Notre Dame Pass Rush Gets Its Chance To Shine ... And It Must

The matchup between the vaunted Oklahoma State pass rushers and the Notre Dame offensive line, which struggled to protect the quarterback this season, is certainly important. We'll discuss that one later, but the matchup on the other side of the ball could be even more important.

Notre Dame's defensive line and pass rush has been overlooked all season. There's little doubt the Irish front four has been the strength of the defense, and the defense has been the team's strength for much of the season. Twice the Notre Dame defense has outscored the opposing offense (Wisconsin, Georgia Tech), and pass rush has been a driving force all season.

While the Oklahoma State pass rush will get much of the attention heading into the game, Notre Dame's defense will get a chance to prove its pass rush - and its defensive line - is just as good. It needs to be so if the Irish are going to begin the Marcus Freeman era with a victory over the Cowboys.

Notre Dame racked up 40 sacks this season, ranking 9th nationally in sacks. It marked the best best single-season mark for the defense in over 20 years. The Irish were quite good at getting sacks this season, and when the front four was on it could take over a ball game.

Consistency wasn't always there for the unit, but against Oklahoma State the unit will have to be on top of its game.

Just getting sacks isn't always indicative of a great pass rush. If you look at Pro Football Focus data, the Notre Dame pass rush this season accounted for 45 sacks, which was five more than the 2018 defense, the group I would argue had Notre Dame's best defensive line of the last decade. Yet the 2018 defensive line had 51 hits on the quarterback to go with those 40 sacks, compared to just 37 hits for the 2021 defense (in one less game, mind you).

If you take out its game against FCS opponent SW Missouri State, Oklahoma State's defensive line registered 52 sacks this season, which is just seven more than Notre Dame. The Cowboys, however, racked up 50 hits to go with those sacks. That's 102 hits/sacks combined for Oklahoma State, compared to 82 for Notre Dame.

For Notre Dame, being on top of their game in this matchup is a must. Notre Dame needs to get some sacks against a well-coached but not overly talented Oklahoma State offensive line. But to win this game the Irish defensive line needs to get consistent pressure on the quarterback.

Cowboy quarterback Spencer Sanders is athletic and has a big arm. He can beat you with his arm and he can beat you when plays break down, both as a runner and passer. When he's comfortable in the pocket he's dangerous, and that's when the Cowboy offense is at its best.

When Sanders get pressured, especially when he faces consistent pressure, he can be downright dreadful. According to PFF, when Sanders was pressured this season he completed just 39.6% of his passes and threw as many interceptions (5) as he did touchdowns (5).

This was evident in the Big 12 title game, when Sanders threw four interceptions, including three when under pressure. If Notre Dame can force Sanders into those kinds of mistakes the Irish will not only win, they'll win big.

That means edge rushers Isaiah Foskey and Justin Ademilola need to get after it, and be allowed to pressure (in Foskey's case). Inside, Jayson Ademilola leads the Irish defense in pressures, and he needs to be at his best against the Cowboys. The entire unit, however, needs to make sure they are not just getting pressure, but getting hits on Sanders. The more hits they get the greater the odds the unit can either bring Sanders down or force him into mistakes, and it also reduces the opportunities for him to take off running.

When the game is over the Irish front will either be the group on defense we point to as the driver of the victory, or the unit that didn't play to its potential in either a competitive loss or a very tight win.

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