How Francis Brewu Has Helped Stabilize Notre Dame’s Defensive Front

Notre Dame starting defensive tackle Jason Onye has been out since getting injured in the season opener against Wisconsin, and Pitt transfer Francis Brewu has taken a larger share of Notre Dame’s interior snaps so far this season. That transition has been made easier thanks to some guidance from the player he replaced and a coach he already had familiarity with before ever stepping foot on campus.

Brewu, in his first season in South Bend after transferring from Pittsburgh, was asked what Onye told him before he stepped into the bigger role.

“He was like, ‘Let’s go.’ You know, I mean, it was simple, but it was great. It was perfect,” Brewu said earlier this week.

Brewu also described what Onye has been for him since he arrived.

“We’ve been working alongside each other since I came in in spring ball, and he’s been a great guy that I’ve worked with and competed against, and you know, stepping into a larger role, he’s just been there and been by my side as he’s always been, and as all the older guys have always been, you know, real supportive.”

Brewu had 34 tackles at Pitt last season and has played in all three games for the Irish, with seven tackles, a tackle for loss and a sack. The sack and the tackle for loss both came in the opener against Wisconsin, and he had three tackles against Michigan State.

Familiarity With Charlie Partridge Helped Ease the Move

His route to Notre Dame runs through his position coach. Charlie Partridge recruited Brewu to Pitt in the 2024 class, then left for the Indianapolis Colts before ever coaching him. After two seasons as the Colts’ defensive line coach, Partridge took the same job at Notre Dame this year, and the two are finally working together.

“He’s a guy who’s, you know, real hard on me,” Brewu said, “but that’s, you know, every player who wants to take their game as far as possible, they need a coach who’s hard on them, and he, you know, holds me to real high standards, so I appreciate him.”

The Kind of Work That Does Not Show Up in the Box Score

Notre Dame held Michigan State to 44 rushing yards on 27 carries and finished with four sacks and six tackles for loss. Brewu’s three tackles were the visible part of his night, but he had a hand in other havoc plays as well.

“Just, you know, getting knockback,” Brewu said. “Getting knockback is huge. So, knocking the line back, that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, right? Playing the double team, that doesn’t show up on the stat sheet. A lot of times when you get to the quarterback, that doesn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet ’cause you can beat the offensive lineman every play, but the quarterback throws the ball or he scrambles out or something like that.”

“Those are all things we can do to help affect the game that doesn’t necessarily benefit us in a statistical way, but it makes a big difference if we’re getting that penetration or we’re holding onto doubles,” Brewu said. “It allows other guys on the team to eat.”

One of those other guys is defensive end Boubacar Traore. Traore, in his fourth season on the roster, had 6.5 sacks in 2025 and already has 2.0 on the season this year. His sack against Michigan State came on third-and-19 in the fourth quarter and cost the Spartans and additional12 yards.

“I mean he’s a force,” Traore said of Brewu. “He’s a force to be reckoned with. I mean him up the middle, I mean he’s great against the run, even greater against the pass. I mean he has an arsenal of pass rush moves that makes him hard to block, and it’s just, I mean, it’s great to have him on the side of me to rush with me.”

A Different Challenge Awaits This Weekend

Purdue will give the middle of that line plenty of work. The Boilermakers scored 44 points against Indiana State, 36 in a double-overtime loss to Wake Forest and 38 at UCLA, and they have punted five times in three games. With Onye out, more of those snaps fall to Brewu. Notre Dame kicks off at Purdue at 2 p.m. ET Saturday on Peacock.