Instant Reaction | Notre Dame 21 Virginia Tech 20

Wins all count the same. Wins all count the same. Wins all count the same.

That’s something worth repeating in a game that Notre Dame should have won by several touchdowns, but probably deserved to lose. Deserve doesn’t have anything to do with results, though. The result was a win when they needed it desperately.

Notre Dame outgained Virginia Tech by 207 yards, but only won by one point because of three trips to the red zone that ended up with zero points.

To say it was frustrating to watch would be a gross understatement. That was the one thing the offense did well before this game. Even though they delivered when it counted, it doesn’t erase the earlier issues that made this almost an embarrassing loss.

But guess what? Just like a good performance against a better team that ends up in a loss doesn’t count as a win, bad performances against teams that Notre Dame should beat by a significant amount still count as wins if they put more on the board than the opponent.

Almost losing feels bad for those who watched the game, but actually losing would have been much worse. Tip of the cap to the team for being resilient. We could be talking about how bad things are going to get, but at least for now, we can think about a win from a flawed football team.

- I had planned to write that the defense deserved better and they did, but at least they helped the Irish win the game.

They got the stops when they needed them. They started out strong with six 3-and-outs on Virginia Tech’s first seven drives. They could have let the ineptitude of the offense get to them, but they didn’t. They only allowed 13 points.

It was a very good bounce back performance and a strong game plan from Clark Lea to shut down the Hokie’s running game (2.8 yards per carry) after what happened a week ago.

- That’s not to say that Notre Dame couldn’t have played better on defense.

Donte Vaughn did some good things, but he had two plays that likely made the booth throw up their hands. That fourth and four where he was playing eight yards off the ball and dropping back to take away the deep ball was confusing to say it politely. Him being passive on Quincey Patterson’s longest run of the day was strange as well.

On the very next play he came up and made a tackle, but for some reason the biggest corner on the team was hesitant to come up and tackle just before that.

Outside of that run, Patterson had 18 carries for 57 yards (3.17 YPC).

- It was really smart to not attack too much up the field with the pass rush in this game. They made Patterson try and win from the pocket and he completed only 32.1% of his passes. I’m sure people were frustrated with the pass rush not getting as much pressure as they’d like to see, but a big part of that was making sure he couldn’t be a runner on 3rd downs.

Even with that approach, Notre Dame still finished with 17.1% Havoc Rate and were much more disciplined with their gaps.

- That catch by Tre Turner was one of the best I have seen this season. I don’t know how he came down with it, let alone how he caught it ran for more yards after. How many receivers can pull off a Willie Mays catch and then do something after it?

That play was a ⅓ of the yards for Virginia Tech in the second half.

- Before we get into some harsher observations I have about the offense, Chase Claypool was fantastic in this game. He could have been even better if he didn’t get tackled on that second play of the game while waiting for the ball. How was there no flag there?

He would have been a lot better if Ian Book hadn’t left the deep ball short a few times. He finished 118 yards, but probably could have had over 200. That catch on the sideline on that final drive will go on his highlight reel at the end of the year along with a few others like that.

- Book threw for 341 yards. He scored on that final touchdown to win the game. He made some clutch throws on that final drive to get into a position to win. He also started this game throwing the ball more confidently than I had seen him since last season.

I would like to see him stay aggressive, but that first red zone pick was a blind throw. He threw it without even thinking about it. The second one should have been a touchdown if he led Claypool. He had two steps on the corner.

I’ll give him this: when he gets knocked down, he’ll keep getting back up. He had no running game to help him and knew the game was on him and delivered. That counts for something. I couldn’t tell you how many of the balls he threw away were the right play every time or not, but I don’t think he was helped out by the play-calling.

- Jafar Armstrong as a receiver can be a key component to the offense. As a third down back, he brings a ton of value.

Armstrong as an inside runner is not helping him or the offense. He still hasn’t shown the instincts to succeed there despite his size. People want to compare him to CJ Prosise, but Prosise had great feet and could make defenders miss in the hole. We haven’t seen that from Armstrong.

Even on that fumble, which was a great play by Rayshard Ashby, trying to run through Ashby was the wrong read. Him trying to run over everyone in the open field is often the wrong read too. He might fall forward, but isn’t going to be getting anything after that.

I thought Jahmir Smith deserved more carries in this game, especially if they were going to be running inside as much as they did. To call all of those runs with Armstrong in, that’s 100% on Chip Long in my opinion.

Notre Dame really missed Tony Jones in this game. Armstrong finished with 1.9 YPC.

- That leads into Long and, again, this was a rough game for him as a play-caller. It was like banging his head into a wall with some of those runs and he made a lot of 3rd down calls that Virginia Tech was all over because they scouted the Irish well.

Even on the touchdown call to end the game, it worked out well, but if Book was tackled, it’s probably game over with Notre Dame rushing to the line to get in one more play. It was gutsy and it worked out, but the potential for that to go terribly was very high.

- Why didn’t Notre Dame go back to that two-back look with Avery Davis after it was successful?

That’s one positive to come out of this game for the offense. Davis is a weapon who might be the best slot receiver on the team. Maybe this game earns him more touches.

- That hold by Jay Bramblett may have saved the season because I don’t know how Notre Dame would have reacted if they missed an extra point there. He had some issues catching punts early, but his hands were clutch when it mattered the most.