Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 20, 2017

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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30 NOV. 20, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED N ormally, this space analyses covers what w o r k e d a n d w h a t didn't work in Notre Dame's most recent performance, but during the 41-8 loss to Miami there was not really anything to break down on the Irish and say, "That worked." Instead, the focus will be on what happened on both sides of the ball that led to the disappointing outcome. What Didn't Work On Offense Big Misses In The Pass Game: Notre Dame had its chances on offense early in the game, but the inability to make plays in the pass game proved incredibly damaging. On Notre Dame's first possession, junior quarter- back Brandon Wimbush had junior wide receiver Equa- nimeous St. Brown open on a post route, but the throw was a step too far. If Wimbush is able to make an accurate pass, the play results in a touchdown that would have given the Irish an early 7-0 lead. On Notre Dame's third possession, with the Irish trailing 7-0, Wimbush again had St. Brown open, this time on a short stop route that if completed would have been an easy third-and-six completion. Instead, Wimbush threw the ball over St. Brown's head, and the tipped pass landed in the arms of Miami safety Jaquan Johnson. Miami scored two plays later to make it 14-0. Later in the second quarter, Wim- bush threw a slant pass over soph- omore wideout Chase Claypool's head and into the arms of Miami cor- nerback Malek Young. The defense forced a field goal, but the Hurri- canes took a 20-0 lead. Wimbush was pulled late in the second quarter, and sophomore backup Ian Book led the Irish into Miami territory for just the second time in the first half, but he failed to see nickel back Trajan Bandy sitting in the flats. Book's pass on a slant route went right to Bandy, who re- turned the interception 65 yards for a back-breaking touchdown that made it 27-0 heading into the half. Failure To Attack: Notre Dame's offensive game plan didn't give the run game much of a chance for suc- cess. Miami is a relatively undersized defense, but it is fast and plays a true sideline-to-sideline style. From the outset, the Irish offense tried to attack Miami with slow de- veloping runs and a lot of perimeter plays that the Hurricanes were able to handle with ease. Notre Dame could not get any running room be- tween the tackles, and Miami's back- side defenders were able to squeeze down the line for stops and its line- backers quickly filled gaps. Notre Dame's second drive ended after the Irish tried to run a triple-op- tion play to the perimeter, but Miami stopped the pitch man — Claypool — well short of the first-down marker. Notre Dame's inability to run hard at Miami made it a game of speed on speed, and the Hurricanes easily won that battle. The vaunted Irish offensive line, which came into this matchup playing outstanding foot- ball, was dominated by the faster Hurricanes. What Didn't Work On Defense Run Defense Is Too Soft Up The Middle: For the second straight week, the Irish defense gave up m o re t h a n 2 0 0 ru s h i n g yards, this time allowing the Hurricanes to rack up 237. In the early going, Miami went with downhill runs and quarterback draws that attacked the middle of the Irish defense. Notre Dame gave up way too much ground up the middle, a weakness that in- volved both the defensive tackles and inside lineback- ers. The Irish defense did not play with gap integrity up front, which meant the Miami running backs and redshirt junior quarterback Malik Rosier had too much room inside. T h e I r i s h l i n e b a c k e r s added to the problems and spent much of the night out of position in the run game. Notre Dame was also unable to get much of a push up the middle when Rosier dropped back to pass, which allowed him to get into an early rhythm and also to tuck the ball and run up the middle for large gains. Rosier led the Hurricanes in rushing during the first half, gaining 36 yards on six carries. Miami really took it to the Irish defense in the second half, ripping of back-to-back gains of 14 and then 40 yards to set up a half-opening touch- down that made it 34-0. Perimeter Defense Isn't Ineffec- tive: Notre Dame had excelled this season with its perimeter defense, es- pecially against the run. Senior rover Drue Tranquill had been a force in the slot, and the Irish cornerbacks had done a good job handling pe- rimeter runs. Miami was able to get to the perimeter too often in the run game, especially in the second half. Notre Dame got out-leveraged far too often on the outside, and even when it did get to the ball the perim- eter defenders missed far too many tackles, allowing Miami to get plenty of yardage after contact. ✦ Miami: What Didn't Work 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. Junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush completed only 10 of 21 passes for 119 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA

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