Notre Dame Football: Position report cards for the Irish after Week 6 win
By Jacob Wilson
The Irish defensive line turned in one of their best performances of the season Saturday, constantly applying pressure on a flustered Chazz Surratt. While their two sacks on the day weren’t completely indicative of their dominance, Surratt’s frequent pocket anxiety clearly dictated Notre Dame’s success at getting pressure consistently.
To highlight just how well this defensive line did in terms of pressuring the quarterback, the Irish recorded a season high 11 hurries. Nine of those hurries came exclusively from linemen Jerry Tillery, Julian Okwara, Daelin Hayes, Jay Hayes, and Andrew Trumbetti. This line has been decent in terms of sacks and pressure up to this point, but they turned on the jets Saturday against UNC.
The Irish were also very effective defending the run, allowing only 86 yards on 28 carries. Surratt led the Tar Heels in carries but failed to register over 35 rushing yards. Running back Jordon Brown has had an up and down season up to this point, but Saturday was another down as he rushed for only 28 yards on 11 carries.
This unit will have a week to rest before taking on USC in what will be one of their biggest tests of the season. With Heisman candidate Sam Darnold playing somewhat careless with the football this year, an effort similar to today’s should put the Irish secondary in good position to capitalize on USC’s mistakes.