Notre Dame Offensive Line Wins Joe Moore Award

It wasn't all Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey that helped pave the way for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The entire offensive line was one of the best in college football, and in fact... that's what hey were just awarded.

Here is the press release:

NOTRE DAME WINS 2017 JOE MOORE AWARD AS MOST OUTSTANDING OFFENSIVE LINE UNIT

Physicality and All-American Talent Impressed Voters

SOUTH BEND, IND. – December 19, 2017 — The Joe Moore Award announced today that the University of Notre Dame’s offensive line is the recipient of the 2017 Joe Moore Award (JMA) for Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit in College Football. In a presentation from the Guglielmino Athletic Complex on the Fighting Irish campus, the offensive line was presented with college football’s biggest trophy.

The Joe Moore Award trophy, crafted by legendary sports sculptor Jerry McKenna, is the largest trophy in college football that weighs more than 800 pounds and is more than six feet wide by nearly seven feet tall. As is tradition, the trophy has been made available to Notre Dame to display on their campus until the 2018 winner is announced.

“The thing voters felt separated Notre Dame’s O-line this year from the other deserving units was their technique and how they consistently finished their blocks,” said Cole Cubelic, SEC Network Sideline Analyst and Chairman of the Joe Moore Award voting committee (as Chairman, Cubelic does not vote). “As impressive as the other Finalists and Semi-Finalists were, no one consistently finished blocks in 2017 like Notre Dame, and that really seemed to make the difference this year in the eyes of the voters.”

As this year’s recipient of college football’s biggest trophy, Notre Dame was selected by a voting body comprised of experts who played or coached the offensive line position at the highest levels. This includes all current offensive line coaches at the Division I/FBS level, as well as former players, coaches, and colleagues of Coach Moore, the JMA voting committee, and select media. The Fighting Irish were narrowly selected over fellow finalists Alabama and Auburn.

“This year proved to be difficult because of how well each of the Finalists displayed the award criteria throughout the entire season,” said Barrett Jones, two-time consensus All-American, National Champion, and Joe Moore Award voting committee member. “It really came right down to the end.”

Each of this year’s Finalists presented compelling arguments to be crowned the winner, which made this the closest race in the three-year history of the Joe Moore Award. Through their impressive play on the field, the O-line units for Alabama and Auburn each exemplified what the Joe Moore Award is about and were more than deserving of the honor of being named a 2017 Joe Moore Award Finalist.

“The O-line position is extremely difficult to evaluate, especially when doing so for entire units with different styles of play,” said Randy Cross, three-time All-Pro with the San Francisco 49ers, College Football Hall of Famer, CBS college football analyst, and JMA voting committee member. “That is why we thoroughly go through each of the finalists’ season-long highlight reels and multiple back-to-back quarters of game film. The focus on the film study is the only way the 200+ voting body can properly and credibly evaluate the nuances of the award criteria that would otherwise be difficult to see.”