Midweek Musings: Notre Dame Defensive Line Dominance Continues

Thoughts on Notre Dame football, Fighting Irish recruiting and college football

Thoughts on Notre Dame football, Fighting Irish recruiting and college football.

NOTRE DAME D-LINE DOMINANCE CONTINUES

Back when I first started covering the Notre Dame football team (2007-10), I remember one of the widely accepted "truths" about the program was that it could not recruit and develop top defensive linemen.

For years the Irish struggled to put top lines on the field and other than the occasional great player or the occasionally strong line, that appeared to be the reality about the Irish football team.

In recent seasons, however, line coach Mike Elston has proven that to be a complete myth. Notre Dame has built a very strong defensive line tradition, and despite losing so many players to the NFL in recent seasons the defensive line is as good, if not better, than anything we've seen in South Bend during the Brian Kelly era.

When Notre Dame made its first College Football Playoff appearance in 2018 that line was fueled by a defensive end rotation that had five players that are now in the NFL, and it had an All-American defensive tackle that went on to become a first round NFL Draft pick.

Every single one of those players is now gone, but the Irish are still rolling up front.

Notre Dame's defensive line is on pace to rack up 251 tackles, 48 tackles for loss and 32.5 sacks this season, all numbers that would be the best from a front during the Kelly tenure.

2020 - 164 tackles, 42 TFL, 23.5 sacks (12 games)
2019 - 248 tackles, 47 TFL, 23.5 sacks
2018 - 243 tackles, 46.5 TFL, 26 sacks
2017 - 235 tackles, 39.5 TFL, 16.5 sacks
2012 - 223 tackles, 45.5 TFL, 30 sacks

What's even more impressive is that Notre Dame has had to play without end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and nose tackle Kurt Hinish at times. Even with those veteran captains out the defensive line kept rolling.

Elston isn't slowing down either. He has a pair of extremely long and talented ends in the 2022 class (Tyson Ford, Aiden Gobaira) and two elite young ends in the 2023 class (Keon Keeley, Brenan Vernon). If those players turn out to be as good as advertised the line isn't going to keep rolling, it's going to get better.

I bring this up now because the defensive line steps into a moment that is huge for the group. Arguably no unit on the Notre Dame football team has more on its shoulders this weekend than does the line. North Carolina's explosive offense presents significant matchup problems for the Irish defense on the second and third levels, and to make matters worse the Irish will be without All-American safety Kyle Hamilton this weekend.

If Notre Dame is going to continue its winning ways the defensive line will need to do against the Tar Heels on Saturday night what it did last season against UNC .... dominate. Notre Dame's line will need to be turned loose against North Carolina in a way we haven't seen this season, and we didn't see against USC. Notre Dame can't allow the Tar Heel ground game to get rolling and it can't allow quarterback Sam Howell to get into rhythm. The best weapon against both will be the line.

Elston's unit has been outstanding all season and has been Notre Dame's strength, but it will need to be at its best against the Tar Heels.

NOTRE DAME QB HUNT CONTINUES

Notre Dame is still looking for another quarterback in the 2022 class and is still in the hunt for a 2023 quarterback. Today that search led the Irish staff to offer Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian signal caller Christopher Vizzina. According to John Garcia Jr. of SI All-American, Vizzina is one of the hottest quarterbacks in the 2023 class.

The 2023 class is absolutely loaded at quarterback, and Notre Dame's top target is, should be Detroit (Mich.) M.L. King star Dante Moore. I've felt for some time that Notre Dame has a much better shot with Moore than many outsiders believe, but the talented right hander remains uncommitted. That means the staff must continue searching for other talented players in case Moore ultimately decides to go somewhere else.

That led them to recently offering Nico Iamaleava and now Vizzina. 

At 6-4 and 200 pounds, Vizzina certainly has prototypical size, for those who still care about that. He's a quality athlete that throws well on the move and has the running ability to at least be a chain mover at the next level, if not more. Vizzina has a clean, easy, fluid throwing motion and the ball jumps out of his hand. He throws a pretty deep ball and can power it up when he needs to be. I'm impressed with his ability to mix up throwing speed, and his touch is impressive.

A member of the Irish Breakdown premium board noted that Vizzina reminds him of DeShone Kizer in high school, and in many ways that comparison makes a lot of sense based on what you can see on film.

It's another talented quarterback to add to the list. The key for Notre Dame at this point is making sure it can add one of these ultra-talented players.

HUGE GAMES IN BIG TEN, SEC

This weekend is going to have some huge games, including a pair of huge games in the Big Ten and in the SEC.

The matchup between No. 6 Michigan State and No. 8 Michigan should be entertaining, but it will also have huge ramifications on the Big Ten title race. It could also have an impact on the College Football Playoff, and possibly even Notre Dame's standing in it.

There are only two unbeaten teams left in the Big Ten, and it's the Spartans and Wolverines. One will fall out of the ranks of the unbeaten this weekend, and both still have Ohio State and Penn State on the schedule

I'm looking forward to watching the Ole Miss vs. Auburn game as well.

I can't help but be intrigued by the matchup between No. 1 Georgia and unranked Florida. The Gators fell out of the Top 25 after losing to LSU by a 49-42 score, marking their third loss in five games. Florida, on paper, should have no business being in this game, but I can't help but be curious about this matchup.

First of all, it's a big rivalry game, which matters. Florida also scored 42 points and had 488 yards (6.5 YPC) against LSU despite throwing four picks. Clean that up and the Gators have the playmakers at quarterback and on the perimeter to threaten the Bulldogs in a way they haven't all season .... as long as the Bulldog front doesn't annihilate the Florida offensive line.

TWEET OF THE WEEK

Committing early can have its drawbacks, and one of them is you can often get overlooked. I believe that is the case with Notre Dame corner commit Jaden Mickey. He's having a brilliant senior season, but he's not generating the excitement he would if he were an uncommitted prospect. But make no mistake, Mickey's senior season performance should excite Irish fans. Here's his latest INT.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Enjoyed diving deep into the win over USC.

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Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board

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