Notre Dame DE Boubacar Traore Aims to Disrupt Texas A&M Offensive Line
Boubacar Traore tore his ACL last September, but you’d never know it watching him play against Miami on August 31st.
The 6-foot-4, 250-pounder was Notre Dame’s most impactful defensive end in week one and it wasn’t close as Traore recorded six tackles and a sack.
For Traore, it was a special moment as he could finally say he was back after missing much of the 2024 campaign.
”It meant the world,” stated Traore. “I had my family there, so it definitely meant a lot to me to be back on the field with my teammates.”
Despite the positive vibes of returning to the field, Notre Dame fell to Miami, so the last two weeks have been crucial for Traore and the Irish defense to refine a few details.
“The best takeaway is just basically just starting fast as a defense,” Traore explained. “Like playing together, playing more violent. I feel like we could have played better as a defense, like just taking the line of scrimmage. That's something that we've just been emphasizing this week, just playing more violent, playing together.”
During the bye week, Notre Dame’s players took accountability and held discussions with each other. Traore didn’t share the details of those conversations, but they centered around not living up to Notre Dame’s standard at Hard Rock Stadium.
“We knew everyone as a defense, we could have played better than what we did that night,” Traore stated. “As far as conversations, I'll keep that between us. But just making sure that we attack this week with everything we got, so when Saturday comes, we're able to reach our full potential.”
Traore has also made time to study his opponent. Texas A&M returns its starting offensive line from a year ago, so there is some familiarity there, but he also wants to be a major problem for the Aggies on Saturday.
“I study every opponent that I'm about to go against,” said Traore. “I feel like the more you study your opponent, the more you see what they do well and what they don't do well.
“When you've got them figured out, they’ve got to deal with you. That's kind of my approach. Throughout the week, I'm consistently watching tape on the tackles that I'm going to go against — how they block, what hand they punch with, high, low.”
Traore flashed his potential last year with three sacks in 4.5 games. He’s healthy and believes he’s ready to have a breakout season.
“My faith's in God,” explained Traore. “Anything that He wants will happen. I feel like that will happen. I just got to be able to just day by day, week by week, just continue to get better. I try not to wrap my head around exploding, just like taking it day by day and just focusing on winning the day.”
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