Football: Irish need muscle on front lines
Ken Fowler
Issue date: 2/28/07 Section: Sports
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Ruben Mendoza is an imposing figure.
His upper body - calling it stout would be an understatement - screams power on top of legs that say strength.
He's Notre Dame's drill sergeant strength and conditioning coordinator, the one blowing whistles and demanding the Irish stay in top form.
But while he's built of brute force, questions about Notre Dame's linemen are understandable.
The Irish failed to dominate the line of scrimmage all season, and looked badly overmatched at times. In the off-season, the battle of the trenches might not get much talk, but results from the Irish at this week's NFL Combine in Indianapolis throw into question whether one of Notre Dame's strategies is hurting the Irish.
Defensive end Victor Abiamiri, known in South Bend and his native Baltimore as a physical freak, benched 225 pounds 25 times - far from spectacular for a defensive lineman. Michigan's Alan Branch and Arkansas' Keith Jackson - no relation - managed 33 reps. Joe Cohen from Florida put the bar up 34 times.
But the nation' most feared defensive end, UCLA's Justin Hickman, did 23 reps of 225.
Maybe the bench isn't the be-all, end-all.
Let's look a little closer.
Along with Hickman, who was listed at 263 pounds - seven less than Abiamiri - UCLA had Kevin Brown (293 pounds) and Brigham Harwell (286) as its starting tackles. By comparison, former Irish defensive tackle Derek Landri was listed at 277, while fellow tackle Trevor Laws is at 283. On the inside, Notre Dame gave up 10 more pounds per player than did UCLA, and the lighter Hickman benefited.
To be fair, Landri clocked in with 24 reps at 225, beating only five of 20 competitors in his group. And yet, Landri had a year that deserved All-America consideration. He finished with 15.5 tackles for loss, including seven sacks. Hardly a result of too little muscle mass, right?
Well, not quite.
Landri benefited from the defense's inability to get the opponent off the field. He had extra plays on which to bring down running backs behind the line because, all too often, the opposition would tear through the Irish defense on the next play and mitigate any prior defensive stop.
His upper body - calling it stout would be an understatement - screams power on top of legs that say strength.
He's Notre Dame's drill sergeant strength and conditioning coordinator, the one blowing whistles and demanding the Irish stay in top form.
But while he's built of brute force, questions about Notre Dame's linemen are understandable.
The Irish failed to dominate the line of scrimmage all season, and looked badly overmatched at times. In the off-season, the battle of the trenches might not get much talk, but results from the Irish at this week's NFL Combine in Indianapolis throw into question whether one of Notre Dame's strategies is hurting the Irish.
Defensive end Victor Abiamiri, known in South Bend and his native Baltimore as a physical freak, benched 225 pounds 25 times - far from spectacular for a defensive lineman. Michigan's Alan Branch and Arkansas' Keith Jackson - no relation - managed 33 reps. Joe Cohen from Florida put the bar up 34 times.
But the nation' most feared defensive end, UCLA's Justin Hickman, did 23 reps of 225.
Maybe the bench isn't the be-all, end-all.
Let's look a little closer.
Along with Hickman, who was listed at 263 pounds - seven less than Abiamiri - UCLA had Kevin Brown (293 pounds) and Brigham Harwell (286) as its starting tackles. By comparison, former Irish defensive tackle Derek Landri was listed at 277, while fellow tackle Trevor Laws is at 283. On the inside, Notre Dame gave up 10 more pounds per player than did UCLA, and the lighter Hickman benefited.
To be fair, Landri clocked in with 24 reps at 225, beating only five of 20 competitors in his group. And yet, Landri had a year that deserved All-America consideration. He finished with 15.5 tackles for loss, including seven sacks. Hardly a result of too little muscle mass, right?
Well, not quite.
Landri benefited from the defense's inability to get the opponent off the field. He had extra plays on which to bring down running backs behind the line because, all too often, the opposition would tear through the Irish defense on the next play and mitigate any prior defensive stop.