It’s been a minute since Notre Dame had a truly dominant run defense.
Through three games, it appears defensive coordinator Chris Ash has the Fighting Irish headed in that direction.
Notre Dame ranks No. 5 in the country in yards allowed per rush at 1.9 and No. 6 nationally in rushing yards allowed per game at just 58.3.
Wisconsin has had the most success against the Irish defense, with the Badgers rushing for 67 yards on 31 carries in the season opener.
That success is by design.
Head coach Marcus Freeman values stopping the run, and Ash has always prioritized it.
“Coach Ash has done a tremendous job of doing different things to stop the run,” stated Freeman. “It's not one defense. It's not one person. It's different looks, different fronts. Is it a pressure? Are we playing base defense? It’s the ability to change up the looks for the offense so they're not just anticipating what defensive front we'll be in and who's in the fit, and then our guys got to go out and execute it.”
Notre Dame has also made building a physical defensive line a priority since Freeman took over as head coach.
It didn’t happen overnight, but through high school recruiting and filling holes with transfers, Notre Dame is starting to look like the run-stopping defense every program covets.
Michigan State entered last weekend’s contest with one of the nation’s hottest running backs in Cam Edwards. The 5-foot-11, 206-pounder had rushed for 250 yards and three touchdowns through the first two weeks of the season, but Notre Dame held him to just 38 yards on 12 carries.
It was another example of Notre Dame’s ability to execute at a high level, but it also highlighted Ash’s ability to game plan.
“Coach Ash has really game-planned to stop the run,” explained Freeman. “There's certain things when you go into a week you say, ‘OK we got to stop the run versus Michigan State. We can't let No. 0 beat us and then the next thing was we don't want to let No. 3 beat us.’
“For the most part, we did a really good job of limiting him until he got the big explosive play. I think he had two catches and so as much as you want to be perfect you have to prioritize what's important to making sure we have success each game. Stopping the run in the first three games has been ultra important.”
When it comes to the passing game, Notre Dame welcomes the challenge as the Irish boast one of the nation’s top secondaries.
Notre Dame allows just 134.7 passing yards per game, which ranks No. 11 nationally.
It starts up front, as Notre Dame’s front seven has consistently generated pressure on opposing quarterbacks. The Irish rank No. 12 in the country with a 10.45% sack rate.
First-year defensive line coach Charlie Partridge has the Irish front firing on all cylinders, and the consistent pressure has been noticeable.
Freeman doesn’t believe Notre Dame’s success comes from specific moves as much as it does from the defensive line being mentally prepared to take advantage of opportunities.
“There are some intricacies that maybe the normal person wouldn't understand,” Freeman said. “They're doing a really good job of identifying protections, of making in-game adjustments based on tells that they see points, different things that maybe the offense would do.”
In fact, Freeman compared his defensive line to quarterback CJ Carr when it comes to taking advantage of pre-snap reads.
“It's no different than CJ seeing a look and making a check,” Freeman explained. “If you can identify what you think a protection is going to be, now you can take advantage of it and be more proactive and reactive. I think that's a huge advantage for our D-line. They're playing at a high level. They're rotating guys. There's fresh guys in there and they played excellent on Saturday.”
The Irish are also on the verge of potentially getting even more dangerous off the edge.
Defensive ends Boubacar Traore and Bryce Young have set a high bar, while Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa has also shown an ability to get into the backfield off the edge this season.
But Notre Dame’s edge group could become a nightmare if freshman Rodney Dunham continues to ascend.
“He's a guy that we said on Sunday that we probably should have got him in there for more than just those plays at the end of the game because he brings a dynamic to the field,” said Freeman. “We got four D-ends that are proven, who have played a lot of football, but we view Rodney Dunham in the same light.
“He's an ascending player who has traits as a freshman that a lot of freshmen don't have in terms of the speed he plays the game with. We've got to keep finding ways to get him on the field. He's impacting right now on special teams, but defensively he can help us, and we're going to find ways to get him out there more.”
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