Notre Dame Football vs Alabama Crimson Tide: 3 Things We Learned

First-year offensive coordinator Tommy Rees still has plenty to learn as a play-caller.

Tommy Rees has had a tremendous first season as an offensive coordinator for Notre Dame, which has not gone unnoticed. However, some of the plays he called in the Rose Bowl showed us that he still has a long way to go before he can be talked about along with the top assistant coaches in the sport.

Notre Dame’s offensive identity throughout the 2020 season was using multiple tight end sets and establishing the run game. The Irish offense was a bit conservative, as they wanted to control the time of possession and string together long drives.

That strategy was effective during the regular season when, more often than not, the Irish had a talent advantage over their opponents. However, that strategy seemed to hinder Notre Dame in the Rose Bowl, which led to them scoring only 14 points, including seven in garbage time.

While the Irish were able to find some success in the running game, they were not able to manufacture the big plays that are needed to keep pace with the Alabama offense. I was hoping that Rees would be a bit more aggressive knowing that Notre Dame needed to score somewhere between 30 and 40 points to have a chance to win the game.