Notre Dame: Daelin Hayes was Defensive Player of the Game vs. New Mexico

Was the Notre Dame defense really that much more dominant in game two?

The Irish defense looked much improved compared to Game one — or did they? While only giving up a total of 14 points in the 66-14 victory over New Mexico, the Notre Dame defense definitely played a large role. But should Irish fans be concerned as the team will head to play the No. 3 ranked Georgia Bulldogs this coming weekend.

Before we get to that, let’s get to the stats for this week’s game. Notre dame tallied three interceptions against the University of New Mexico, one each for Kyle Hamilton, Shaun Crawford, and Jalen Elliot. Notre Dame’s pass defense as a whole looked very tough. The secondary definitely met the expectations they had coming into the season. The only complaint I have would be the pass interference penalties. While they didn’t matter much in this game, that could be a deciding factor for next week’s game against a much tougher opponent.

Back to my original point, should Irish fans be worried for this weeks game? My simple answer to that is yes — yes they should. The Fighting Irish do have a week to clean up their game and prepare for Georgia, but their rush defense needs to improve if they are going to have any shot. Following last week’s game — where the Irish allowed 5.3 yards per carry against Louisville — they allowed 4.6 yards per carry vs. New Mexico.

While it is an improvement, New Mexico was nowhere near as talented as Louisville is, and neither should even be mentioned in the same sentence as Notre Dame’s next opponent. Let’s, hope the Irish can clean up this issue and come prepared to play DeAndre Swift and the Bulldogs.

Now, the reason you all came here…

Honorable Mentions

Kyle Hamilton

The true freshmen showed out in his first home game as a member of the Fighting Irish, tallying an interception and Notre Dame’s first touchdown of the game. For full breakdown of Hamilton’s stats, click here.

Alohi Gilman

While the stat sheet may not show it, Gilman definitely made his presence noticed when he was out there, rushing through the holes in the line forcing the Lobo quarterbacks to get rid of it quick. For a full breakdown of Gilman’s stats, click here.

Jalen Elliot

The Senior safety recorded his 5th career interception and also had a total of two pass breakups. For a full breakdown of Elliot’s stats, click here.

Asmar Bilal

Many Irish fans questioned why Bilal was even on the field in Game One, but the fifth-year senior showed up against New Mexico, racking up a total of eight tackles — two of which were for loss. For a full breakdown of Bilal’s stats, click here.

Defensive Player of the Game

Daelin Hayes

Despite being a “backup”, Hayes looked very dominant in Notre Dame’s second victory of the season. Hayes logged four tackles — two of which were for loss — to go along with the pass deflection that led to Kyle Hamilton’s pick-six. Despite being Notre Dame’s third-best defensive end coming into the season, the team will need Hayes to continue to play this well as they go on to play Georgia. For a full breakdown of Daelin’s stats, click here.