Notre Dame's offensive line rebuilds with elite talent, aiming to dominate trenches and reclaim 'O-Line U' status for a championship run.
This past season, offensive line play across college football took a step back. Like we've seen so far in the post season, the battle in the trenches have been a major deciding factor in who advances and who goes home in the playoffs. That was also relevant in last season's playoffs as well. In the regular season, we saw teams who are normally strong in the trenches play extremely inconsistent football. Notre Dame has been a program coined as 'O-Line U' due to the amount of top level prospects they send to the next level.
In 2025, however, 'O-Line U' didn't play to that standard and it showed on the field. In their first game of the season against Miami, the Fighting Irish offensive line got dominated by a very talented Hurricanes defensive line. From a pass protection perspective, they turned things around as the season went on, but their run blocking was inconsistent and sloppy at times. Against USC, they looked like they had returned to dominant form. But their run blocking execution and scheme was faulty the week prior against NC State and in their following game against Boston College.
The offensive line inconsistencies didn't only live in South Bend. Other schools like Texas and Ohio State struggled to put together consistent performances in the trenches on offense. On the season, the Buckeyes allowed 98 total pressures and 28 hits plus sacks on the quarterback. In a vacuum, that isn't terrible considering they played 14 games. Adding context matters, though. Out of their 98 pressures allowed and 28 hits plus sacks on the quarterback, 35 pressures and 14 hits plus sacks on the quarterback came in the three biggest games they played.
The Longhorns allowed 134 total pressures and 36 total hits plus sacks on the quarterback this season across the 13 games played. Alabama, another team that has built a history of dominant offensive line play, allowed 131 pressures and 47 hits plus sacks on the quarterback this season across 15 games. One thing Notre Dame, Ohio State, Texas and Alabama all have in common: none of these programs were named semi-finalists or finalists for the Joe Moore Award, given annually to the best offensive line in college football.
The Irish are in a position to reclaim that title in 2026, but it will take some work, like it will for the other programs mentioned in this article. I'd argue, Notre Dame has the deepest level of talent coming back when you consider players like Anthonie Knapp, Guerby Lambert, Charles Jagusah, Will Black and a host of others. It will be up to offensive line coach Joe Rudolph to get the correct starting five on the field and in the correct spots. For Notre Dame, and the same could be said for the Buckeyes, Longhorns and the Crimson Tide, their hopes of winning a national title in 2026 will live and die with the abilities of their offensive lines.
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