Notre Dame Captain Jarrett Patterson Expects Improvement Up Front
Over the past four seasons, Notre Dame was able to advance to two College Football Playoff appearances and won double-digit games in each season thanks in large part to a dominant offensive line and a dominant run game.
This season, with four of last year’s starting offensive linemen gone to the NFL, the Irish offensive line has struggled up front through the first two games and made it difficult for this year’s team to develop the clear-cut identity that it’s had in recent years.
To be specific, Notre Dame has allowed 10 sacks and 20 tackles for loss combined against Florida State and Toledo. That’s good enough for 125th nationally in both categories based on per game averages.
Keeping Irish quarterback Jack Coan upright is one thing, but the Irish also haven’t been able to put together any sort of effective rushing attack over the first two games. Even with the uber-talented backfield tandem of Kyren Williams and Chris Tyree, Notre Dame is averaging just 2.66 yards per rush, which ranks 120th nationally.
According to senior center Jarrett Patterson, a preseason second-team All-American and the lone returner from last season’s talented offensive line, the offensive line group is well aware of what’s required of them.
“It’s really not frustrating,” Patterson said about the unit’s recent struggles. “Obviously, we’re 2-0, probably not ideal just in terms of up front what we’ve been able to do, but so far the group we have we’re getting better and the guys are putting in work.”
Patterson isn't frustrated but he knows improvement is needed.
“We know we have to get better," Patterson noted. "Our goal of getting back to the Playoff and winning a national championship, we know it starts upfront and Coach [Brian] Kelly put that responsibility on us so we know that we have to keep getting better.”
Patterson, who missed the last four games of the 2020 season with a left foot injury, has been Notre Dame’s most consistent lineman thus far in his return to action.
“I feel really good. It was a long rehab process but our trainers did a great job with me," Patterson explained. "I feel really healthy, feel really good out there and honestly, as far as moving wise, it’s the best I’ve felt since I’ve been here."
Though Notre Dame is thrilled to have Patterson back healthy, the Irish could be on their third starting tackle in three games. Tosh Baker could get the start against Purdue after freshman Blake Fisher got injured in the opener against Florida State his replacement ,Michael Carmody, went down against Toledo.
Considering the left tackle protects the quarterback’s blind side, this is far from an ideal situation for Notre Dame, but Patterson is quick to note that it’s nothing the team hasn’t been through before.
“Every year since I’ve been here we’ve had a guy go down,” Patterson recounted. “My freshman year it was [Alex] Bars, the year after it was [Tommy] Kraemer and [Robert] Hainsey, last year I went down and Kraemer for a game. Coach [Jeff] Quinn has a philosophy, next man always be ready, and Tosh has a responsibility on Saturday and he has to keep being prepared to be the starter and play.”
At 6-8 and 307-pounds, the sophomore Baker has great size and did play fairly well replacing Carmody against Toledo. Patterson expects Baker to play well against the Boilermakers after a full week of practice as a starter.
Overall, more so than one thing in particular, Patterson believes the group has to continue working together to improve.
“It definitely takes repetition," the Irish captain explained. "We do so many reps, hundreds every day in practice, in spring ball, Saturdays, extra drills after practice, so we’ve been getting that chemistry down together. The biggest thing is communication and working on our base fundamentals, that’s the biggest thing we have to get better at right now.”
Patterson added that getting to the second level has been an important point of emphasis this week. Patterson also noted that playing at Notre Dame presents its own challenges in that most teams are saving some of their best stuff for the matchup.
“We always have to prepare for teams to throw everything at Notre Dame,” Patterson explained. “The past two and a half years I’ve been starting, every time we play someone there’s always a different look, something dialed up that we haven’t seen on film before so really it’s just that experience helps and really just repetition during practice that’s the biggest key.”
Fighting Irish fans might be concerned about the play of the line, but Patterson isn't worried with where the offense or the offensive line in particular is headed.
“Jack [Coan] is doing a great job, the coaches are doing a good job putting us in a good position out there, so really it’s about keep firing off the ball, working on fundamentals and we’ve been improving, especially today we got a lot better.”
It’s going to take improvement every day for this Notre Dame offensive line to get to the level that has come to be expected at this point. Though the group may be a work in progress even without the injury setbacks, it’s clear their leader up front in Patterson and the coaching staff is confident in the guys they have on the roster to get the job done. That confidence can go a long way, but the Irish again face a tough challenge against a strong defensive unit from Purdue on Saturday, and talk is cheap on game day.
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