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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame’s offensive line is enjoying going unnoticed.
After three of the least productive rushing years in school history, including arguably the worst line play ever at the school two seasons ago when Notre Dame gave up an NCAA-record 58 sacks and rushed for school record-low 75 yards a game, the linemen are reveling in anonymity.
“When things are going good it’s not that you get more notoriety. It’s that people kind of leave you alone,” left guard Chris Stewart said. “You get some acknowledgment, but very little. That’s key. When you don’t notice the line and you’re more focused on Jimmy (Clausen) and Armando (Allen) making plays, that’s a good job.”
The line has been doing a good job. The Irish are averaging 158 yards a game rushing, more than twice as much as two seasons ago and well ahead of last year’s pace of 110 yards a game. It’s the best rushing average for the Irish since averaging 189 yards a game in Bob Davie’s final year as coach in 2001.
Headed into Saturday’s home game against Washington, the Irish are averaging 455 yards of offense a game, the second-best total for the school in a decade. Only the 477 yards a game the Irish average in coach Charlie Weis’ first season in 2005 was better. The 4.2 yards a carry is the best mark for the Irish since the 2000 squad averaged 4.4 yards a carry.
The line also is doing better at pass blocking. Notre Dame has given up only six sacks, at least two of which were the fault of tailbacks who failed to pick up blitzes.
Players say it’s been a mixture of changes that have led to the improved play including experience, a new offensive line coach and a new perspective.
Senior right tackle Sam Young has started all 42 games since he arrived as a freshman and three of the other four starters has at least 14 starts. The least experienced starter is sophomore right guard Trevor Robinson with seven starts.
“We’ve been in pretty much every type of situation you can be in as an offensive line in games through our careers and I think that really gives us the edge,” center Eric Olsen said.
One of the first changes Frank Verducci made when he arrived in South Bend as line coach after eight seasons as an NFL assistant was to move Olsen from guard to center. Verducci changed blocking schemes and made a lot of other smaller changes as well in techniques and just the outlook of linemen.
“I think it’s a combination of things,” Stewart said. “Learning to play hard. Blocking down field. Getting in the vicinity of the ball carrier when he goes down. Playing to the echo of the whistle.”
Verducci also brought some old school ideas with him, including bringing back the five-man blocking sled that the Irish hadn’t used in recent years.
“I guess one thing it does is other than being a great torture device, it teaches the line to move as one, hit as one,” Young said. “You can tell if one guy isn’t holding up his end.”
Duncan likes how Verducci asks the players to help come up with answers.
“If we have a question he’s like, ’All right, figure it out.’ So he makes us figure out what we think is the best idea. If he agrees with it, then he lets us do it,” Duncan said. “I think that’s a great feeling, just to be able to come up with something you think is a good way of doing it.”
Verducci also tries to have players think big picture, rather than specifically on just which player they are supposed to block on each play. He tries to limit the number of things the linemen have to do, saying keeping things simple is most productive.
Verducci has a different perspective because he’s also the running game coordinator, Weis said.
“A lot of offensive line coaches just worry about the offensive line, that’s all they think about — sacks and run production. Did they give up any sacks or how many yards did they run for,” Weis said. “But Frank understands the big picture.”
While the linemen are enjoying their anonymity Verducci knows it can be fleeting.
“It’s an ongoing thing,” Verducci said. “It’s week to week.”