Notre Dame football: 4 big 'what-ifs' from the 2021 regular season

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Nov 27, 2021; Stanford, California, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish offensive lineman Joe Alt (76) blocks Stanford Cardinal linebacker Jordan Fox (10) during the fourth quarter at Stanford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports /

Notre Dame football: 4 big ‘what-ifs’ from the 2021 regular season

Joe Alt was the first left tackle to replace Fisher

Staying with the injury to Blake Fisher, the Notre Dame football team had a revolving door at the left tackle position for much of the early part of the season. As the Irish tried their best to make it work at the most important position along the offensive line, the play of Jack Coan at quarterback, and the run game struggled.

It was not until Joe Alt came in as the starting left tackle against Virginia Tech right before the bye week that this Notre Dame offensive line started to click. Alt, who was transitioning from being a tight end in high school, stepped in and became a star for the Irish, giving them stability at the position, and doing a great job protecting Coan’s blindside.

After the team turned to him at left tackle, and Andrew Kristofic at left guard, the offense started humming, as the Coan was very comfortable in the pocket, and Kyren Williams began to run wild weekly. The Irish struggled big time without a solid left tackle until the choice was made to turn to Alt, and you have to wonder what would have happened if he was the next man up when Fisher went down in Week 1.

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