Notre Dame football: Defensive line starting to look elite
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team is starting to get strong play along the defensive line, which will prove to be trouble for their opponents the rest of the way.
Playing against one of the more explosive offenses in the country in Week 4, the Notre Dame football team knew they had a tall task ahead of them on defense. Freshman quarterback Derek Maye has been outstanding for the UNC Tar Heels all season long, and it was no different against the Irish, as he tossed five touchdowns.
However, the Irish were able to get into his face early on in the 45-32 victory on the road, and that helped them build a big enough lead that was too much for Maye and his offense to overcome. Led by strong games from the likes of Isaiah Foskey and Rylie Mills, the Irish defense got pressure all game long, and in the end, it proved to be the difference inside Kenan Stadium last Saturday.
As we inch closer to the rest of the slate, the defensive line needs to continue to grow, and what we have seen in the last two games is a unit looking downright elite.
Notre Dame football could shock USC, and Clemson down the stretch
After the break, the Irish schedule gets very tough, as they will take on ranked BYU, and then have some matchups later in the season against powerhouses like Clemson and USC. After two games, you would be convinced that those two games would be blowout losses for the Irish, but now that the defense is clicking, anything is possible.
We knew going into this season that the defense could be special, as it had multiple possible first-round talents on it. Now, as we go into the bye week, they are peaking at the right time, and any offense line is going to have trouble with the Front 7 for the Irish moving forward.
This has been a roller coaster of a ride so far this season, and it seems like it is anybody’s guess as to what Notre Dame football team will show up on a weekly basis. However, if they play the way they did against UNC, on both sides of the ball, they are going to be more than fine.