Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1081575
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2019 79 O ffensive coordinator Chip Long has done some im- pressive work at Notre Dame since he was hired follow- ing the 2016 debacle. The young play caller became a significant cog in the program's 22-4 record since he came on board. But Long now must figure out a way to take his offense to far greater heights than the Fight- ing Irish have seen over the last decade. Twice during Brian Kelly's tenure (2012 and 2018), the Irish put themselves in position to play for a championship thanks in large part to an elite defense. Both times, however, the offense came up woefully short, with the most recent example the 30-3 loss to Clemson in the College Football Playoff (CFP) semifi- nals Dec. 29. For Notre Dame to complete a championship run in the future, it must develop a unit that can score at an elite level to comple- ment its defense. Every team that has won a CFP game has averaged at least 35.1 points per contest, and all but the 2015 Alabama squad scored at least 37.1. Ohio State scored 44.8 points per game in 2014, Clemson posted 39.2 in 2016 and Alabama averaged 37.1 in 2017 (39.1 during the regular season) — and all those teams won titles. The teams that played for the title in 2018 logged scoring clips of 44.3 (Clemson) and 45.6 (Alabama). Yes, you have to play champion- ship-caliber defense to get to the CFP, but offense is what has been winning titles in the current era. So how can Notre Dame get there? 1. Better Quarterback Play: Just look around college football and the teams competing for championships. They play outstanding defense (with Oklahoma being the exception), which Notre Dame did in 2018. They run the football, which Notre Dame did in 2017. They also get stellar quarterback play. Junior quarterback Ian Book showed flashes of that in 2018, but he did it against relatively weak de- fenses, and he failed to elevate his play in the CFP environment. 2. More Consistency Up Front: Notre Dame had arguably the best offensive line in the nation in both 2015 and 2017, but its success in the trenches during other seasons has been spotty at best. Consistency up front is crucial for the Irish, and it's something that has fueled Alabama's success the last decade. The excuse of who it lost to the NFL the previous year doesn't fly in Tuscaloosa, and the way Notre Dame recruits the position it needs to stop being an alibi in South Bend as well. To get to that next level, the Irish line must become consistently domi- nant. That means year to year and game to game. There is no question the talent is there for this to happen, but something is holding the unit back from being as domi- nant as it should be on a more consistent basis. 3. Get On The Same Page: Notre Dame's 2017 rushing of- fense was superb, ranking sev- enth in the nation while also slotting third in yards per carry. The problem was a pass offense that ranked 102nd in efficiency and 97th in yards per attempt. When Book took over at quar- terback in 2018 the pass offense took off, averaging 290.6 yards per game — which would have ranked the offense 19th in the country if expanded over the en- tire season. The issue is that in those nine games the attack av- eraged just 168.3 rushing yards per game and 4.3 yards per rush. One element the other three CFP teams in 2018 had in com- mon was they all ran and threw the football with equal effec- tiveness. That trio combined for just eight games of less than 150 rushing yards, while Notre Dame had six by itself. If Notre Dame can get to the point where it can throw the ball as effectively as this season and run it even close to as well as 2017, the Irish offense will be among the premier units in the country. 4. More Playmakers, Across The Board: Outside of senior running back Dexter Williams and occasion- ally sophomore running back Ja- far Armstrong, Notre Dame lacked the type of playmakers who are a threat to score every time the ball is snapped. Alabama, Clemson and Oklahoma had a greater number of home-run threats in their lineup, athletes capa- ble of doing damage on every touch, which makes them extremely hard to defend. To become the kind of ex- plosive offense that can win titles, the Irish must recruit and develop more such players. ✦ Improvement On Offense Is Crucial To Success CLOSER LOOK BRYAN DRISKELL Bryan Driskell has been a football analyst for Blue & Gold Illustrated since April 2015. He can be reached at bdriskell@blueandgold.com. Offensive coordinator Chip Long must take his unit to greater heights if the Fighting Irish are going to win a national title. PHOTO BY MICHAEL BENNETT/LIGHTHOUSE IMAGING