Marcus Freeman downplays ND OL inexperience ahead of challenge vs Texas A&M football

Marcus Freeman: Texas A&M football DL ‘present[s] a great challenge,’ but Irish ‘feel very confident’ in young OL

One of the biggest developing storylines ahead of the huge showdown between Texas A&M football and Notre Dame this Saturday is the Irish offensive line against the Aggie defensive line. The OL up in South Bend is a proud tradition, with 2024 first-rounder Joe Alt the latest in a long line of Irish offensive linemen in the league. However, the youth along the Notre Dame front is shaping up to be a concern ahead of this pivotal contest.

On the other side, the Aggies feature what is widely considered to be one of the nation’s top defensive lines. Nic Scourton, fresh off of leading the Big 10 in sacks last year, has taken his talents home to Texas A&M. Shemars both Turner and Stewart are looking to leverage their skills into big statistical years, and David Hicks is a breakout player just waiting to burst onto the scene.

Against a young and inexperienced offensive line, of course, this is a matchup of concern. However, in his presser today, Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman downplayed the mismatch that this is shaping up to be.

“It’s gonna be a great challenge,” he acknowledged. “Their defensive line is going to present a great challenge no matter if you’re experienced or not.” 

That’s true enough, but the lack of experience up front is what should worry Irish fans. A green offensive tackle going up against a guy who some have in the top half of the first round as a pass rusher could certainly exacerbate things.

Freeman deflected by turning the attention to the skill of the Notre Dame defensive line: “[T]he guys that are going to play—they go against our defensive line every day… they’ve shown to have success against really good defensive linemen, and we feel those guys will give us the best chance.”

I don’t think that Freeman is blind to the challenge, but he’s certainly trying to put a good face on things in an area where it doesn’t sound like the Irish have a lot of answers. Similarly, when asked about how the crowd noise, Freeman mentioned that, while presnap penalties were an issue last year, they’ve focused in on limiting them, before concluding vaguely that he felt they had a “great plan” to deal with the environment.

Look, it’s possible that ND will come in and have solid OL play, neutralize the defensive line, and not commit one false start. But I really don’t think that’s likely. It’s not just Aggie fans who think the Irish may have some issues in pass protection on Saturday, either.

It could be a long night for the Irish trying to keep Riley Leonard’s jersey clean—and that bodes well for this Mike Elko defense.