Slap the Sign
Fansided

Notre Dame Football: 3 Biggest Storylines against Vanderbilt

By Connor McJunkin

SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 08: Brandon Wimbush #7 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish avoids a tackle by Jeremiah Jackson #32 of the Ball State Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium on September 8, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Ball State 24-16. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
SOUTH BEND, IN - SEPTEMBER 08: Brandon Wimbush #7 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish avoids a tackle by Jeremiah Jackson #32 of the Ball State Cardinals at Notre Dame Stadium on September 8, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. Notre Dame defeated Ball State 24-16. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
3 of 4
Next
Notre Dame football
SOUTH BEND, IN – SEPTEMBER 01: Chris Finke #10 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish carries the ball in the second quarter against the Michigan Wolverines at Notre Dame Stadium on September 1, 2018 in South Bend, Indiana. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Special Teams Improvement… again

This was a storyline heading into Week 2 after the special teams struggled in the season opener with Michigan. While the Irish thankfully didn’t give up a kickoff returned for a touchdown last week, many of the same problems from Week 1 translated to Week 2.

Justin Yoon missed his first field goal of the season, pulling a 43-yarder that would have put the Irish up 17-3. His season-long from last year was 49-yards, and the conditions were less-than-ideal, but a miss is still a miss and those were points left off the board.

Sophomore kickoff specialist Jonathan Doerer had another kickoff sail out of bounds, giving Ball State great field position. Brian Kelly had some words for Doerer on the sideline after that one, looking very obviously frustrated that his has now happened two weeks in a row. Again, the Irish can get away with it now, but that is a huge field position shift and against better opponents, that is the difference between points and no points. It’s an issue that needs to be fixed.

Tyler Newsome had a 25-yard shank against Michigan Week 1, but bounced back and had an impressive 46 yard average for the game. Against Ball State, he saw his average fall 10 yards and had another 29-yard shank. Again, versus a Ball Sate team whose offense is much less talented than the Irish defense, this can slide, but being able to flip the field and win the field position battle is going to be a huge factor in tougher games down the road.

Though these issues aren’t huge, they are consistent, and that is the biggest problem. They can’t keep happening every week or become a new norm, and I’m hoping to see improvement against Vanderbilt.

Home/Notre Dame Football