Notre Dame offensive line named one of 10 semifinalists for Joe Moore Award

Despite going into Texas A&M with six combined starts among the five offensive line starters that night in College Station, multiple injuries thereafter and subsequent shuffling of starters, Notre Dame is one of 10 semifinalists for the Joe Moore Award. The honor is bestowed annually upon the best offensive line in college football.

Per the Joe Moore Award’s official website, the award recognizes offensive lines that exhibit unparalleled toughness, effort, teamwork, consistency, technique, and ability to finish. Here are all 10 teams that have O-lines that made the cut.

• Alabama
• Army
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Notre Dame
• Ohio State
• Oregon
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Tulane

“This has been an unusual year,” said Aaron Taylor, former Notre Dame offensive line, CBS Sports college football analyst and co-founder of The Joe Moore Award. “The loss of even one key player has had an outsized impact on many units across the country. Several of this year’s semifinalists began the season facing challenges — whether from injuries or finding their rhythm — but have admirably rebounded in their quality of play. We believe ‘portal parity’ has made it harder to build and maintain depth, yet the standout units are continuing to rise above—demonstrating excellent resilience, coaching, effort, and technique.”

Former Notre Dame offensive line coach Harry Hiestand is now on the Joe Moore Award voting committee. He led the Fighting Irish to winning the award in 2017. Other winners of the award since its inception almost a decade ago include Alabama in 2015 and 2020, Iowa in 2016, Oklahoma in 2018, LSU in 2019, Michigan in 2021 and 2022 and Washington in 2023.

The award is named after former Notre Dame and Pittsburgh offensive line coach Joe Moore. Taylor played for Moore, who was with the Irish from 1988-96, in South Bend. Moore partnered with former Irish head coach Lou Holtz to have hard-nosed football teams, some of the best in the country, in that era.

“Joe was a mentor and one of the best to ever do it, so I know firsthand what it takes to be recognized as the nation’s most outstanding unit,” Hiestand said. “We’re looking for lines that are the backbone of their offense—units that play hard, establish leverage, and punish defenders whenever they get the chance. It’s about playing as one, with every lineman blocking in sync. There are some hard-working units out there, earning the committee’s attention through their leadership, consistency, technique, and effort.”

Notre Dame’s offensive line is coached by Joe Rudolph, who’s in his second season with the Irish after one season at Virginia Tech in 2022 and seven seasons at Wisconsin. Here are the stats and tidbits from the Joe Moore Award website that make the Irish worthy of consideration this year…

• The Notre Dame offensive line has seen three members make their first-career starts in 2024, including freshman Anthonie Knapp and sophomore Aamil Wagner, both of whom have started every game for the Irish this season. Nine members of the line have played an active role so far this season. 
• The Irish have rushed for 200+ rush yards in 5 of last 7 games.

• Notre Dame ranks second among all Power 4 teams in yards-per-carry (5.98) and 5th among all FBS teams. 
• With 30 rushing touchdowns, the Irish rank 3rd among all Power 4 teams and 5th among all FBS teams in rushing touchdowns per game (3.33).
• The Irish own the 12th-ranked rushing offense in the nation, averaging 214.8 rushing yards per game. 
• In every game played this season, Notre Dame has outrushed its opponents’ average yards allowed entering the game. The Irish have rushed for an average of 92.6 yards more than their opponents’ 2024 rushing yards allowed entering the game. 
•  Notre Dame has outscored opponents by an average of 27.2 points per game this season and the Irish have a 91% success rate in the red zone.