Notre Dame Football Compliments, Criticisms & Conclusions vs Virginia

There was plenty to take away from yesterday’s Notre Dame football game against Virginia

Notre Dame football faced off against the 18th ranked Virginia Cavaliers and their exemplary pass rush on Saturday and came away with a 35-20 win. It was a mixed-bag performance, with the defense leading the charge against Virginia and the Irish offense having varying levels of success. Here are the compliments, criticisms and conclusions following the big Irish victory:

Compliments

The Irish Defense Was Dominant

Coming into the game, most of the defensive conversation centered around the elite pass rush of the Virginia Cavaliers, as they led the nation in sacks with 20 on the season. While their stud linebacking corps was able to add four more to their season tally, it was the performance by the Irish defense on Saturday that will be the talk of the town.

Prior to the start of the season, many experts had the Irish pass rush ranked amongst the elite in college football. Through their first three games, that pass rush failed to materialize.

Coming into the game, Khalid Kareem and Julian Okwara, the two leaders of that hyped pass rush, combined for a grand total of zero sacks. That would change dramatically following the conclusion of their matchup against the Cavaliers, as the Irish would total eight sacks and five quarterback pressures on the day.

Five and a half sacks and all of the quarterback pressures would be credited to the tandem of Okwara and Kareem. Adding to the dominant pass rush was the ability of the Irish defense to come up with crucial turnovers, totaling five turnovers for the day. One of those turnovers was a forced fumble/fumble recovery taken in for a 23 yard touchdown by Ade Ogundeji, who was also credited for the strip sack on the play.

Alohi Gilman and Kyle Hamilton would each record interceptions in the game, while Okwara, Ogundeji and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa would each be credited with a fumble recovery.

Prior to the beginning of the season, many analysts thought that the Irish would be successful this year because of the strength of their offense and would be just good enough on defense to win the majority of their games. So far this season, it has been the polar opposite, with the defense being dominant and the offense doing just enough to win.

Notre Dame’s Running Game Was Surprisingly Good

It has been well documented that the Irish lack a major playmaker in the running game. With Jafar Armstrong missing the majority of the year with an abdominal tear, the Irish are have desperately missed half of their change of pace running back pairing to compliment Tony Jones Jr.

In addition, Ian Book has not been as big of a threat running the ball as he was last year. That has caused issues for the Irish offense, due to the fact that a lack of a legitimate threat from the run game has allowed defenses to key in on the passing game, rendering the Irish offense one-dimensional against better defenses.

While it was apparent that the elite rush defense of Virginia would likely make things difficult on the Irish passing game yesterday, there has not been much evidence from prior games that would have suggested that the run game would be productive against the Cavaliers either.

However, the Irish running game would stun the masses by rushing 37 times for 157 yards and four rushing touchdowns. The heaviest lifting in the run game was done by Tony Jones Jr., who led the team with 18 carries for 131 yards and three rushing touchdowns. C’Bo Flemister was second on the team, with six carries for 27 yards and a touchdown on a run where he showed incredible effort breaking tackles, on a smashmouth 11 yard touchdown run.

If the Irish can continue to build upon the effort of Saturday’s run game and get Armstrong back healthy in a couple of weeks, it should — in theory — open up their offense to a lot more options, making them extremely dangerous.

Irish Backups Play A Critical Role In The Win

In the past, a major criticism of Notre Dame football teams was that they had elite talent at several starting positions, but had very little depth behind those players, leaving them to get exposed by the top teams in the nation. One only has to look at last year’s playoff game against Clemson. Some forget that the game was closely contested in the first half, but then Notre Dame lost Drue Tranquill, Te’Von Coney and Julian Love for parts of the game due to injury.

This year’s Irish team boasts much more talent and depth, which has allowed them to endure major injuries and continue to play at a high level.

Yesterday was a great example of the difference from even a year ago. Notre Dame lost Daelin Hayes, Shaun Crawford and Chase Claypool, due to injury, but rather than collapsing due to a major drop-off in talent behind them, the Irish continued without missing a beat.

The game saw big plays from Irish backups across the board.

Ade Ogundeji and his strip sack with a fumble recovery for a 23 yard touchdown was the biggest of the plays, but there were many others. Tariq Bracy played a larger role once Crawford went down to injury, tallying seven tackles on the day. Jamir Jones contributed with two tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. Ovie Oghoufo contributed with a half sack and Kyle Hamilton added a key interception to seal the game.

If Notre Dame can continue to cycle its backups in and get them much needed experience, it will help them continue to improve the talent of their depth, so they can utilize it against top teams. One would anticipate many of the Irish backups will see significant time against Bowling Green next week.