Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from crushing loss to Cincinnati

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Notre Dame Fighting Irish quarterback Jack Coan (17) throws a pass in the first half of the NCAA football game between the Cincinnati Bearcats and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021, at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Ind.Cincinnati Bearcats At Notre Dame Fighting Irish 200 /

2. Offensive line takes a step up

As mentioned before, the Irish offensive line should take part of the blame for those interceptions. Outside of the interception plays, Notre Dame’s big men stepped up and had their best game of the season.

Coming into today, the Irish were second in the FBS in sacks allowed with 20. On Saturday against a strong defense, Notre Dame allowed just two sacks. In each of their past four games, they allowed at least four sacks in each game.

For the run game, there was also improvement although not much to contribute to. Excluding sacks, the Irish averaged 3.8 yards per carry. But, Notre Dame ran the ball just 26 times compared to 48 dropbacks.

While the injury problems persist within this unit, they should feel good about making real progress. If they can get guys like Tosh Baker and Kurt Hinish back, that could accelerate the progress.

They will need to keep improving, as this unit has a significant impact on who will start at quarterback going forward.

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