Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/755613
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com DECEMBER 2016 21 O n paper, it would appear that Notre Dame was not far away from being more successful. Notre Dame's first seven losses were by a combined 32 points, and not one came by more than eight points. In each of those games, the Irish offense had the ball late in the game with an opportunity to tie the game or take the lead. However, Notre Dame simply was not good enough to finish off those games, making big- picture and in-game mistakes that proved costly (see part one of this three-part series in the last issue of Blue & Gold Illustrated). There were a number of specific issues that also led to Notre Dame's inability to close out and win foot- ball games, many of which revolve around the fact the Irish program is simply not a fundamentally sound group. TEAM ISSUES 1. Complexity: One of the primary issues with former defensive coor- dinator Brian VanGorder was that his defense was far too complex for college players to learn. The failures that resulted led to his termination the morning after Notre Dame's 38-35 loss to Duke Sept. 24. Notre Dame's offense had similar concerns. Under Brian Kelly, Notre Dame is 22-4 when it starts a fresh- man or redshirt freshman quarterback and just 37-26 when it starts a more experienced signal-caller. Part of that is the fact Notre Dame has a tendency to ask too much of its quarterbacks. Despite his immense talent, junior quarterback DeShone Kizer could not play with the consistency needed, and the offensive line was inconsistent. Part of the issue was the fact Kizer had so much pre-snap responsibil- ity, which often led to quick or late checks. That often resulted in post- snap indecisiveness. 2. Situational Struggles: Notre Dame had a hard time playing good situational football on both sides of the ball. Through 11 games, Notre Dame ranked 56th nationally in third-down offense and 62nd in red-zone offense. Its defense ranked 62nd in third-down defense and 42nd in red-zone defense. 3. Poor Special Teams Play: Notre Dame consistently lost the special teams battle during the 2016 sea- son. Through 10 games, Notre Dame ranked 57th in the country on special teams according to the Fremeau Ef- ficiency Index (which will likely go down even further after the Virginia Tech performance is factored in). Beginning with its loss to Michigan State and ending with its defeat to Navy, the Irish special teams gave up a score or had a mistake that directly led to an opponent's touchdown in six of seven games. When you lose seven games by a touchdown or less, that is a significant problem. OFFENSIVE ISSUES 1. Lack of Commitment To And Effectiveness With The Run Game: Notre Dame was wildly inconsistent with its run game this season. It had quality performances, but overall it was a major disappointment. Notre Dame ranked just 78th nationally in rushing offense (164.2 yards per out- ing) through 11 games, and it was twice held below 60 yards. Not only did Notre Dame not ef- fectively run the ball, it didn't show much commitment to the ground game. Three times the Irish offense had fewer than 30 rush attempts, something it never did in 2015. Tak- ing out sacks and team runs, Notre Dame's 30.5 rushes per game was the team's lowest total since 2010. A big part of Notre Dame's run game woes were due to sporadic play from the offensive line, which was expected to be a strength of the team this season. 2. Fourth-Quarter Failures: In each of Notre Dame's first seven losses, the Notre Dame offense had the ball late in the fourth quarter with an opportu- nity to pull ahead by two scores, take the lead or to tie the game. In each of those situations it failed to get points and put the game away. DEFENSIVE ISSUES 1. Can't Stop The Run: Notre Dame's ability to stop the run be- came progressively worse under VanGorder, giving up 171.5 yards per game in 2014, 175.6 yards per game in 2015 and through 11 games in 2016 the defense was giving up 180.0 yards per game on the ground. It marked the first time in Notre Dame's long history that its defense gave up at least 170 rushing yards per game in three consecutive seasons. 2. Too Many Big Plays: It wasn't quite as bad as 2015, but Notre Dame's defense gave up far too many explosives, especially in the pass game. The Irish defense ranked 85th in yards per attempt and 68th in yards per completion through the season's first 11 games. 3. No Pass Rush: Notre Dame's in- ability to rush the quarterback proved extremely problematic, and factored into opposing quarterbacks complet- ing an impressive 59.8 percent of their passes through 11 games. Notre Dame's non-option opponents com- pleted 62.5 percent of their passes. The Irish defense failed to record a sack in the first three games of the season and had just 14 in 11 contests, which tied for 115th in the country out of 128 teams. Eight of those sacks came in two games, with the Irish reg- istering five in a win over Miami and three in a loss to Stanford. ✦ Reasons Behind A Disappointing Season, Part II CHALK TALK BRYAN DRISKELL Bryan Driskell has been a football analyst for Blue & Gold Illustrated since April 2015. He can be reached at bdriskell@blueandgold.com. The Irish struggled to run the ball consistently and did not show the necessary commitment to its ground game with Tarean Folston and company. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA