Notre Dame Football Grades: Defense vs. Wake Forest

To say that Notre Dame’s defense played poorly in the second half is a vast understatement. After not allowing more than 20 points in a single game, Mike Elko’s unit allowed 27 points in the second half alone.

Sophomore Khalid Kareem finished as the leading tackler along the Defensive Line. Kareem collected 4 tackles including 1.5 tackles for loss and 2 Quarterback hurries. These numbers, when added to great contributions by other Defensive Linemen, are more than adequate. However, Kareem did not have the same assistance from his fellow Ends and Tackles.

Aside from Kareem’s contributions, no other player finished with more than 3 tackles. Sophomore standout Daelin Hayes only finished with 1 total tackle.

These performances simply are not good enough. If Notre Dame wants to recapture its mojo, the Defensive Line needs to be the driving force.

Te’von Coney continued his excellent play on Saturday afternoon. Coney finished with 12 tackles including 3 tackles for loss and a sack. He currently leads the team in tackles with 74 tackles. Coney also leads the team in tackles for loss with 8.5 stops behind the line of scrimmage.

Nyles Morgan, Drue Tranquill and Greer Martini also finished with high numbers of tackles. They tallied 7, 6 and 6 tackles respectively.

The Linebacker corps played well enough to hold the Demon Deacons to 37 points. But, this is a below average performance.

Julian Love’s interception was the highlight for the Defensive Backs and the Notre Dame defense. Love nearly scored on an interception return for the third time this season. Love’s pick set up another Notre Dame touchdown.

Love finished with 7 tackles including a tackle for loss and 3 pass break ups. He ended the game as the second highest leading tackler.

Several players including Nick Coleman, Shaun Crawford, Jalen Elliott tallied several tackles. A passive coverage scheme allowed Wake Forest Quarterback John Wolford to complete several passes. This forced the Notre Dame defensive backs into making a lot of stops. Coleman, Crawford and Elliott collected 7, 4 and 4 tackles respectively.

The Notre Dame defense failed to play as well as it had through the first eight games of the season. Simply, the Irish defense failed to do the technical things that made the difference this year. They failed in their run fits. Players did not tackle well.

In addition, the game plan in the second half played right into the hands of Wake Forest. With the Defensive Backs play off, it allowed the Demon Deacons to snap the ball and complete a lot of passes. The Irish need to make a quick turn around if they want to find success on South Beach.