Notre Dame football: Fiesta Bowl Offensive Grades vs Oklahoma State

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GLENDALE, ARIZONA – JANUARY 01: Chris Tyree #25 of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish runs with the ball in the first quarter against the Oklahoma State Cowboys during the PlayStation Fiesta Bowl at State Farm Stadium on January 01, 2022, in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Notre Dame football: Fiesta Bowl Offensive Grades vs Oklahoma State

Running Backs

With Kyren Williams opting out to prepare for the NFL Draft, it’s worth asking yourself if the running game wasn’t asked to do anything because they couldn’t, or because they didn’t want to try. Either way, the running game was non-existent. Three Irish running backs carried the ball16 times for a total of 46 yards.

That’s not good enough, and it made Notre Dame one-dimensional, which helped the Cowboys attack Jack Coan and the passing game.

At the same time, running the ball isn’t the only job of a running back. They also have to block in pass protection, for one. Williams was always elite at this aspect of the position, but Chris Tyree and Logan Diggs held up pretty well in his absence.

The passing game, or receiving game, is also very important for running backs. In Tommy Rees’ offensive system, this is especially true. During the Fiesta Bowl, Chris Tyree was an absolute monster in the receiving game. He had 6 catches for 115 yards and a touchdown.

In a way, that makes it look like Logan Diggs wasn’t even there in the passing game, but he caught 4 balls for 21 yards. That’s something to be excited about in a dull performance overall.

Grade= C+

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