Notre Dame Football Grades: Defense vs. Boston College

At times, the Notre Dame defense looked like the 2016 version. With a make-shift Offensive Line, Boston College established a solid running attack early in the game. However, new Defensive Coordinator Mike Elko made adjustments in the second half and changed the complexion of the game. Here are the grades for the Notre Dame football team in regards to the defense:

The Boston College Offensive Line pushed Notre Dame around for the first two Quarters of Saturday’s game. In the first half, the Eagles gained 117 yards on the ground. Notre Dame also yielded 111 passing yards as well.

In the second half, the Notre Dame Defensive Line played much better. As a defense, the Irish only yielded 68 rushing yards and 3.8 yards per carry.

Tillery failed to dominate a Freshman Center who only played the position for one other game in his entire career. With that being said, Tillery finished with 7 tackles and 1 sack, highest among the Defensive Line. Sophomore Defensive End Daelin Hayes finished with 5 tackles.

The Linebackers picked up much of the slack for the Defensive Line. Junior Linebacker Te’von Coney tallied a team-high 13 tackles. Martini added 10 tackles and Morgan chipped in 9 tackles.

The average performance of the Defensive Line definitely affected the Linebacker play. Run fits were missed. Players failed to make tackles. However, the position group cleaned up a lot of the mistakes of the defense and prevented Boston College from breaking several huge plays.

Both Boston College touchdowns occurred on passes into the end zone. In the second quarter, Cornerback Julian Love gave up the inside and was beaten by Charlie Callinan. Love looked to be expecting help from the inside. Regardless of what the coverage was, Love needs to make a better play on the ball. The second touchdown pass was debatable. It appeared that Shaun Crawford broke up the pass. The ACC crew reviewed the play but ruled that the play stood.

Next: Grades: Offense vs. Boston College

Junior Cornerback Shaun Crawford made several plays on the afternoon. He made two interceptions. The first interception was impressive. He rode the receiver all the way down the field on a vertical route, turned and fought the defender for the ball. The second pick literally fell into his lap.

Allowing 400 yards to an offense as pedestrian as Boston College does not deserve extremely high marks. The Irish also yielded 10 points to an offense that ranks 116th in the country in scoring offense. This performance was not the best but it was a sufficient to win the game. The defense forced turnovers in the second half that changed the outlook of the game.