Notre Dame football: Rose Bowl offensive grades vs. Alabama

Notre Dame football Rose Bowl grades: Wide Receivers/Tight Ends

The wide receivers weren’t a big part of the gameplan for Notre Dame, but even with that, it was a rough evening for the group. It wasn’t until Book hit Ben Skowronek in the two-minute drill at the end of the first half that anyone in the receiving corps even had a catch.

Beyond the game plan, they just couldn’t get open, as they couldn’t shake Alabama’s corners in their routes, or when Book went to play backyard football. That, in essence, was a microcosm of what went wrong.

Notre Dame can compete in the trenches, their defense can even hold Alabama to their fewest points all season long, but they can’t compete at the skills positions. They’re not fast or athletic enough.

Avery Davis had a frustrating drop, and Javon McKinley had a nice catch along the sideline late in the game. There wasn’t a ton else, because they simply were covered, and Book had to look elsewhere, namely the tight ends and running backs.

Ben Skowronek led receivers with four catches for 41 yards, while McKinley, who many thought needed to have a big day to give Notre Dame a shot, had two catches for 20 yards. Avery Davis and Lawrence Keys had one catch each.

Michael Mayer did, at least, have a good day receiving. His seven catches and 62 yards receiving led Notre Dame in both categories. As expected, his strength was on crossing routes, where he presented a big target for Ian Book to get the ball to.

Unfortunately, his fellow tight end Tommy Tremble went down with an ankle injury, which hurt the energy and blocking on offense.

Grade: D