Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1481872
26 OCT. 22, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. Good Matchup Gone Wrong Stanford's defense the last few seasons has made bad offenses look good. It has made good offenses look great and paved the way for great offenses to put up season-best numbers. For Notre Dame to muster just 14 points and be shut out in the first half is a level of ignominy that the Irish simply should be above experiencing. Even with the quarterback who wasn't initially picked to win the job. Even with a first-time head coach. Notre Dame seemed to have learned what it was in the prior three games — a run-first offense with an improving line that could, at minimum, win matchups against inferior defensive fronts. The Fighting Irish cleared 230 rushing yards against North Carolina and BYU. Stanford, which came in allowing more yards per carry (5.63) than all but five FBS teams, seemed like a favorable path to keep it going. Notre Dame's ground game was quiet for 30 minutes, though, averaging 3.5 yards per non-sack carry in the first half. It eventually stabilized and put up 159 yards (excluding sacks), but one half of no-showing against a leaky Stanford run defense shouldn't happen in the first place. The passing operation was just as disappointing in the first half and choppy overall. Junior quarterback Drew Pyne completed just 13 of 27 throws (48.1 percent) for 151 yards. 2. Self-Inflicted Wounds Stanford did enough on both ends to deserve the win it earned. The sure Irish helped with mis- steps that fueled the Cardinal's efforts or made their own task more difficult. Graduate student left guard Jarrett Patterson's false start on the first snap was a preview of unforced errors. An illegal formation wiped out a first-half touch- down on a drive that eventually produced zero points. Notre Dame fumbled three times, losing two. Sophomore running back Audric Estime's fourth-quarter fumble came just outside the red zone and stopped the Irish's potential go-ahead drive. On defense, missed tackles were a bugaboo again, especially on a couple third-and-longs. The Irish allowed a third-and-12 screen to go for 13 yards. A holding penalty on graduate student de- fensive tackle Chris Smith wiped out a third-down stop in the fourth quarter. Notre Dame's margin for error isn't wide. It was even narrower after trailing 10-0 at half. The Irish couldn't afford to beat themselves in the way they did at times. 3. First Down Struggles One of the reasons Notre Dame successfully converted 19 of 30 third downs in its previous two games was first-down efficiency. The Irish averaged 6.6 yards on first down against BYU and 7.3 against North Carolina. Their average distance to go on third down was 4.9 and 5.4 yards, respectively. Notre Dame followed it up with repeated first- down duds in the first half against a defense that had been arguably worse than the Cougars or Tar Heels. The Irish ran 12 first-down plays for 26 yards (2.2 yards per play) and committed two penalties before halftime. Directly correlated: the average third-down distance in the first half was 9 yards. The first-down issues dissipated in the second half, but not before contributing to a 10-0 halftime deficit. 4. Lack Of Pressure Notre Dame's pass rush had a favorable on-paper matchup against a Stanford offensive line that entered the game ranked 116th in sacks per game allowed and bottom 10 in sack rate. The Irish produced 1 sack. Part of that is a credit to Stanford's game plan, which helped its oft-troublesome offensive line that was missing two starters by frequently moving the passing point with bootlegs and sprint-outs for quarterback Tanner McKee. McKee, a potential early round draft pick, is the Cardinal's best offensive asset. Keep him upright, and he will make a few difficult throws like he did against Notre Dame. Even with that plan, Notre Dame's pass rush is capable of much more. It should be expected to produce more in favorable matchups — and even in neutral ones. The Irish needed more frequent disruption from senior defensive end Isaiah Foskey, their best NFL prospect on defense. He finished with 2 tackles and a quarterback hurry. 5. Turnover Drought Continues Notre Dame's lack of plays on the ball and forced fumbles through its first three games was disap- pointing. Not recovering the fumbles it does cause is frustrating. Some of that is luck. A lot of it, really. And Notre Dame is riding an unlucky streak. The Irish did not recover either fumble they forced. A third that appeared to be a recovery was reversed on replay review when McKee was ruled down before losing the ball. All told, Notre Dame has forced three fumbles this year and recovered none. The Irish's 1 fumble recovery came against North Carolina on a play where they weren't credited with forcing the ball loose. A fumble will eventually land in a Notre Dame defender's arms on law of averages and progres- sion to the mean alone. Six games without a re- covery is one rough stretch, though. Notre Dame can't pin this loss on fumble luck, of course. It still has just 1 interception this year and broke up only 1 pass against Stanford. One turnover might have made the difference in this kind of game. Notre Dame hasn't figured out how to generate them with enough frequency. FIVE THOUGHTS BY PATRICK ENGEL Notre Dame sacked Stanford quarterback Tanner McKee just once. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER