Instant Reaction | Notre Dame 28 Miami (OH) 3
It did have that feeling of “here we go again”.
The game started with a muffed punt, a three-and-out, some ugly misses from Riley Leonard, a poor snap on a field goal attempt, followed by another three-and-out. None of that inspired confidence for Notre Dame fans that this wasn’t going to be NIU part two.
It looked a lot different on offense from that point on, though. After gaining only 40 yards on the first 11 plays, they averaged 7.6 yards per play and scored touchdowns on four of the next seven drives. It probably would have been five of seven if not for a Leonard fumble after a 43-yard run in the third quarter.
The first three drives count. They don’t get erased from the game and if not for the defense doing what they normally do, things could have been a heck of a lot worse and Marcus Freeman might have had his second loss to a MAC program in three weeks.
But that didn’t happen and the defense was stellar once again, especially in the red zone where they only allowed three points on three trips for Miami (OH). They gave Leonard and the offense a chance to rebound after a brutal start and then they did.
It wasn’t the follow-up to Purdue that people would have wanted, but the game went from upset alert to fairly comfortable win with Steve Angeli getting to play the final drive of the game. Notre Dame outgained Miami (OH) by 199 yards and were +3.1 yards per play.
Who would have predicted that after the way the game started?
- I think saying Marcus Freeman didn’t get the team ready isn’t a valid criticism for this game.
It wasn’t him who muffed the punt. It wasn’t him who threw the ball inaccurately. The players have to take ownership of their mistakes.
The defense was clearly ready. They got a stop to start the game and then forced a turnover in the red zone after they were put in an adverse situation.
What I didn’t like from Freeman was him not using timeouts to try and settle Leonard and the offense. It amazes me why more coaches don’t do this when their team is clearly rattled and needs to take a breath.
It would be different if we hadn’t seen the offense implode two weeks before. Props to the offense for responding as the game went on, but I think it could have been remedied sooner.
I know winning the middle eight is important. Not losing the game early on is important too and that might have happened if not for the defense or if it was against a different opponent.
- While things were bad on offense at the start, the defense had a havoc rate of 33.3% in the first half. They finished at 26.6% in the game and only allowed 3.6 yards per play.
Brett Gabbert ended up completing 40% of his passes with two interceptions while averaging 3.4 yards per attempt. His QBR in the game was 25.1.
Miami (OH) was 2 of 13 on 3rd and 4th downs in the game. Any complaint against how they played is simply picking nits. They came to play.
Xavier Watts was outstanding in this game with two pass breakups and a forced fumble. It’s not a surprise when an All-American plays at that level, but Notre Dame continues to have multiple players step up and make plays when they need them.
- It was a terrible thing to see Jordan Botelho do down for the season, but having Boubacar Traore have the kind of impact he had in this game (two sacks) and seeing Junior Tuihalamaka step up with the best game of his career (a tackle for loss and a huge pick in the red zone) was an awesome response at the Vyper position.
Both of them racked up multiple pressures as pass rushers as well.
- Notre Dame actually threw the ball deep? Leonard hit Beaux Collins perfectly in stride on a 38-yard touchdown. He also had three other deep attempts that resulted in pass interference calls against Miami (OH) that didn't get added to his yards per attempt, but they were as good as getting explosive plays through the passing game.
His misses stuck out like a sore thumb and no one is writing home about 6.2 YPA, but those shots add more context to his day. The throw he made to Kris Mitchell right before the Collins touchdown was just as important as any deep ball attempt. That’s the intermediate throw that he hadn’t been completing and he had a few others in this game as well.
This wasn’t a performance that would convince anyone he’s anywhere close to an elite passer, but what he did after the first three drives combined with another great game running the football should be the kind of thing he can do on a weekly basis. T
Greg Flammang might end up being right about him rushing for 1,000 yards this season. He’s on pace for 966 right now.
- James Rendell hopped on the train out of struggle town today. He punted the ball really well and his first punt that went 53 yards in the air and had the hang time to make it a fair catch was massive. Being backed up on the goal line isn’t the easiest situation for a punter to be in and definitely not great for someone who hasn’t punted well.
Today, he was a weapon.
- Both teams didn’t play a clean game from a penalty perspective and that Adon Shuler penalty after getting a stop on 3rd down was the most inexcusable one. He was playing well before that and did so after, but those kinds of penalties can’t happen.
That might have had a chance to be a turning point in the game, but it was not for Miami (OH). Unfortunately for them the facemask by edge Brian Ugwu was. That took a tackle for loss off the board that would have made it 3rd and long. That gave Notre Dame 15-yards and a first down instead. That was the first scoring drive of the game and they absolutely needed that break to happen at that time.
- We know a bit more about who Notre Dame is after this game, but it’s still unclear to me what we’re going to get from week to week. Hopefully what we’re witnessing on offense is growth. What we’re seeing from the defense has been pretty much the expectation.
Louisville is very much an enigma as well, which means next week could be a rollercoaster. I know Notre Dame fans would like something different than that, but all that matters is that they’re riding high with a win at the end of the day.
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