Re: By the Numbers: Notre Dame Football Outscores Wisconsin 28-3 After Halftime
The biggest areas of growth for this team are going to be the OL and DL. Both units have the talent to become among the very best in the country, and right now, they clearly are not.
The OL looked like the typical Rudolph mess to start the season, but it was remarkably better in the second half. That’s a really encouraging sign. The difference from years past is that, this time, he actually seems to have the right players in the right spots, and there’s so much talent in that room that it should be almost impossible to screw up. If this group stays healthy, I don’t see how it doesn’t develop into the best Notre Dame OL we’ve seen since Heistand.
The DL has ridiculous talent and depth as well. Partridge is new, and he’s working with Ash again, so I’d give that group until somewhere around midseason before it really starts to hit its stride. There’s simply too much talent there for it not to become a dominant unit once the players have had more time with Partridge.
To me, Notre Dame won’t fully arrive as the best team in the country until those two lines start dominating the way they’re capable of. When that happens, the ceiling for this team is about as high as it gets.
The OL looked like the typical Rudolph mess to start the season, but it was remarkably better in the second half. That’s a really encouraging sign. The difference from years past is that, this time, he actually seems to have the right players in the right spots, and there’s so much talent in that room that it should be almost impossible to screw up. If this group stays healthy, I don’t see how it doesn’t develop into the best Notre Dame OL we’ve seen since Heistand.
The DL has ridiculous talent and depth as well. Partridge is new, and he’s working with Ash again, so I’d give that group until somewhere around midseason before it really starts to hit its stride. There’s simply too much talent there for it not to become a dominant unit once the players have had more time with Partridge.
To me, Notre Dame won’t fully arrive as the best team in the country until those two lines start dominating the way they’re capable of. When that happens, the ceiling for this team is about as high as it gets.
"Put a Riddell on somebody and be the most physical team in the country until the whistle blows."