Notre Dame football: Why the Irish need to fix the running game

The Notre Dame football running game was a disappointment in 2019. The Irish need to fix that if they want to go further in 2020 than a mid-tier bowl.

Despite a 10-win regular season, the 2019 Notre Dame football team was a disappointment. This is probably a simple reality of being the team that came after Notre Dame’s undefeated regular season, and a trip to the College Football Playoff.

Still, it’s frustrating to watch Notre Dame football struggle on the road, and against top-15 opponents. It didn’t help that the offense, supposedly a strength, was simply disappointing. Scoring 36.8 points per game might sound good but it is inflated by games against New Mexico and Bowling Green. The fact is the offense failed to show up against Georgia and Michigan, and that cost the Irish their season.

Quarterback Ian Book took on a lot of blame for this from fans, and ultimately offensive coordinator Chip Long lost his job because of the offense, which only gained 431.4 yards per game, which ranked only 43rd in the country.

The real culprit for these struggles was the ground game. Notre Dame only rushed for 179.2 yards per game, and struggled to establish the run up the middle. This not only made 3rd and short runs a struggle, but it also puts added pressure on Book. Book had to move the ball on his own. Without a balanced approach, defenses pinned their ears back and attacked Book who was already dealing with a faltering offensive line.

2019’s leading rusher, Tony Jones Jr., has left early for the NFL. That makes quarterback Ian Book the leader for returning rushing production. That’s simply not ideal. Behind him are Braden Lenzy, a wide receiver, Jahmir Smith, C’Bo Flemister, Phil Jurkovec, before finally getting to projected starter Jafar Armstrong. Armstrong missed time due to injuries, but coming behind the back-up quarterback in rushing yards is tough to allow to happen.

Armstrong will be back, along with Smith and Flemister, to improve on their numbers. Combined they only gained 464 yards on the ground. They’ll need to do better, as the three of them will be taking on a running back by committee role next fall.

The Irish could also use 2020 5-star recruit Chris Tryee at running back in some capacity this season, but it is difficult to predict how much a true freshman will play, especially given that the team will have limited time to get him up to speed with critical practice time canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

None of these backs are turning into Travis Etienne overnight, so they’ll need help to show better in 2020. The offensive line needs to make distinct improvements. In 2019 the offensive line was fine, but they weren’t up to the standard that helped turned players like Josh Adams and Dexter Williams stand out talents.

Quenton Nelson and Mike McGlinchey weren’t walking through the door. Zack Martin wasn’t walking through the door. Alex Bars wasn’t even walking through the door, and that became a problem for the Irish.

There wasn’t enough push to help average backs become great. There were too many penalties and mental mistakes from the offensive line. There just wasn’t enough consistency on the offensive line. This kept the running backs from establishing themselves and helped to make the Notre Dame offense one dimensional.

Incoming freshmen Tosh Baker and Michael Carmody may provide some answers in the future for the Irish offensive line, but expecting them to dominate as a freshman is a tall order. They’d do well to get a year or two in a college strength and conditioning program first.

At the end of the day, Ian Book won’t be able to take Notre Dame football back to the College Football Playoff on his own. He needs help from an improved running back group, and the running backs need help from a stronger offensive line.