Notre Dame Compliments, Criticisms and Conclusions vs. New Mexico
By Matt Clark
Criticisms
The Offensive Line Needs To Be More Productive On Short Yardage Downs.
It is difficult to find any negatives about the Irish game play when they defeat their opponent by a score of 66-14, but one glaring area of concern is the inability of the offensive line to get a consistent push on short yardage downs.
The Irish offensive line is big and athletic and should be able to generate enough of a push to allow the offense to rush for a couple yards in big situations. Unfortunately, we have not seen them do this on a consistent basis. Instead, they have struggled to get the push the offense needs. A prime example is on the third offensive possession of the game for the Irish, where the Irish drove down the field and entered a first and goal situation from the New Mexico three yard line.
Against elite teams such as Georgia, it is unlikely that the Irish will be afforded the long touchdowns after the catch like we witnessed Saturday, as the Bulldogs will have much better speed and tackling abilities than what the Irish saw from the Lobos. Therefore, they will need to be able to convert on short yardage plays in order to continue drives and ultimately score.
The line managed to get better as the game went on against New Mexico, but they will need to continue to improve if they hope to keep the College Football Playoff aspirations of the Irish alive.
Ian Book Looked Like He Was Rushing Things In The Pocket Early On.
It is difficult to be too critical of a quarterback who finished the day with 360 passing yards and five touchdowns. That said, in the beginning of the game, Ian Book seemed to continue to be out of rhythm and looked like he was rushing things a bit in the pocket when he didn’t need to.
The offensive line provided Book with clean pockets, so he just needed to wait for his receivers to have time to get open against the Lobos defenders. However, he seemed to press on many of his throws early in the game, resulting in incompletions. Perhaps gaining offensive weapons Cole Kmet and Michael Young will help Book in the future, but for now, he has to trust the pocket that his line gives him and take the time afforded to him to check down and find the open receiver.
As the game wore on, Book seemed to get more comfortable and was able to regularly dissect the New Mexico defense. He will need to build upon this progress against what will undoubtedly be a much more athletic and difficult defense in Georgia.
Defensive Backs Need To Turn Their Heads Quicker In Coverage.
Again, this is nitpicking, as the defensive backs of the Irish were able to come up with three interceptions and a touchdown on the day. However, they were also called for four pass interference calls. One would ultimately be called back due to the ball being ruled uncatchable, but three pass interference calls is still too many. The defensive backs of Notre Dame were playing aggressive, physical football, but New Mexico’s quarterback was getting the ball out of his hands quickly and the Irish defense was failing to turn quick enough to locate the ball, causing them to get flagged for interference.
Again, they seemed to get better as the game progressed, but it is an area of opportunity for improvement leading up to the Georgia game.