Defensive Grades: Notre Dame vs. BC

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish defeated Boston College at Fenway Park in the 2015 Shamrock Series game last Saturday, winning an ugly one 19-16.

However, the script was flipped for the Irish, as their typically impressive offense made plenty of huge, boneheaded mistakes, while the defense, prone to being inconsistent and downright weak at times, played 3 quarters of lights-out football in holding the Eagles’ abysmal offense to just 3 points. However, the defense’s true colors shone through in the final period, as they allowed BC to climb back into the game, giving up one huge touchdown play (of course) and allowing another long touchdown drive to bring BC within a recovered onside kick and a made field goal of tying the game against the 4th-ranked Irish.

Let’s look at each unit of the defense and hand out some grades for what was 3/4 of an expectedly dominant game by the Notre Dame defense.

Defensive Line: B

The Notre Dame defensive line played fine on Saturday, with just about everyone up front contributing a few tackles. However, considering the quality of opponent, the line’s inability to put more consistent pressure on BC QBs John Fadule and Jeff Smith was very concerning.

Nov 21, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston College Eagles quarterback Jeff Smith (5) breaks free for a touchdown as Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Romeo Okwara (45) defends in the third quarter at Fenway Park. Notre Dame won 19-16. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Senior captain Sheldon Day (2 tackles) picked up the only sack of the game for the defensive line, and junior Isaac Rochell (4 tackles) had the only other tackle-for-loss for the group. Senior Romeo Okwara was especially quiet with 4 tackles and no sacks, as he had entered the game on-fire in terms of pressuring the quarterback. Sophomore Andrew Trumbetti and freshman Jerry “Terry Jillery” Tillery added 3 and 2 tackles, respectively.

Overall, the group generally played well and, for the most part, bottled up BC runners. However, they will need to play much better against Stanford this Saturday, considering the Cardinal have players like QB Kevin Hogan and RB Christian McCaffrey and a very physical offensive line who will make the Irish pay if they can’t get a strong push up front and get into the backfield to wreak some havoc.

Linebackers: B

Nov 21, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Jaylon Smith (9) breaks up a pass intended for Boston College Eagles wide receiver Elijah Robinson (1) in the fourth quarter at Fenway Park. Notre Dame won 19-16. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Junior captain Jaylon Smith played another strong game, picking up 11 tackles, a tackle-for-loss, and a pass break-up. However, he was one of the main culprits (along with Max Redfield and Romeo Okwara, who were caught in over-pursuit and couldn’t get off of a block, respectively) behind allowing BC QB Jeff Smith’s 80-yard touchdown run early in the 4th quarter. Jaylon was completely fooled on a fake hand-off, and thus was way too slow in recovering to close out on Smith, who showed good speed and had wide open space to run through thanks to the fake that fooled most of the defense and a couple great blocks on Okwara and Cole Luke.

The rest of the linebacking corps played well but provided nothing dazzling. Sophomore Greer Martini made 3 tackles, senior captain Joe Schmidt added 3 tackles along with a pass break-up, senior Jarrett Grace made 2 tackles, and sophomore Nyles Morgan and freshman Te’von Coney contributed a tackle apiece in limited time.

Again, it’s hard to condemn the linebackers too much, considering they played 3 quarters of excellent football. However, their performance in the 4th quarter, allowing BC to claw their way back into the game, was less than exemplary. If they bring that effort to Palo Alto, they will find themselves flat on their backs and watching McCaffrey sprinting past them to the end zone. It’s time for this group to put it all together and play mistake-free football.

Secondary: B+

The Notre Dame defensive backfield, much like the linebackers, played very well for 3 quarters. Junior Max Redfield was second on the team in tackles with 9, also picking up the only other sack the Irish had on the evening. Senior Elijah Shumate made 4 tackles, but also committed a costly pass interference penalty on BC’s final touchdown drive.

Nov 21, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Boston College Eagles defensive back Justin Simmons (27) is tackled by Notre Dame Fighting Irish cornerback Matthias Farley (41) during the first quarter at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports

Junior Cole Luke made 3 tackles and was generally fine in coverage, and senior captain Matthias Farley added just 1 tackle, although he made a few huge special teams plays that don’t show up in the defensive stat sheet, including clinching the victory by making a great recovery of the Eagles’ onside kick attempt at the end of the game.

Senior KeiVarae Russell had a couple tackles, a tackle-for-loss, and a forced fumble (recovered by BC), but the bigger story with the loquacious and confident cornerback is that he suffered a fractured tibia on Saturday night, effectively ending his season (barring a possible return for the National Championship game, if ND were to make it). It was a tough blow to a secondary that already had many issues, and now a committee of freshman Nick Coleman, junior Devin Butler, and sophomore Nick Watkins will attempt to fill the void of one of the best athletes on the ND defense.

Their first test? Just the 11th-ranked Stanford Cardinal. It will be trial-by-fire for those young corners, so let’s hope they enter the game prepared for the moment.

Overall: B

It could be argued I’ve been overly harsh with my grades for most games this season, and with this one especially, as the Notre Dame defense did force 8 punts and 2 turnovers in Boston College’s 13 possessions. However, their inability to close with a killer instinct was once again all-too-evident, allowing BC to score a long touchdown and then giving up another touchdown drive a couple possessions later.

The Eagles offense is without a doubt one of the worst in the country, and so the performance by the defense in the first three quarters was expected. However, to allow that same offense to pull within 3 points in the final quarter, when the team is in desperate need of style points as they attempt to fend off the likes of Iowa and Oklahoma and Michigan State for a College Football Playoff spot, it’s incredibly disappointing and disheartening. The group can right the ship by playing their best game of the season at the biggest moment next weekend against Stanford, but at this point, with Russell now out and the continued inconsistencies of Brian VanGorder’s defense, it would be a huge surprise for them to play that well against Heisman candidate Christian McCaffrey and the rest of the Stanford offense.