Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview
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BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 33 In 2018, the Oklahoma receivers averaged 8.2 yards after the catch, while Alabama's wideouts checked in with a clip of 7.6 and Clemson was at 6.6. The Irish were the other College Football Playoff qualifier — and av- eraged only 4.6 yards following the reception. Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray com- pleted 60 passes behind the line of scrim- mage, yet those throws averaged 9.6 yards per play. Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa completed 58 such passes, which gained an average of 8.0 yards. Book's 52 completions behind the line averaged 7.3 yards per play. On throws between 0-10 yards, Murray's completions averaged 11.3 yards after the catch and Tagovailoa's averaged 11.5 yards, while Book's were at just a 9.2-yard clip. "That's been our number one emphasis," Long said of the desire to get more yards after the catch and to generate more explo- sive plays. "The amount of yards we left out there last year is absolutely embarrassing. … I don't think last year we really scared any- body. There were a couple of games where our physicality showed up but not consistently and we weren't explosive. That caught up to us." Greater success after the catch can help the offense generate more explosive plays, but doing so, especially on first and second down, will also put the unit in better position to effectively move the chains. Notre Dame had excellent size at wide receiver in 2018 but lacked swift playmak- ers. Conversely, it boasted top-notch speed in 2015 but didn't have great size. What has many around the program en- couraged about the 2019 unit is despite its lack of experience at most spots, it has a chance to be Notre Dame's best combination of size and speed in one group. Run The Ball More Effectively The notion that 200 rushing yards per game is important carries weight, as all but one recent title winner (Clemson, 2016) averaged at least 199.9 yards per game on the ground. Rushing the football effectively, especially the way Notre Dame likes to run, forces defenses to spend more time playing tighter to the offensive linemen, which opens up more opportunities on the perimeter with the pass game. The Irish weren't as effective on the ground in 2018 (182.6 yards per game, 4.3 yards per carry) as they were in 2017 (269.3 yards per game, 6.3 yards per carry) or 2015 (207.9 yards per game, 5.6 yards per carry), but that was due in large part to much more inexperience up front. Notre Dame was just hitting its stride run- ning the ball when left guard Alex Bars went down with an injury. The Irish were in the midst of a three-game stretch in which they averaged 252.7 rushing yards per game and 5.3 yards per rush when Bars was forced out of the lineup. Notre Dame averaged a decent but not championship level 170.9 yards per game and 4.5 yards per rush in the eight games af- ter his injury. Without Bars, the Irish were a much younger and far less experienced unit, and the result was a number of up-and-down performances. With four starters returning along the of- fensive line in 2019, there is confidence that Notre Dame's line can get back to the level it showed in 2015 and 2017. If that happens the run game will thrive, which makes the pass game far more danger- ous. Both will be necessary if Notre Dame can finally get its offense to a championship level. ✦ Senior Chase Claypool and the rest of Notre Dame's receiving corps must make more plays after the catch in 2019. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA