Notre Dame Fighting Irish finally unlock 1 crucial key to success that should help carry them to College Football Playoff
Marcus Freeman finally got his Notre Dame defense dominating in the pass rush and it’s just what the Irish need
Notre Dame’s 0-2 start, losing to two top six teams in the country (Miami & Texas A&M), is quickly beginning to feel like a distant memory. 56 points scored against both Purdue and Arkansas. A 28-7 blowout win over Boise State. And now another 30-point win over NC State (36-7) on Saturday.
It’s one thing for the scoreboard to look as incredible as it has for Notre Dame. It’s another entirely to look at the crucial areas where the Irish struggled early in the season and see them turning into strengths. That’s exactly what’s happened with the Irish pass rush and it could very well be the sole key to success that helps carry Notre Dame to (and throughout) the College Football Playoff.
Yes, the run game continues to crush the hopes and dreams of opponents week in, week out. That’s not going anywhere thanks to Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price. It’s the newfound special pass rush that’s going to shut down opponents when it matters most.
Notre Dame Fighting Irish Pass Rush Stats in 2025
- Heading into Week 7 action of college football action Notre Dame was tied for 57th in defensive sacks among FBS teams.
- The Notre Dame defense ranked outside the top 60 in most every meaningful pass rush metric, most notably pass rush pressure rate.
- The team ranked 89th in defensive havoc rate generated (plays like sacks, interceptions, other tackles for loss, and more.
- Against NC State? Notre Dame racked up four sacks, tons of pressures, and three interceptions.
Notre Dame pass rush finally becoming what Marcus Freeman needs it to be
The Notre Dame pass rush was absolutely non-existent, atrocious, an absolute joke, to begin the season–putting it nicely. The Irish collectively logged just one sack through the first two games against Miami and Texas A&M and the complete lack of pressure generation impacted the entire defense.
They were giving up over nine yards per pass attempt through two weeks. Up through the Boise State game, they hadn’t been able to hold any opponent to less than 5 yards per play. Now Notre Dame is looking completely different.
The Irish have forced seven interceptions in the last two weeks. They have 10 sacks in that same span. Beating a mediocre Boise State team down was expected last week. Destroying every second of the game against NC State just solidified it. This defensive front is putting it all together–thanks much in part to star sack-artist Boubacar Traore who now has a half dozen sacks on the season.
Thanks to Notre Dame’s utter dominance in the trenches, the Irish held NC State to 2.84 yards per play, forced three interceptions, tallied four sacks, and a half dozen tackles for loss. If we exclude the one 45-yard touchdown pass (the only competent play from the Wolfpack all game), NC State averaged just 2.3 yards per offensive play. For reference, the worst offense in the FBS is averaging 3.92 yards per play.
If Marcus Freeman and the Notre Dame coaching staff can continue to get this kind of truly elite play out of their defensive front and pass rush the Irish could seriously find themselves headed back to the national championship game again. The rest of their schedule is soft, so if the Irish want to secure a playoff spot they’ll need to handle business the rest of the way, but given the way this pass rush and defensive front is playing that shouldn’t be a problem.
We’ll be back with more Notre Dame Fighting Irish coverage here at A to Z Sports soon! Follow me (@FF_TravisM) and A to Z Sports (@AtoZSportsNFL) on X for all the latest football news!
