Film Don't Lie | Two Backbreaking Interceptions
Everyone knows that Notre Dame’s offensive line has been a problem. The opposition knows it. The fans know it. The Notre Dame coaching staff definitely knows it because they have done more trying to help the O-line with protection this year than any other season in recent memory.
They’re tied for 126th in the country in sacks allowed per game and coming into Cincinnati they were 122nd in the country in sack rate.
The staff is trying to help the offensive tackles as much as possible and the running backs have been a big piece of that. It’s not just about blitz pickup for them. It’s about chipping and doing what they can to stop those edge rushers from getting to the quarterback.
That train of thought is exactly what led to Notre Dame’s first turnover of the day. It’s 2nd and goal and they are trying to run crossers with George Takacs (85) and Michael Mayer (87) with Kevin Austin (4) lined up in the slot and running deeper to get to the back corner of the end zone.
This is setup to beat man to man, but that isn’t what Cincinnati has called. They have what looks like a matchup zone where they are passing off those crossers. I’ll get back to that, but the rush is the main reason for showing this play.
The defensive end for Cincinnati on the right side of this play jams the heck out of Mayer. It’s a great job and it delays his rush. Because of that delay, Josh Lugg (75) assumes that the jam is that end taking Mayer in coverage. Lugg goes to help Cain Madden (62) rather than wait for that end to get up the field.
Lugg assumes incorrectly and when that end is rushing, he has a free run to Jack Coan. That’s why Kyren Williams (23) has to go over and help over there. His eyes are inside to start to see if there is initial pressure that he has to pick up, but he’s aware of that end and Lugg needing assistance.
If you watched the broadcast, you know that Drew Brees spoke about the inside linebacker activating as a blitzer when Williams stays in to block. That’s called a Green Dog and the linebacker would have rushed if Williams had blocked anywhere. It didn’t only have to do with him blocking outside.
Williams blocking outside iss what gave the linebacker a free run at Coan. Coan obviously should not have thrown the ball and taken the sack, but this should give everyone an idea of exactly why Williams might be at fault, but he was also trying to help out Lugg and that end would have hit Coan if Williams didn’t slide over to make this block.
(I incorrectly said Myjai Sanders was the one who jammed Mayer in this tweet, but he jammed Takacs on the other side)
If this was man to man, the corner wouldn’t have been sitting there to make this interception. After he passed off Takacs, he was waiting for Mayer to pick him up. Mayer never got there because of the jam, the ball that was intended for Austin was short because of the hit on Coan, and Cincinnati held Notre Dame to zero points on a red zone trip.
T-E stunt worked to perfection
Before we get to the Notre Dame side of things, I have to tip my hat for how this stunt was executed. This is exactly how the defense wants it to look and reminds me of one of the times the Irish ran this with Jerry Tillery and Daelin Hayes against Stanford in 2018.
The defensive tackle fires off the ball and his aiming point is the inside hip of Michael Carmody (68). Andrew Kristofic (73) is in at left guard and he thinks this is an upfield rush and trying to ride the tackle up the field. That’s not what is happening, though, and the tackle ends up taking out Carmody and Kristofic and leaving an open lane for the defensive end to come back inside and get a hit on Tyler Buchner.
The hit causes the interception and that’s that.
Where it comes back to issues with the offensive line is that Chris Tyree (25) and Williams are both in the backfield and being tasked with helping out ot block. It’s not that they are there just for blitz pickup. They are there to make sure that any of the rush doesn’t get to Buchner because there is a clear lack of trust that the O-line can handle it by themselves.
So when that tackle gets up the field, all Tyree is thinking about his helping to make sure that guy doesn’t get to the quarterback. It’s not in his head that Kristofic has this or that both of these guys should be able to pass off a stunt. He knows he has to help out if one of those guys gets beat and that’s why he is there trying to help with the defensive tackle.
Maybe if there weren’t the issues in protection, he could at least wait and step up in the way of the end if it isn’t passed off. Buchner probably gets flushed out of the pocket rather than stepping up to make a throw, but he at least gets a chance to do something rather than getting hit and having the ball intercepted.
I brought it up in my Rewatch Notes as well, but how many times do you think that those three players have worked together trying to block that stunt in practice? It might be zero given that Kristofic has played both guard spots and Carmody has missed a lot of practice with his ankle injury.
That can’t be brushed aside and it’s why continuity on the offensive line is important. That’s not what they have had on the left side and they haven’t had it at quarterback either. So when a play like this happens, it shouldn’t be all that surprising because Notre Dame has had injuries and doesn’t trust their offensive line to handle things like they have done in the past.