Notre Dame Defense Embracing Winning Games Despite Injury Bug
Notre Dame’s defense has been consistent through five games as the Irish sit No. 21 in total defense, but there is still room to grow.
Al Golden’s defense allows 161.0 passing yards per game, which is No. 24 in the country and any team is going to pleased with that number, especially with teams throwing the ball all over the field.
When it comes to stopping the run, Notre Dame is No. 54 in the country. The Irish give up 123.0 yards per game on the ground and the defense can improve there.
As Notre Dame heads into the bye week, captain and All-American safety Xavier Watts believes the Irish are trending in the direction they want to go, but will need to utilize the next few days to improve.
“I think we’re in a good spot,” Watts explained. “We have a couple guys down, but that comes with football. We have a bye week and a lot of guys have to get healthy. We have so much more to improve on - little things like tackling and getting off the field on third down when we need to.”
During Saturday’s 31-24 win over Louisville, Notre Dame’s defense found itself in some tough situations due to factors outside their control. They did give up two touchdowns, but Louisville had to go a combined 33 yards to find pay dirt.
In addition to the two scores, Notre Dame couldn’t get off the field as the Cardinals totaled 212 yards of total offense and won time of possession in the second quarter 10:01-4:59.
Notre Dame responded in the second half holding Louisville to 183 total yards and coming up with key stops in crucial moments.
“We just kind of settled down,” explained linebacker Drayk Bowen. "They had a lot of stuff that was just kind of stuff they were trying to throw at us and see what would stick. We got everything settled down, talked through a couple different plays that would work and went out and executed. We got everyone on the same page. The DBs did what they needed to do and the front seven did what they needed to do. We just executed in the second half.”
Perhaps the most impressive piece of Notre Dame’s defensive success this year is the Irish are doing it while battling the injury bug. Howard Cross III is clearly playing through something, while the defense has lost several key players to injury for the season.
No one feels sorry for Notre Dame, including themselves, and there is faith that whoever is in the game is ready to step up.
“Those are big pieces to the defense,” stated Bowen. “At the end of the day, everybody has to be able to play. It’s the next man up mentality. Leonard (Moore) came in and played great. Junior and Boobie rotate in during practices, so we knew Junior could do it. Knowing the next guy is ready is something that helps a lot.”
For Watts, there is a great deal of confidence in whoever is roaming the field in the secondary. There is a ton of talent in Mike Mickens’ room and all have earned the trust of each other.
“We have a good DB room,” Watts said. “Any of the guys can play. We trusted them and they were able to do a good job.”
That said, Watts admits he notices when someone is out and he’s raised his level of play to account for the missing pieces.
“You notice it,” stated Watts. “We still have a job to do. We hope those guys get well, but we just have to finish out the game who goes down or who is coming in.”
Watts, who has totaled 19 tackles and two interceptions, made a key play to end the game as Louisville took a shot down the field, which the Nebraska native broke up.
“I’m kind of mad about that,” laughed Watts. “I wish I picked it. It was similar coverage to my first pick. I’m over top, reading the quarterback, JC (Jordan Clark) and I think Leonard are carrying their man underneath, so trusting my instincts and trying to find the ball. We ended up shutting it down.”
It’s a play that the defense is expected to make and it’s one Watts wants control over as the Notre Dame defense wants to win games.
“Our mentality is if the offense doesn’t score, our job is not to let the offense score at all,” Watts said. “We always want to put the game in our hands. That’s how we look at it. We’re looking at it like it’s up to us to win the game. We’re a good defense and we’ll be able to stop people. We’re going to be able to make plays and take the ball away.”
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