2024-09-02 02:20:02
Don’t miss the forest for the trees. Don’t miss the forest for the trees.
It’s something I’ve had to repeat to myself since Notre Dame’s opening drive of the 2024 season.
Notre Dame did a very big thing Saturday night in their 23-13 win over Texas A&M.
The Irish were able to beat the boogeyman that’s been haunting them for at least the last decade: winning big games. Remove all of the recent buzz topics (i.e. the “environment”, the heat, roster questions) and focus on the larger context. They pulled off a marquee win against a solid team in a manner that even the most pessimistic of observers can’t fault (for a week 1 team).
It wasn’t the prettiest win and for those who’ve been following the program closely in recent seasons, there were a lot of triggering moments/patterns. But I ask of you all, and myself, to resist those intrusive thoughts and really appreciate a really promising start to the season for a Notre Dame football team that can do great things.
Let’s see if the data analytics will help us bolster those defenses.
It was a slog early on for both teams. Neither offense looked particularly potent during their early drives and the defenses weren’t well defined. In the moment it felt like Notre Dame was struggling more to get things together. On both sides of the ball, bot more-so offensively.
And the penalties didn’t help either. But positive thoughts.
While there were signs in the 2nd quarter that ND was getting comfortable, the squad really found its stride in the game’s second half. The Irish scored the first touchdown of the game and shut out the Aggies in the 3rd quarter and went on to outscore them 10-7 in the 4th quarter. It was a slow start, something we’ve gotten used to, but over the stretech it didn’t seem quite as ominous as in recent seasons.
While special teams, in particular the field goal units, played pivotal roles in Saturday’s game the rushing stables were the deciding factors. Notre Dame was able to outscore Texas A&M 3-2 in field goals made and 2-1 in rushing touchdowns. Neither program should walk away feeling spectacular about passing performance, at least when it came to actual scoring.
Long drives, in terms of yards, weren’t really a thing. The Irish succeeded when it counted by capping off their longest drives with touchdowns and avoiding forced turnovers. Turnovers on downs and two interceptions really doomed the Aggie performance. Fortunately for ND fans, a lot of those misfires were forced by the Irish defense and not A&M’s inflicted wounds.
Data from the first game of the season doesn’t really provide us with a lot of room for big comparisons, but let’s try any way. In most categories, Notre Dame was below its 2023, per-game benchmarks.
The team had 356 yards of total offense against A&M, compared with 432 yards per game for the 2023 season. The biggest offensive deficit and/or tradeoff came in the passing game. Riley Leonard threw for 158 yards, compared with 246 passing yards per game for Sam Hartman last season. The team was slightly above its 2023 benchmark for rushing yards, coming in at 198-185.
The passing accuracy also wasn’t quite where it was, but the squad beat last season’s rushing efficiency benchmark. This methodology can be pretty misleading, though, especially considering how 2023’s offensive decline is hidden by averages.
For most of the game I was punching the air about some of the passing ”struggles” but Riley Leaonard’s skillset is unlike most of our recent quarterbacks He’s demonstrated that he’s capable of making up for passing deficiencies by adding to the already deep running back room. And while I was/still am looking for something a little different it worked against Texas A&M and if it keeps working I won’t be complaining.
Three Notre Dame players dominated the team’s rushing attack and Riley Leonard contributed in a very real way. Jeremiyah Love led the way with 14 carries for 91 yards and 46% of the Irish’s total yards on the ground. Leonard fell into the #2 spot with 63 rushing yards and 31.8% of the team’s collective production. Jadarian Price contributed 44 yards on 8 carries. Love and Price walked away from the game with a rushing touchdown a piece. The rushing strategy delivered, but there were some costs and tradeoffs. Texas A&M’s defense tallied up seven tackles for loss, spread across eight players.
The offensive line got a lot of attention going into this season but I was the most concerned about the wide receiver/tight end groups. We still didn’t get all of the answers we would’ve liked about the two position groups, but the ceiling is high in my opinion. Clemson transfer Beaux Collins led the team with five receptions for 62 yards. And he looked very good. Outside of Jaden Greathouse there, weren’t any other significant individual standouts but the depth/talent is absolutely there.
Things started to open up through the air as the game progressed and I imagine as the offensive line gets more comfortable and we play less “formidable” defenses, the Irish receivers and tight ends will be really fun to watch. And it’s been a long time since I’ve even remotely felt that way.
Once the defensive line and linebacker group settled in, the Notre Dame defense excelled. Aggie quarterback Weigman never really found a groove. Although Texas A&M put up 146 total rushing yards, they weren’t able to run consistently against the Irish and they only averaged 3.8 yards per carry. Howard Cross III accounted for the team’s single sack as well as one of three tackles for loss. Fellow defensive lineman Jordan Bothelo finished with six total tackles, three of which were solo. Linebackers Jack Kiser and Jaylon Sneed stood out. Kiser had eight tackles (4 solo) and sneed tallied up five tackles (four solo) and a tackle for loss.
The Notre Dame secondary reminded us why they make this team’s defense one of the most exciting to watch in all of college football. Safeties Adon Shuler and Xavier Watts both pulled in interceptions and defensive backs Benjamin Morrison and Christian Gray had three, collective pass deflections.
The numbers don’t do the ND defense justice at this stage of the season.
Let’s enjoy this folks.
We knew that while there is a lot of continuity that Marcus Freeman brings to the program in his third season, major personnel changes on the staff and player rosters meant that we couldn’t be certain about how this team would win. But the potential to win was there.
In this first gamer the offense didn’t look like what we’ve seen from Notre Dame during the late Kelly years and even from Freemans’ squad last season, but they won. And won in a way that we can foresee continuing to be successful. That’s pretty exciting, when you factor in the defensive strengths. Plus, this win means that I don’t have to pack up my bags and leave Texas because I really do like living here now.
Cheers and Go Irish!!
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