Notre Dame Football: 5 keys to a successful 2019 season for Irish
By Dakota Cox
3. The Irish need to pressure opposing quarterbacks
The defense carried Notre Dame through the regular season last year. If they had to win a bunch of shootouts, they likely would not have made the College Football Playoff. Without Jerry Tillery, it will be harder to get pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
Notre Dame is bringing back a lot of talent in the secondary, so the passing game will be tough for opposing teams. However, the Irish still need some pass rush to force the quarterback into bad decisions.
The clear stud on the defensive line will be Julian Okwara. Last season, he tied Tillery with eight sacks. If he doesn’t get double-teamed too often, he will have a chance to get to double digits in his senior season.
The Irish will also have Khalid Kareem on the line. Kareem had 4.5 sacks and 10.5 total tackles for loss last year, so he will be a great presence in both the running and the passing game. Without Tillery, it will be very important that Kareem grows in his role on the defensive line.
The coverage should be good for Notre Dame, but pressure on the quarterback can turn incompletions into interceptions and scrambles into sacks. With the type of talent they will have to see at quarterback this year, every bad pass counts. The secondary can’t lock up receivers forever. it will be on the defensive line to make the opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable.