Winning the trenches is the Irish path to a championship. Discover how stifling the run and pressuring the passer unlocks Notre Dame's 2026 playoff destiny.
By now, we've established the absurdity of Notre Dame's snub from the playoffs. With each passing game, we're left wondering what it would have looked like if the Irish played in the first round, the Rose Bowl or even the Cotton Bowl. Unfortunately, that won't get us anywhere and there are some key takeaways from the playoffs, and really even last year's playoffs, that Notre Dame should look at, evaluate and apply to their program as the gear up for the 2026 College Football Playoffs.
Defensively, dominating the line of scrimmage has been a key factor in teams like Miami, Indiana and Oregon putting on the performances they did in the quarterfinals. For the Irish, dominating the line of scrimmage in both phases of the game led to their impressive 10-game win streak to end the regular season. If Notre Dame wishes to make a run in the playoffs next season and bring home their 12th national title, winning the battle in the trenches will be imperative to success.
The Run Game
Like we talked about in the offensive piece, being able to run the football is a major key to success. Defensively, being able to stop the run is arguably the No. 1 key to victory, and should be, for every playoff team. In the first round of the playoffs, Oregon, Ole Miss and Miami all shut down the opponent's rushing attack. James Madison racked up 186 total rushing yards against the Ducks, but the majority of that came in the second half when Oregon had a 34-6 lead. Miami shut down the Aggies run game holding them to 89 yards on the afternoon and the Rebels held Tulane to 115 yards on the ground.
Alabama was the outlier in the first round. They were out-rushed by the Sooners, albeit 55 to 28, but quarterback John Mateer's effectiveness on the ground in the first half played a major role in their 17-0 deficit mid way through the second quarter. But the Crimson Tide's ability to shut down the Oklahoma rushing attack in the second half played a major role in them being able to complete their comeback and advance to the Rose Bowl against Indiana.
In the quarterfinals, both Indiana and Miami dominated Alabama and Ohio State on defense. The Buckeyes finished with 45 rushing yards while the Crimson Tide finished with 23 total rushing yards. It's not a coincidence that both the Hoosiers and the Hurricanes won the matchup by at least two possessions. Defensively, Oregon shut down the high powered Texas Tech rushing attack and held them to 78 total rushing yards. Due to the high level of quarterback play, rushing yards weren't the focus of the Sugar Bowl, but Ole Miss still held Georgia to 124 total yards on the ground.
The Pass Rush
The other phase that's shown high levels of dominance in this year's playoffs have been team's ability to get after the pass rusher. In eight of the playoff games this season, seven of the teams have accumulated more hits plus sacks than the team that lost. In six of the eight games, the winning team accumulated more total pressures as well. In the first round, Oregon, Ole Miss, Alabama and Tulane racked up more total hits plus sacks on the quarterback than their opponent. Oregon, Ole Miss and Miami also racked up more overall pressures than their opponent.
It was more of the same in the quarterfinals; Indiana, Ole Miss and Miami had more total pressures and hits plus sacks on the quarterback than their opponents. The one outlier was Oregon against Texas Tech. The Ducks had seven total pressures and four hits plus sacks on the quarterback according to PFF compared to the Red Raiders 11 total pressures and seven hits plus sacks on the quarterback. Turnovers and lack-luster quarterback play was ultimately the demise of the Texas Tech offense.
This isn't a 'one size fits all' conversation. There will always be outliers in the game of football, but by and large, teams that dominant the line of scrimmage in both phases of the game will be the team to advance to the next round and ultimately win the National Championship. For Notre Dame, dominating the line of scrimmage will be imperative in next year's postseason run. It will be up to Marcus Freeman, Chris Ash, Al Washington and their recently hired defensive line coach Charlie Partridge to continue to develop the talent in the room and get them to perform at the highest level.
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