Compliments, Criticisms and Conclusions from Notre Dame vs. Georgia
By Matt Clark
There was a lot to take in from Saturday night’s Notre Dame vs. Georgia game.
On Saturday night, Notre Dame faced off against the 3rd ranked Georgia Bulldogs in a hostile environment, on the road in Athens, in front of nearly 90,000 rabid Georgia fans. Despite coming in as over two touchdown underdogs, the Irish led at the half, but would ultimately lose to the Bulldogs 23-17. Here are my compliments, criticisms and conclusions following the epic game in Athens:
Compliments
The Irish Defense Is Legit
Most prognosticators predicted the Notre Dame defense would be absolutely gashed by D’Andre Swift and the powerhouse Georgia rushing attack. In addition, many felt that Jake Fromm, a consensus top three quarterback in college football, would have his way with an inexperienced linebacking group.
Instead, the Irish defense was extremely impressive against one of the best offensive groups in the nation.
Notre Dame was able to hold Swift to one rushing touchdown, 98 yards on 18 carries for an average of 5.4 yards per carry, all well below his averages. In addition, Jake Fromm was held to 187 passing yards and one touchdown. Notre Dame has to be ecstatic about their ability to contain these two elite college football playmakers.
In the first quarter, the Irish defense came out and set an early tone, holding the Bulldogs offense to a measly 19 yards on 11 plays, while forcing two punts. In the second quarter, they allowed one 13 play drive for 75 yards and a touchdown. The first half the defense allowed only 96 total yards on 24 plays, resulting in 7 points for the Bulldogs, a low offensive production that few if any predicted.
The third quarter was a bend but don’t break situation for the Irish, as they allowed 116 yards on 22 plays, but the Bulldogs could only manage two field goals for their efforts. The defensive effort kept the Irish in the game, as they were only trailing 13-10 after the third quarter. However, after three straight three and outs from the Notre Dame offense in the 3rd quarter, the defense began to look gassed and gave up the most points in any quarter, as they gave up 10 points on 16 plays and 99 yards.
That said, when the Irish needed the defense to step up towards the end of the game to give the offense a chance to drive and win the game, they came up huge. The Notre Dame defense was able to stop the Bulldogs on three straight plays, giving the offense the ball back with 2:06 remaining, following two rushing attempts of -4 and 0 yards respectively and an incomplete pass that was deflected by Troy Pride Jr.
Ultimately, it wouldn’t be enough for the Irish to win the game, but none of the blame can be directed towards the defense, as their performance was extraordinary.
Cole Kmet Returns From Injury To Excel
Cole Kmet quickly reminded Irish fans that they have been missing an elite playmaker from the tight end position all year. Tommy Tremble has performed admirably in the place of the injured Cole Kmet, but Kmet was nearly unstoppable for the Irish against the Bulldogs, finishing with nine receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown.
There was no doubt that Kmet was Ian Book’s favorite target, as he led the Irish with his nine receptions. Kmet’s touchdown was a nice one handed grab on a pass from Ian Book that was likely targeted for Tony Jones Jr. in the end zone to give the Irish the early 7-0 lead. Kmet looked dominant despite not seeing any game action through the first two games of the season.
Irish fans can anticipate that Kmet will get stronger as the season progresses and he gets more game action and finds even more of a rhythm with Ian Book.
Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah Shines At Linebacker
Junior linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, made a name for himself against the Georgia Bulldogs. JOK, as he is affectionately known, led the Irish defense with eight total tackles, seven of which were of the solo variety. In addition, he had 2.5 tackles for a loss, as he was showing elite pursuit skills getting to the ball carrier behind the line of scrimmage. Owusu-Koramoah seemed to be in on every play, as he played like a man possessed. The Notre Dame coaching staff seems to have found their man to play the rover position, which bodes well for the Notre Dame defense moving forward.