Notre Dame's Golden Touch Terrorizes Opposing Quarterbacks
Caleb Williams left Notre Dame Stadium unimpressed on Saturday night.
Sure, Notre Dame had just beat down his Trojans to the tune of 48-20. Yes, USC turned the ball over five times, including a career-high three-interception performance for the reigning Heisman Trophy winner.
Williams barely noticed Xavier Watts, Ben Morrison and Cam Hart, so how could they force him to perform likely a gloried backup with a 51.52 NFL Passer Rating?
The third-ranked Fighting Irish pass defense had little to do with why Williams looked like the next Daniel Jones rather than the future Patrick Mahomes.
“Everything we saw on tape was what they were doing,” Williams said. “A couple of throws that I always make, I didn't make. The one to Lake (McRee) went over his head. How often do you see that?”
In reality, Al Golden has made most experienced quarterbacks with NFL potential produce their worst games of the season.
Don’t take ISD’s word for it — look at the steep drop in production opposing Power Five quarterbacks have experienced against Notre Dame this fall.
Brennan Armstrong vs. Power Five Opponents (2023)
| Opponent | Completions/Attempts | Comp % | Yards | TD/INT | QBR |
| Notre Dame | 22/47 | 46.8% | 260 | 2/3 | 31.0 |
| Virginia | 15/30 | 50% | 180 | 2/1 | 50.1 |
| Louisville | 13/25 | 52% | 112 | 0/2 | 16.2 |
| Season | 94/160 | 58.8% | 971 | 5/6 | 43.0 |
Kyle McCord vs. Power Five Opponents (2023)
| Opponent | Completions/Attempts | Comp % | Yards | TD/INT | QBR |
| Indiana | 20/33 | 60.6% | 239 | 0/1 | 88.4 |
| Notre Dame | 21/37 | 56.8% | 240 | 0/0 | 91.0 |
| Maryland | 19/29 | 65.5% | 320 | 2/0 | 81.3 |
| Purdue | 16/28 | 57.1% | 276 | 3/0 | 88.4 |
| Season | 109/170 | 64.1% | 1,651 | 11/1 | 87.2 |
Riley Leonard vs. Power Five Opponents (2023)
| Opponent | Completions/Attempts | Comp % | Yards | TD/INT | QBR |
| Clemson | 17/33 | 51.5 | 175 | 0/0 | 89.0 |
| Northwestern | 15/20 | 75% | 219 | 0/0 | 88.5 |
| Notre Dame | 12/27 | 44.4% | 134 | 1/1 | 48.4 |
| Season | 79/126 | 62.7% | 912 | 3/1 | 73.4 |
Jack Plummer vs. Power Five Opponents (2023)
| Opponent | Completions/Attempts | Comp % | Yards | TD/INT | QBR |
| Georgia Tech | 18/31 | 58.1 | 247 | 3/1 | 65.9 |
| Indiana | 13/23 | 56.5% | 238 | 1/1 | 83.2 |
| Boston College | 18/21 | 85.7% | 388 | 5/0 | 94.2 |
| NC State | 21/35 | 60% | 286 | 1/2 | 35.9 |
| Notre Dame | 17/24 | 70.8% | 145 | 1/0 | 73.3 |
| Pitt | 29/52 | 55.8% | 350 | 1/2 | 35.7 |
| Season | 132/208 | 63.5 | 1,901 | 13/8 | 59.8 |
Caleb Williams vs. Power Five Opponents (2023)
| Opponent | Completions/Attempts | Comp % | Yards | TD/INT | QBR |
| Stanford | 19/21 | 90.5% | 281 | 3/0 | 97.5 |
| Arizona State | 20/31 | 64.5% | 322 | 3/0 | 73.9 |
| Colorado | 30/40 | 75% | 403 | 6/1 | 91.9 |
| Arizona | 14/25 | 56% | 219 | 1/0 | 80.8 |
| Notre Dame | 23/37 | 62.2% | 199 | 1/3 | 55.7 |
| Season | 142/203 | 70.0% | 2,021 | 23/4 | 82.6 |
Notre Dame’s pass rush (or lack thereof at times) has contributed greatly to Golden's success in shutting down opposing quarterbacks.
Still, the secondary deserves major credit, and it starts with Mike Mickens developing a deep rotation at cornerback.
The Irish go five deep at cornerback, which has been a rare situation for Notre Dame.
It starts with Morrison, who leads the group with 441 snaps played. Fifth-year cornerback Hart is close behind with 407 plays. Clarence Lewis, who can play field corner, nickel and even some safety, has tallied 151 snaps, while sophomore Jaden Mickey has totaled 133 plays.
Freshman Christian Gray has consistently played in the first half this season. It may be an infrequent role, but the St. Louis native has earned 75 snaps entering the bye week.
“They're all more experienced,” Golden said of the cornerback room in September. “They really like football. I'm going to be honest with you, I've said it to you guys before Mick’s office is next to mine. And those guys, they want to talk ball. They want to talk personnel. They want to know what routes this guy is doing. What routes is that guy doing? Is there a tell if he's somewhere on the field?
“I just think they're football kids. They love the game. They love to compete. They bring it every day in practice, and they enjoy it.”
It’s quite remarkable when you dive into individual stats, and it’s easy to see why Notre Dame has held opponents to low yardage and completion percentages.
The opposition is catching just 42.1 percent of passes against Hart. He’s given up just eight receptions on the year totaling 94 yards. Morrison is right there with Hart as teams are completing 51.5 percent of passes his way for a total of 17 catches and 160 yards.
For comparison, here’s how Notre Dame’s starting cornerbacks stack up against the four first-round draft picks in last year’s NFL Draft.
| NAME | TARGETS | RECEPTIONS | REC % | YARDS |
TD |
INT |
| Devon Witherspoon (Illinois) | 62 | 22 | 35.5% | 206 | 0 | 3 |
| Emmanuel Forbes (Miss. St) | 58 | 31 | 53.4% | 284 | 3 | 6 |
| Christian Gonzalez (Oregon) | 64 | 39 | 60.9% | 495 | 3 | 4 |
| Deonte Banks (Maryland) | 60 | 26 | 43.3% | 258 | 4 | 1 |
| Cam Hart (Notre Dame) | 19 | 8 | 42.1% | 94 | 0 | 0 |
| Benjamin Morrison (Notre Dame) | 33 | 17 | 51.5% | 160 | 3 | 2 |
Note: Full season stats for the 2022 season for the four first-round draft picks vs. eight games in 2023 for the Notre Dame players.
Going forward, Notre Dame will face five sophomore quarterbacks (assuming Stanford continues to rotate Ashton Daniels and Justin Lamson under center) with a combined 11-10 record as starters.
Each of them ranks outside the top 50 most efficient passers in college football, which won’t bode well for them against an Irish defense that’s made some of the most accurate quarterbacks look highly inefficient.
PASS EFFICIENCY
| TEAM | Overall Pass Efficiency | Pass Efficiency vs. Notre Dame | NFL Pass Rating | NFL Pass Rating vs. Notre Dame |
| Caleb Williams | 187.03 | 100.04 | 132.7 | 100.04 |
| Riley Leonard | 129.77 | 90.95 | 89.12 | 56.71 |
| Kyle McCord | 165.87 | 111.24 | 115.1 | 76.41 |
| Brennan Armstrong | 112.54 | 94.55 | 71.12 | 51.73 |
| Jack Plummer | 153.17 | 135.33 | 97.4 | 100.17 |
Former five-star prospect Cade Klubnik may be the most talented of the group, but Clemson continues to use him as a game manager averaging 6.5 (93rd in the FBS). He’s attempted just 18 throws of 20 yards or more this season, completing nine of them.
The Tigers are also the only remaining team on Notre Dame’s schedule to give up fewer than 2.0 sacks per game. Pittsburgh (2.33 sacks allowed per game), Stanford (3.5) and Wake Forest (4.83) are a few of the worst pass-protecting offenses in college football.
Overall, the final four games set up well for Notre Dame’s battled-tested secondary and a pass defense led by Golden.
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