The enigmatic Notre Dame offense shows signs of life, raises even more questions against Miami (OH)
What a strange start to the season it has been for Notre Dame football. You go from beating a top 25 SEC team on the road, to losing to a MAC school at home, to dominating a Big Ten program 66-7, and then follow it up with an underwhelming 28-3 victory over Miami (OH) on […]
What a strange start to the season it has been for Notre Dame football. You go from beating a top 25 SEC team on the road, to losing to a MAC school at home, to dominating a Big Ten program 66-7, and then follow it up with an underwhelming 28-3 victory over Miami (OH) on Saturday night. This is a Irish team that is almost impossible to understand.
That is especially true on the offensive side of the football. There was a lot of negatives, with some positives also sprinkled in. Here are the standouts, both positively and negatively from the win.
STUDS
Beaux Collins
Through four games, Collins has been Notre Dame’s best wide receiver, and by a wide margin. He ended the night against the RedHawks with four receptions for 60 yards and a touchdown, but his impact goes way beyond that stat line. Collins also hauled in the first touchdown reception from Riley Leonard on the season, and the first for a Notre Dame wide receiver. The rest of the wide receiver unit will need to step up, but Collins is doing a tremendous job so far.
The running game
As long as Marcus Freeman is the head coach, Notre Dame is going to value the running game and undervalue the passing game, so we might as well get used to it. The rushing attack was very strong in Saturday, which exploded for 270 yards and three touchdowns, averaging a stellar 7.5 yards per carry. They were led by quarterback Riley Leonard, who rushed for 143 yards and two touchdowns on just 12 carries.
DUDS
Young offensive lineman
It was moment to forget for the left side of the offensive line tonight for the Irish. From center to right tackle; the unit was solid. It was the second straight game of tough play for true freshman left tackle Anthonie Knapp, although left guard Sam Pendleton had the worst night of the bunch. They are both young, so there is plenty of time to improve, but it was still a less than ideal showing. Improvement will be needed, and quickly as they face off against a really good Louisville defensive line next week.
Short passing game
This was a bizarre football game. During the first three games of the season, Leonard struggled to push the ball down the field but was pretty consistent throwing short. During this game, it was the exact opposite. Leonard showed some life throwing the ball down the field, but the short game was all over the place. He missed way too many easy throws, which will have to get fixed moving forward.
