Notre Dame football has a defensive superstar unveiling themselves right before our eyes

Of course the coolest moment of the day was an interception for Traore. The errant pass was forced by a quarterback hit from defensive tackle Rylie Mills, a play that Traore took to the end zone for six points. Seeing the 6-4, 242-pound defensive end gallop down the field was a sight to see.

During the game against Miami (OH), Traore was a dominant fixture of the Irish defense. He finished the day with five total tackles, two tackles for loss and two sacks. Traore stands out every game now, and he is becoming a big time player before our eyes. As he gets more comfortable, you can expect him to really take a huge step forward.

The even scarier part, Notre Dame seemingly has more high upside players on the edge than we can remember. You can include freshman pass rusher Loghan Thomas in that group as well, although he didn’t play against the RedHawks. Against Purdue, he flashed big time in limited reps.

That doesn’t even include freshman five-star Bruce Young, who also has superstar upside long term. He also had a couple flash plays against the Boilermakers. With those three, it’s hard not to get excited for the future of the Notre Dame pass rush.

It wasn’t too long ago where the defensive end position was a problem for the Irish. There were always solid players, but not enough true difference makers. Notre Dame has several of them now for the present, and definitely for the future.

The Traore breakout over the past two weeks was yet another indication for the health of that unit, and the upside. While the loss of Jordan Botelho was a huge bummer, the silver lining is that we are going to get a bigger peak into the future. Opposing quarterbacks better beware.