Notre Dame Football: Defensive Grades vs. Wake Forest

The Notre Dame football team defeated Wake Forest on Saturday, winning 28-7 in a somewhat-boring game where the Irish were clearly the better team but struggled to emphatically show it. The ND defense put together a strong performance, holding the Demon Deacons to just 7 points and looking a lot like the Bob Diaco defenses of a few years ago, employing a bend-don’t-break philosophy as they allowed Wake Forest to actually out-gain the Notre Dame offense, but made all the right plays when it mattered most.

So, per usual, let’s grade each individual unit of the defense, as well as the squad as a whole, after their improved-but-still-not-perfect showing on Senior Day against the Demon Deacons.

Defensive Line: A+

You honestly can’t ask for much more from this group. Senior captain Sheldon Day capped a fantastic career at home with another great game, amassing 4 tackles (2 for a loss) and 3 QB hurries, while also wreaking havoc in the Wake Forest backfield, made evident by the pass he tipped that led to an interception. The player who made that interception? Sophomore defensive end Andrew Trumbetti, who has been quiet for much of the season. Trumbetti came to play on Saturday, though, making a couple tackles and returning that deflected pass 28 yards for a touchdown.

Junior Isaac Rochell turned in another solid game with 6 tackles, and we even got to see some younger players get some time, including sophomore Jonathan Bonner, junior Doug Randolph (1 tackle), and sophomore Grant Blankenship, who suffered a 2013-Sheldon-Day-against-Pitt-esque mental mistake, failing to pursue a live fumble that he believed to be an incomplete pass (Wake Forest ended up recovering it).

Nov 14, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish defensive lineman Romeo Okwara (45) celebrates after sacking Wake Forest Demon Deacons quarterback John Wolford (10) in the second quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

The biggest story on the defensive line, though, was senior Romeo Okwara, who has really cranked it up a notch as of late. He made the most of his final game in Notre Dame Stadium, collecting 5 tackles and 3 sacks, one of which was an impressive take-down immediately preceded by Okwara leaping over a helpless blocker. Okwara now has 9 sacks on the year, with 8 of those 9 coming in the last 5 games (5 of them in the last 2 games). It’s safe to say that Okwara is going all-out to finish his Irish tenure, and he has fantastic production rushing the passer to show for it. Hats off to Romeo on a great career and on ending on his highest note yet.

Linebackers: A-

The Irish linebackers put together their best game in a while on Saturday, and of course the catalyst behind the great performance was junior captain Jaylon Smith. Smith led the team in tackles with 14, also racking up a tackle-for-loss, a QB hurry, and a brilliant pass break-up on a 4th and goal pass by Wake Forest with roughly 7 minutes left in the game. Smith is an All-American, and he played like one.

Nov 14, 2015; South Bend, IN, USA; Notre Dame Fighting Irish linebacker Jaylon Smith (9) breaks up a pass intended for Wake Forest Demon Deacons tight end Cam Serigne (85) in the fourth quarter at Notre Dame Stadium. Notre Dame won 28-7. Mandatory Credit: Matt Cashore-USA TODAY Sports

Senior captain Joe Schmidt has been much-maligned this season, and for the most part that criticism has been warranted. And even on Saturday against the Demon Deacons, Schmidt was not flawless in what was definitely his best game in a while, possibly of the season. Nevertheless, Schmidt put together a very good Senior Day, making 10 tackles and adding 2 QB hurries to his stat line. Schmidt has been an incredible leader and representative of the university and program, and so it was fantastic to see him finish his career at Notre Dame Stadium on a high note.

The rest of the linebacker group was adequate but did not stand out too much. Junior James Onwualu had 1 tackle-for-loss before leaving the game with an injury in the first quarter, and sophomore Greer Martini was his typical reliable self, picking up 4 tackles. Overall, the group did a great job in run support, as Wake Forest averaged just 2.8 yards per carry. Additionally, there were much fewer miscues in coverage for the group, and so it was refreshing to see them do a better job overall and perform well against an inferior opponent.

Secondary: B+

The secondary has been criticized after almost every game this season for the big plays they’ve surrendered, and so, in a game where they were mostly anonymous, they need to be given credit. Wake Forest QB John Wolford was 19/30 for 219 yards on the day, tossing 1 touchdown and 1 interception. The secondary received some help from Okwara and the defensive line in terms of a good pass rush, but overall the defensive backs did their jobs, especially in the red zone, when stops had to be made.

Senior KeiVarae Russell made 6 tackles and had a pass break-up, and junior Cole Luke added 3 tackles, and very nearly intercepted a pass that instead was yanked away by Wake Forest WR K.J. Brent and run down the field for a 52 yard gain.  Brent finished the game with 5 catches and 82 yards, but was held out of the end zone by the Irish secondary.

Junior Max Redfield collected 8 tackles, and senior Elijah Shumate racked up 7 of his own, including one for a loss, in his final game at Notre Dame Stadium. Senior captain Matthias Farley had a quiet day in his career home finale, making one tackle.

Overall, the group covered well and benefitted from a great day for the defensive line. However, they don’t quite make the A-grade due to a number of drives Wake Forest was able to string together, taking the ball deep into the red zone before finally being turned away. However, this game was a major improvement from past games, as there were no big plays surrendered besides Brent’s 52-yard reception, which was a near-pick for Luke. If the secondary can tighten it up just a bit more, they will be playing at a level that could really prove to behoove this ND team as it attempts to earn a College Football Playoff bid.

Overall: A-

As a whole, the Notre Dame defense played a very good game. Any time you can hold an opponent to just 7 points, it has to be considered a success, no matter the quality of opponent. However, to break it down further, Wake Forest was certainly not a good offense coming into the game. Giving up 340 yards, allowing 7/16 3rd downs to be converted, and allowing the Demon Deacons to own 35:48 of the game in terms of time of possession show that there are clearly still some areas that can be improved.

Wake Forest put together drives of 61, 74, 55, 68, 58, and 44 yards, and if it weren’t for the defense’s ability to shut them down on 3 different 4th down conversion attempts, the score could have ended up a lot different, considering how easily Wake was able to drive into Irish territory.

However, looking at all of that, and considering how inconsistent the group has been, the Notre Dame defense put together a much better game than we’ve seen in just about any match-up this year (except Texas and Georgia Tech), and so it should give defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder’s players some much-needed confidence and momentum heading into the final two games of the season.