Fighting Irish Offense Is Efficient

Another great win for the Fighting Irish this past weekend! Notre Dame defeated a good Pitt team with the offense carrying the team. DeShone Kizer tied an ND record with five touchdown passes and Will Fuller played a fantastic game which included catching three touchdown passes. With a few undefeated teams losing, the Fighting Irish move closer to a playoff birth.

Brian Kelly was upbeat during his press conference, speaking about the condition of C.J. Prosise.   C.J. is going through concussion protocol. He fell on his shoulder and whiplashed his neck when landing in an awkward manner. The medical staff will check C. J. early this week. Kelly is hopeful C.J. will practice later in the week and possibly play in the Wake Forest game.

When questioned about Josh Adams, Kelly responded Josh has not only done a great job running the ball, but he has been excellent in his blocking assignments during pass plays. Josh is an intelligent player who executes his assignments in a quality way. He has done so well that Kelly stated he will run the ball more so that C.J. Prosise’s load can be lightened. Josh has earned more carriers with his play against Pitt.

Kelly was appreciative of how well the offense played in the red zone. It has been a problem during the year, but it improved against Pitt. Kelly said they have put an emphasis on it at practice and the players are much more aware of scoring touchdowns when the team is in the red zone.

Concerning Wake Forest, Kelly refers to them as a team with a stingy defense and very athletic defensive backs. They run a ball-control offense and have a dangerous quarterback.

Kelly gave praise to DeShone Kizer. He is learning with each game he plays. DeShone is well grounded, humble and eager to learn from his mistakes. DeShone understands that he has great players around him and that he does not have to do it all himself.

In a dialogue about Malik Zaire’s condition, Kelly stated he has been throwing the ball during practice and that the ankle boot will be removed in two weeks. More importantly, Malik has been a positive influence during team meetings and always engages DeShone when he comes off the field.

When asked about his feelings of being Number 5 in the playoff committee’s rankings, Kelly said the team has done a great job of staying in the present. A lot of that comes from the veteran leadership on the team. This week the team is focused on Senior Day. Of course, that will be a very emotional day for the seniors who will take one last run from the locker room onto the field. Even though the Stanford game looms large at the end of the season, the team is able to take it one game at a time.

The Fighting Irish are now down so the final three games of the season. The offense is playing very well with the rushing and passing games at top efficiency. This writer has concerns with the Fighting Irish defense. They are not playing nearly as well as the offense. I don’t know if it is the defensive sets or it’s execution, but the defense is not playing at national championship level.

If the defense can make necessary improvements, the Irish will really roll. Let’s hope that improvement comes over the last three games.