Notre Dame football: Week 5 defensive grades vs. Cincinnati

The Notre Dame football team took their first loss on Saturday against Cincinnati, and here is how the defense graded out in this one.

The Notre Dame football team has had a pretty strong defense leading up to the Cincinnati Game, and any thought they had figured out the issues they had at the beginning of the year against the likes of Florida State and Toledo. The Irish were solid against Purdue, and came up huge against Wisconsin, all good signs heading into Week 5.

Even though on the surface it looks as if the defense played poorly by giving up 23 points, 297 yards on through the air, and 88 yards on the ground, statistics do not tell the whole story. When you peel back the skin on what transpired on the field Saturday you see a little bit different of a picture.

This is an Irish team that was beaten pretty soundly by the Bearcats, as Cincinnati was in command for most of the game. Still, there are some positives to take out of the effort, especially on the defensive side of the ball, which had to step up due to in ineffectiveness of the Notre Dame football team on offense.

Even though the Irish ended up losing on Saturday, I do believe there are some good takeaways for this defensive unit. Let’s get into the grades.