Crawford’s - and if they are smart they will look to attack the two short corners. On third-down we will certainly see Bracy outside, and he’ll need to be ready to be on top of his game. That means playing the ball well down the field and coming up and handling the perimeter screen game and quick throws.

If Bracy plays like he did against Georgia and USC the Irish should be in good shape. If he plays like he did against Virginia it will result in Michigan ripping off a number of big plays in the pass game.

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