'Rolling ball of nails': Gabriel Rubio's return to Notre Dame levels up the defense

The Notre Dame football team’s defense has been one of the best in the country for most of the season. But the return of one of its top defensive lineman against Stanford allowed Al Golden’s unit to level up.

Gabriel Rubio has been out for longer than just the first half of this season. There was some talk that he might not return to the field for the Fighting Irish ever again. And then there he was, manning the middle against the Cardinal. And looking like the wrecking ball the Blue and Gold have been missing.

"When Rube goes in, there's going to be chaos... If he's in there someone's getting put on their butt,” Notre Dame football teammate Rylie Mills said after the game. "He’s just a rolling ball of nails and loves the game,” Golden added.

Notre Dame football ‘D’ levels up with the return of Gabriel Rubio

It’s not just the biased perception of his teammates either. When Rubio was in the game against Stanford, he was one of the best defenders on the team according to Pro Football Focus.

In 21 snaps, the defensive tackle garnered a 76.6 overall rating. That’s the second-best of any defender, behind only defensive end Joshua Burnham. 

Rubio also had a 78.0 run defense rating and a 72 rating for tackling. And he got all of that despite the fact that he had only one tackle.

It’s clear with that rating over that number of snaps that while he didn’t light up the box score, he did impact the defense even when he wasn’t making the play. 

The Notre Dame football team is about to enter the stretch run, starting with the game against Georgia Tech. The defense going from very good, to one of the most feared units in the sport, can only help them get into and then make some noise, in the playoffs.