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Notre Dame football: Rose Bowl offensive grades vs. Alabama

By Daniel Morrison

ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 01: Quarterback Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish takes the snap over the defense of the Alabama Crimson Tide during the 2021 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One at AT&T Stadium on January 01, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - JANUARY 01: Quarterback Ian Book #12 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish takes the snap over the defense of the Alabama Crimson Tide during the 2021 College Football Playoff Semifinal Game at the Rose Bowl Game presented by Capital One at AT&T Stadium on January 01, 2021 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /
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This was a special group along the offensive line this season. Mandatory Credit: Robert Franklin-USA TODAY Sports
This was a special group along the offensive line this season. Mandatory Credit: Robert Franklin-USA TODAY Sports /

Notre Dame football Rose Bowl grades: Offensive Line

When these two teams met in the 2013 BCS National Championship Game, Alabama dominated the trenches, but they didn’t dominate in that same way this time around. Both teams won some play, and there were times Book had a clean pocket, while at times he was chased.

There were times when Williams had holes to run through, and times he didn’t.

The offensive line has been Notre Dame’s strength under Brian Kelly, and they proved that they can be good enough to win a lot of games this season, and by themselves were good enough to win tonight. Were they perfect? Definitely not, but they were solid as a unit.

Going forward the trick is to keep the offensive line at this level, and not regressing while building a more athletic group of skills players.

Next. Notre Dame football: Irish can’t erase early deficit vs. Alabama, lose 31-14. dark

It will be interesting to see what the offensive line looks like going forward, as there’s a lot of talent and experience moving on from the program. It will be no small task to replace all that, but Kelly has proved in the past he’s capable of rebuilding elite offensive lines.

Grade: B-

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