Notre Dame Offense Looking to Find Consistency on Saturday Afternoon

Notre Dame might enter Saturday’s game against Cal as 12-point favorites, but the Fighting Irish have much to prove following the 0-2 start. 

As a team, Marcus Freeman’s program needs to prove it can win a game, which means executing for four quarters and finishing in the final 15 minutes on both sides of the ball. 

That said, all eyes will be on Tommy Rees’ offense as the Irish will start Drew Pyne at quarterback for the first time, but also due to the fact that Notre Dame has struggled greatly to score points. The Irish enter the game averaging 15.5 points per game and have yet to run the football with any consistency. 

Sure, there is inexperience and a lack of depth at key spots, but it starts and ends with Rees being able to maximize the strengths of his offense. 

“I’ve got to put them in better positions,” stated Rees. “We got to ask them to do things that put the offense in a good spot all the time. That's my job and with a group that's younger and hasn't played a ton, it's even more important that we put them in spots that are going to be positive for them.

“You don't have a veteran group that's going to be able to answer all those questions on their own. It starts with me. I take full ownership. I want to take full ownership. I want to be part of the solution here and continue to push our players, push our staff and find a way through all this.”

Rees managing the playbook to Pyne’s strengths will be a key component for Notre Dame on Saturday. The Irish will need to take deep shots against Cal, but Rees has to make sure Pyne doesn’t force the football and take chances on throws he can’t make. 

“I don't want to give out too much here, but we know what he's good at,” explained Rees. “He knows what he's good at. We got to make sure he keeps that in the front of the mind. Then I've got a call a game that highlights that. I'm not going to go into the details of what those things are.

“We know plays, we know concepts, we know things that we refer to as blankets — there's a certain comfort level there when you call it. So we've got to put them in as many of those positions as we can while also attacking what Cal does defensively.”

Pyne has earned trust from his offensive coordinator as Rees has seen how the junior quarterback attacked each day over the last three years. 

Rees also knows Pyne’s energy and leadership could be a spark as the offense looks for a jump start. 

“His care factor is through the roof,” said Rees. “He gives a shit — a lot. He's gonna walk into the building and do everything in his power to be ready to play Saturday. That's just who the kid is. That's why he's here. He has that energy. He kind of has that respect of his teammates that can inject some life into our group right now, which we need. He has that, which is tremendous. 

Notre Dame’s offensive line hasn’t been able to run the football through two games as the Irish have averaged just 103 yards on the ground. 

It will be critical for the line to find consistency in the run game on Saturday as it can serve as a turning point for the Irish offense. 

“We believe in our group,” Rees said. “We believe in our ability to run the football. That's not going to change. We want that to be part of our identity from the very top down. We're going to continue to attack that week in and week out and make sure that we give our guys a chance. That's important. Then allow them the confidence in the ability to go execute it. We'll continue to find ways and we're going to continue to improve and get those guys ready to go."

It seems like there won’t be changes to the Irish offensive line this week and that could be a positive. Notre Dame has started two left guards over the first two weeks and finding stability will only help chemistry. 

"Keep working,” Rees said of his message to the line. “Keep listening to Coach Hiestand. Keep believing in each other and trusting each other. Our two tackles have played like nine games combined. It's going to take some time to continue to get those guys comfortable with who they're playing next to. Obviously having 55 (Jarrett Patterson) back, we'll continue to improve and get that group going. He'll help the center. Lugg will help the center. Just having the continuity continue to build as we get going."

Running back Chris Tyree has been a focus of message boards and discussion around the Irish offense all week. The Virginia native is one of the fastest players in the country, but he has only touched the ball 12 times on offense and has just nine rushes on the year. 

Tyree has worked out of the slot and running back, so there are opportunities to get him the football and Rees knows he needs to find ways to get his speedy back the ball. 

"Chris is somebody that we explicitly trust,” stated Rees. “He's been through this with us for three years. He's a guy we've counted on through a lot of really good wins and a lot of big moments. I have nothing but trust in Chris Tyree. I love that kid. We have to find a way to highlight his ability. That's my job."

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