Houston, we have a problem, and Notre Dame needs to find a solution before the College Football Playoffs begin
Notre Dame football put together arguably their most impressive performance of the 2024 season on Saturday night, defeating the Army Black Knights by a score of 49-14. For those who watched the game, you know the game wasn’t as close as that final score would even indicate. The Irish dominated from start to finish. Whether […]
Notre Dame football put together arguably their most impressive performance of the 2024 season on Saturday night, defeating the Army Black Knights by a score of 49-14. For those who watched the game, you know the game wasn’t as close as that final score would even indicate. The Irish dominated from start to finish.
Whether you want to talk about the offense or defense, Notre Dame was outstanding. The Irish offense rushed for 273 yards and five touchdowns, and the defense allowed just 233 total yards. It was a complete performance on both sides of the football.
The major question coming out of the victory is the state of field goal kicking for the Irish. Former South Carolina placekicker Mitch Jeter continued his struggles as he comes back from his groin injury, missing both of his field goals on the night. Jeter has now made just one of his last four field goals overall.
Unfortunately, Notre Dame also doesn’t really have another answer on the roster. We have seen Zac Yoakam pressed into duty and he has connected on just two of five attempts. Marcello Diomede has also missed his lone attempt, while Eric Goins hasn’t attempted a field goal, but did miss his only extra point attempt of the season.
In total, the Irish placekickers have connected on just 8 of 17 field goals attempts this season. That is a very troubling sample size.
If Notre Dame defeats the USC Trojans next weekend, the Fighting Irish will solidify their spot in the first ever 12-team College Football Playoffs. Ok that level, Notre Dame will be tasked with playing against some of the other outstanding teams in college football. That means, in theory, some closer games are on the horizon.
If the Irish have a game on the line, would anyone feel comfortable with a field goal right now? That makes getting Jeter healthy over the next few weeks the top priority. There’s going to be a game down the stretch where you are going to need him, and you need to be able to build some trust quickly.
