SOUTH BEND — For Notre Dame head football coach Marcus Freeman, the objective of the Irish’s jersey scrimmage Saturday, April 18 was to put “good” against “good.” While many of Notre Dame’s spring practices have had the Irish’s No. 1 unit on one side of the ball go against a No. 2 unit on the other, this two-hour practice saw presumptive starters square off against each other.
On the defensive side, the Irish’s 35 sacks last season were tied for the ninth most in the NCAA FBS. Their 2.92 per game was ranked 12th.
Most notably for the coming season, Notre Dame lost just one player who compiled more than one sack last year, as Joshua Burnham (three) transferred to Indiana. While no physical sacks were allowed in the jersey scrimmage, the Irish didn’t have much trouble generating pressure throughout the morning.
Defensive coordinator Chris Ash and his staff rotate players on and off the field often, but the most consistent No. 1 defensive line on a typical four-man rush formation Saturday was juniors Bryce Young and Boubacar Traore off the edge, with sophomore Oregon transfer Tionne Gray and junior Armel Mukam on the interior.
Freeman noted that it was good to have Mukam back, as he entered the transfer portal Jan. 1 before returning to the program 10 days later.
“You can look at those guys — they’re massive,” Freeman said. “We brought in some massive human beings at those positions, but they play big, too. They’re not big guys who play soft; they play big, they’re physical.”
The first defensive line unit struggled a bit on the interior when it came to stopping the run, as junior Anthonie Knapp did a particularly nice job on the offensive line against them. However, the unit combined for approximately six pressures against sophomore standout quarterback CJ Carr.
All except Gray pressured Carr at least once, with Traore doing so three times. The offensive lineman on the first unit who seemed to get beat the most off the edge was right tackle Guerby Lambert, who allowed pressures from Traore at least twice and allowed two pressures on the first team’s third drive of the session.
Freeman said the first step to bringing pressure on defense starts with recruiting “elite, talented” players, listing Young and Traore as examples. Then, he and his coaching staff get creative.
They’ll sometimes try to “conceptually confuse” the opposing offense by rushing one and dropping another in coverage. Other times they may rush one more defender than the opponent has to block.
However, Freeman reiterated that without a foundationally consistent four-man pass rush, it’s tough to be effective at all.
“If you can’t create pressure off the edge with your defensive ends in a four-man rush, you’re not going to be able to create pressure — you’re going to put the rest of your defense in a negative position if you have to bring pressure to create pressure,” Freeman said.
Others who got somewhat consistent looks with the first team were junior Pittsburgh transfer Francis Brewu and junior Alabama transfer Keon Keeley. Freeman noted that Brewu missed a “couple” of practices earlier this spring with a bicep strain, but he did rack up a half-sack along with Traore when the two collapsed the pocket.
During a red zone drill before the main scrimmage began, senior Elijah Hughes and sophomore Sean Sevillano Jr. got first-team reps with the goal line defensive line unit. Freeman initially called Sevillano Jr. “Big Sean,” but quickly corrected himself and said he should probably call him “Little Sean,” after Sevillano Jr. met his goal of losing weight during the offseason with the objective of being more of a contributor on the interior.
The Canadian was listed at 340 pounds last season and is now billed at 320.
‘The one’s who usually play earliest are the one’s who can play fast’
While Irish’s second and third units weren’t perfect on defense, they forced two turnovers compared to the first unit’s zero. Part of that has to do with Carr’s ability to practically eliminate mistakes under center with the first team, but it also has to do with a nice interception from senior safety Luke Talich and consistent pressure from the defensive line against freshman quarterback Noah Grubbs.
Some of the credit for the latter goes to new defensive line coach Charlie Partridge, who came to Notre Dame from the Indianapolis Colts and also has previous experience with three collegiate Power-4 programs. The Colts allowed the 10th worst passer rating in the NFL last season, thanks in part to amassing 39 sacks, which was the ninth-largest quantity in the league.
True freshman Rodney Dunham was Notre Dame’s biggest standout off the edge against the second and third teams. The 6’4”, 242-pound Charlotte, North Carolina, native compiled at least four solo pressures and at least one tackle for loss, while also helping the entire unit collapse the pocket quickly on a few attempted screens by the offense.
Freeman spoke highly of Dunham, saying that he fit the mold of the Irish’s aim to recruit prospects who play as fast as they possibly can before they even get to the collegiate level because their football IQ is already high. The fifth-year head coach said when Dunham reported to Notre Dame and began practicing, he quickly understood what he was asked to do by the defensive staff and didn’t overthink his assignments.
Although Dunham didn’t get first team reps Saturday, perhaps he could work his way up to a rotational role on a squad with College Football Playoff aspirations and beyond.
“I don’t care if it’s against the threes, the twos, the ones; when you master what you have right in front of you, you’ll get more,” Freeman said. “… He’s a good football player; he has just come in at a higher level. That doesn’t mean his ceiling is higher than anybody else’s, but it just means at this point in his college career, he’s doing a really good job and playing well. I believe he’ll help us this year.”
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at ksmedley@usatodayco.com or follow him on X @KyleMSmedley.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Analyzing Notre Dame football’s defensive line in jersey scrimmage
Reporting by Kyle Smedley, South Bend Tribune / South Bend Tribune
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