GRADES: Notre Dame Offensive Line vs. Michigan

Get a FREE 30-day trial using promo code BGI30

Notre Dame entered the 2018 season needing to replace a pair of first-team All-Americans that both went in the top nine of the 2018 NFL Draft. In the opener against Michigan the new-look offensive had to take on one of the nation’s best defensive lines.

This breakdown will include statistics from the offensive line against Michigan, a breakdown of the line play as a whole and then grades for each individual player.

Let’s begin by looking at the line statistics from the game:

A brief explanation of the above categories. A lineman gets a minus every time a blocker either misses an assignment or gets beat by the opponent. Hits refers to a snap in which a lineman allows the man he is trying to block to hit the quarterback and hurries refers to when a lineman allows the defender he is blocking to cause the quarterback to rush a throw or scramble.

A key block is one in which a lineman makes a block that is directly responsible for a first down, touchdown or when he dominates his opponent for a big play. A knockdown is self-explanatory, it is when a blocker knocks a defender to the ground. If a defender dives low and the blocker puts him on the ground that is not considered a knockdown.

For every key block a lineman makes he gets a point added to his overall grade.

On to discussing the line as a whole …

The grades were higher than I expected from the unit. Watching it live there were some big misses in the game that stood out and made the performance seem less effective. There is certainly plenty of room for improvement and a lot must get cleaned up, but overall it was a solid performance from the line, especially considering the quality of the opponent, which is factored into how a play is graded.

The first thing that stood out about the line was how physical it was against a Michigan front that is aggressive, tough and talented. Finishing is something the line will have to work on, and if it could finish better the run game success would have been better.

Only two starters Saturday were playing the same position they started a season ago, and it is obvious the unit is still working on developing better cohesion. There were a number of snaps where one player was off or the timing wasn’t quite what you want, and that allowed Michigan to make stops.

When the line was working together and all on the same page they were able to get good movement against Michigan, which you can see here:

There were a couple of technical issues that showed in the game, and both will need to be addressed moving forward. First, too often pullers misread the point of entry and cut things upfield too quickly.

Second, there were too many footwork mistakes across the board. There was too much stopping of feet when blockers made contact, there was too much lunging and leaning in the pass game by the tackles and too often linemen would lose their base and play too high.

Now onto the individual players:

Fifth-year senior Alex Bars had an outstanding game for Notre Dame, dominating at the point of attack and playing with the consistency I’ve often criticized him for lacking. Last season we saw Bars flash moments of dominance but against Michigan he played that way throughout the game.

Bars had a strong second level block on Notre Dame’s first touchdown and he had a punishing perimeter block on its second score.

He had a number of key blocks in the game, including driving out a defender on quarterback Brandon Wimbush’s 22-yard run to convert a 3rd-and-18 in the third quarter. Bars led the offense with five key blocks, which is a strong number, especially against such a talented defensive line.

Bars was especially effective in the pass game, getting just one minus in protection. It was a snap in which he lost his base and got knocked back. Bars graded well in the run game, but like the rest of the line he didn’t quite finish as well as I’d like, which impacted his grade a bit. Bars worked well in space and was effective on the second level.

Fifth-year senior Sam Mustipher was steady against Michigan and at times he was strong. Mustipher finished with four knockdown blocks, and did a good job preventing Michigan’s interior linemen from getting penetration in the A Gaps (space between the center and guard).

Often the Michigan linemen would try to shoot low against Mustipher, and he would drive them right into the ground. He was credited with four knockdowns but he drove a few more defenders into the ground when they went low.

You can see an example in the above clip. This is not a knockdown block based on how I grade, but it is a successful block. The defender tries to shoot low and penetrate the run play, but Mustipher buries him and creates the inside run lane.

Mustipher did a good job locking onto blocks, and along with Bars he did a good job staying engaged and not allowing the Michigan defenders to get off the block and to the ball. Mustipher gave up a third-quarter sack when he got beat into the A Gap by a blitzing linebacker, but outside of that play he was quite good in the pass game.

Evaluating junior right guard Tommy Kraemer’s grade requires some explanation. Kraemer had to play right tackle for 13 snaps when starter Robert Hainsey had to come out of the game to get an IV. Kraemer did not handle tackle as well as he did guard, grading out at 76.9% when playing outside. At guard he graded out at 86.2%, which is a bit better than his final grade.

The only pressure he allowed in the pass game came when he was playing tackle. When playing guard Kraemer was far more effective in the pass game, handling Michigan’s power rushers. In the run game, Kraemer got good initial movement off the snap, but he didn’t finish as well because he stopped his feet too often.

You can see an example of that in the above clip. Kraemer and Hainsey get a strong first push at the snap, but Kraemer stops moving his feet, which stalls his push. Kraemer is huge and strong, and if he can do a better job driving his feet at the point of contact he’ll finish better and dominate more.

Sophomore right tackle Robert Hainsey graded out better than I expected. He had some really bad blocks in the game, especially in protection, but when I evaluated him snap after snap his performance was better than I expected.

The biggest issue Hainsey had in this game was that he wasn’t stout on the edge in the pass game, and far too often he was on his heels in protection, which allowed defenders to drive him off the line in pass pro. You can see an example of that here:

There were some other areas where Hainsey did some really good things. He was better in the run game than he was in the pass game. Hainsey also led the offensive line in knockdowns, finishing with six in the game. He was aggressive in the run game and he and Kraemer got very good movement when working together on combo blocks.

Moving forwards he’ll need to do a better job of being sturdy on the edge in pass pro by sinking his base and making sure his feet are right.

Junior left tackle Liam Eichenberg was the lowest graded pass blocker in the game, finishing with nine minuses on 31 pass snaps. Eichenberg allowed two hits and three hurries on Wimbush, numbers that must improve. What’s interesting about his performance is that Eichenberg had some really impressive pass blocks, but too often his footwork and/or base got him in trouble.

You can see an example of that here:

In this clip Eichenberg narrows his base, which makes it difficult to redirect inside. In other clips he would work outside, narrow his base and then try to lunge at a pass rusher. When he did that he wasn’t very effective. When Eichenberg kept his base he was strong in pass protection. Consistency will be key for him as he gains more experience.

Eichenberg was the highest graded run blocker against Michigan, grading out at 90%, including two key blocks and three knockdowns. Eichenberg was physical at the point of attack and his athleticism really shined in the run game. He was good on the second level and did a good job reaching the edge when the Irish ran in his direction.

Eichenberg showed a lot of promise in this game, but consistency will be the key for him moving forward.

Sophomore Joshua Lugg got his first career action against Michigan, moving into the right guard spot when Hainsey had to leave the game for two series. Lugg showed impressive physicality, but it was obvious he had some first-game jitters. Lugg had an assignment mistake that led to a tackle for loss, but Lugg handled pass protection well and got a good push in the run game.

----

• Talk about it inside Rockne’s Roundtable

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.

• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD, @BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.

• Like us on Facebook.