Alabama Football: Tide’s report card vs. Notre Dame
By Dakota Cox
Alabama football’s report card vs. Notre Dame
Offensive Line: B
Alabama has one of the best offensive lines in college football, but they lost Landon Dickerson in the SEC Championship. Losing your top center is bad enough, but Dickerson does more than just block well. He is the voice of this offense and a leader in the locker room.
Even without Dickerson, the offensive line communicated well and kept a relatively clean pocket. Mac Jones had to move some, but that isn’t solely on the line. Their job is to give Jones a chance to make a play, and they consistently did just that.
A holding penalty by Owens and a few mistakes hurt the Tide, but Mac Jones helped overcome the issues.
Defensive Line: B-
The defensive line knew that they had a tough test in front of them. Notre Dame has one of the best offensive lines in the country, and they came into this game banking on their ability to control the line of scrimmage.
While the defensive line did well in passing situations, the run game dominated early. They were able to get in between the tackles and reach the second level consistently.
Give Christian Barmore credit. He has been a great pass-rusher since coming to Tuscaloosa, but his game has evolved. He is now a menace in the running game, and he kept Notre Dame behind the chains on multiple occasions.