Notre Dame Snap Count Thoughts | Game One

No. 13 Notre Dame cruised in its 42-3 season-opening win over Navy in Dublin, Ireland on Saturday afternoon. 

Marcus Freeman’s Fighting Irish dominated from start to finish, including holding the Midshipmen to just 126 yards on the ground (2.6 yards per carry and 3.1 yards per play. 

Notre Dame also backed up what we had witnessed in camp as the staff was more than willing to play the freshmen and young players who were ready, but the blowout also allowed the Irish to get some young talent early season snaps. 

PFF has released its snap counts for the game and it shows the depth Notre Dame was able to reach in game one. 

OFFENSE

DEFENSE

THOUGHTS
- One of the biggest concerns from fans and some media in the past has been Notre Dame not getting “freshmen” on the field. It’s an interesting study as most coaches have no issue playing freshmen as it's their job to win games, so they aren’t going to hold players who can help them win out of games. The other piece is those players have to be capable of doing their job, staying composed, producing and simply know the plays or where to line up. 

Notre Dame’s early enrollee freshmen showed that on Saturday as Rico Flores Jr. and Jaden Greathouse were clearly involved in the game plan and didn’t necessarily look like they had game one jitters. Now, it’s not a big game atmosphere, but for both to make catches and be involved in the offense is telling. 

Chansi Stuckey didn’t give them too much as neither had a significant workload, which was enough for both freshmen to be productive, but also it wasn’t a high workload to cause them to swim for their lives. Early enrollment matters and it’s paying off for Flores and Greathouse. 

- Notre Dame’s starting offensive line played every snap together, which was a hot debate during the summer. The battle at guard was talked about on weekly basis and rotating guards certainly seemed like an option entering camp. 

Pat Coogan and Rocco Spindler weren’t perfect on Saturday, but they also passed their first game test as Notre Dame ran for 6.0 yards per carry and didn’t allow a sack. Could Notre Dame gotten its second team offensive line one more drive? Probably so, but the eight-minute drive by Navy in the fourth quarter threw a wrench in that plan. 

- Deland McCullough got five running backs in the game and all five had touches. Is that going to happen every game? Probably not, but it was important to see what Jadarian Price could give on game day and steal a few carries for Jeremiyah Love as he develops. 

The efficiency is also pretty crazy when you break it down. 
Audric Estimé: 23 plays, 18 touches
Gi’Bran Payne: 17 plays, 8 touches
Jeremiyah Love: 7 plays, 4 touches
Devyn Ford: 6 plays, 2 touches
Jadarian Price: 5 plays, 4 touches

Yes, I would expect Estimé to get a larger workload against tougher opponents, but it’s also very clear Notre Dame trusts all five backs as I believe all five made appearances in the first half. 

- Gerad Parker’s offense in week zero didn’t look too different than what Chip Long or Tommy Rees ran during their tenures at Notre Dame from the outside. The tight end continues to be heavily involved as Evans and Staes finished top 10 in snaps played. Neither recorded a reception, but that will come and it’s almost a good thing as it was more significant to give Flores and Greathouse confidence on the outside. 

- Defensively, it’s a bit tougher to get a ton of long-term takeaways as the triple-option forces defenses to play a wide variety of personnel you won’t see in the next 11 games. It’s not a shocker the three veteran linebackers were top four in snaps played. Marist Liufau and Jack Kiser were plenty efficient on Saturday and I’m not sure I saw an outcry for others to be on the field. 

- Al Washington played 10 defensive linemen and nine of them played at least 14 snaps. Joshua Burnham and Junior Tuihalamaka had flashed during camp and both continued to flash on Saturday. And while nine players were in double-digit snaps, none played more than 31 plays, which keeps guys fresh. Yes, similar to Estimé, you’ll probably see those go up against Power Five competition but gone are the days of Isaac Rochell playing 80 snaps every week. 

- Jaylen Sneed got some quality work with 27 snaps. Most of them came in the last two drives, but it was good work that will benefit fit him long-term vs. Navy and later this season. Drayk Bowen and Jaiden Ausberry didn’t make their debuts on defense, which is fine in this case. Next week, both should get snaps at home. 

- The secondary snaps are what they are given the triple-option. Perhaps the biggest takeaway here is Notre Dame was able to get Christian Gray 21 snaps. It’s a case where Bowen and Ausberry didn’t get the work to see the speed of a college game and Gray did, which helps, but at the same time, the freshman cornerback wasn’t playing as he normally would given the offense. 

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