Notre Dame Defense Returns to CFP Standard at Midway Point

Notre Dame owns the 11th highest-rated defense through six games this season, according to DF+. That’s a significant rebound from the previous year. 

In defensive coordinator Al Goldens’ first season, the Fighting Irish ended 2022 ranked 31st, their worst finish since a 4-8 season in 2016.

It’s also just outside the common defense for a college football playoff team. The average participant ranks inside the top 15, with the majority among the top 10. 

From 2017 to 2019, Oklahoma was the only program to produce a college football playoff team without a DF+ rating among the top 30. The Sooners finished with a top-ranked offense in two of those seasons and fourth in the other. 

Of course, Golden refuses to get caught up in the nitty-gritty of advanced metrics and other popular defensive stats, even if they say positive things about his team. 

“You guys know me well enough by now,” Golden said. “I'm not really into the stats. I think there's some critical stuff (such as) tackling and turnovers. Those are critical stats. Third down, red zone — critical stats. Scoring defense — critical stat. There are a lot of other categories that you can chase, as a coach or a coordinator, that can lead you down a bad path.”

The Irish are actually a little worse in third-down defense this year (65th out of 133 FBS programs), but they’re among the top 25 in several categories, including a few Golden mentioned.

- Scoring Defense (14th), 13.0 points per game allowed

- Turnover Margin (18th), 0.83 per game advantage

- Total Defense (11th), 271.0 yards allowed per game

- Red Zone Defense (6th), opponents scoring on 55% of opportunities

- Pass defense (4th), 146.8 passing yards allowed per game

The most significant improvement remains the red zone defense. 

The Irish defense ranks sixth in red zone touchdowns allowed, with opposing offenses crossing the goal line on 35% of opportunities on 20 trips inside the 20-yard line this season. 

Notre Dame ranked dead last in this stat a season ago.

“We've definitely made some changes internally, not really worth sharing,” Golden said. “I think the guys know it was unacceptable, and I think they’ve responded to the challenge. I think they're doing a really good job of taking the game plan to the field, and I think the staff does a great job. I really do.”

The Irish will get tested with two more top-25 opponents over the next two weeks. 

No. 25 Louisville ranks 24th with 12 touchdown passes thrown this season. No. 9 USC ranks 6th in the nation, scoring a touchdown on 19 of 23 red zone trips. 

“We’ve got a long way to go,” Golden said, “and we're going to get challenged Saturday in the red (zone), and we better be good.” 

The Irish improved defense should fair well against Louisville quarterback Jack Plummer, who will face Notre Dame for the third straight year, each time on a different team (Purdue in 2021 and Cal in 2022). 

Still, Golden isn’t taking anything for granted. 

“I think he's playing fast,” Golden said of Plummer. “I think he trusts the cast that he has around him. I think they have speed on the perimeter. They're explosive. The running game, running backs run strong. They press it. So, I think he's doing what they want him to do. 

“He's being efficient. He's making good decisions. He's distributing the football. I think he's playing really well. And I think with experience comes maturity. That's what we're seeing from him right now.” 

Golden hasn’t been without criticism this year, especially after dropping eight defenders on 3rd-and-19 during Ohio State’s last-minute, go-ahead touchdown drive two weeks ago.

“What I didn't want to do (was what we did on) the previous fourth down, the previous longer third down,” Golden said. (We) went cover-1 both times, and they beat us. And what I didn't want to do was throw a jump ball in the back of the end zone. That would have been one that I would have lamented. Could we call other things there? For sure, but we need to execute that call, break on the ball, get the ball on the ground.” 

He uses analytics when evaluating play calls, but film study and feel have taken precedence and will for the rest of the season.

“There's definitely merit to knowing what the probabilities are. But I think sometimes you just have to trust what you see or what you feel in the game, but there's no question that, definitely, analytics has a part in football. I don't think that's ever going to be divorced, now.”

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