Not-So-Instant Reaction
If Notre Dame wins out, I don't know that they are going to be a lock for the College Football Playoff. It’s just impossible to know that for sure because we don’t know how many other teams are going to be equally deserving.
What I do know is that this is a really, really good football team. I maybe had some doubt in my mind during the bye week as to how good they are or can be, but that doubt is gone. Even if they end up losing one of these final four games of the season, I think this is the best football team I’ve seen at Notre Dame since 1993.
Maybe that sounds premature given that it’s only eight games in, but that was my feeling when I walked out of Notre Dame Stadium on Saturday night and how I felt after re-watching the game after getting back home.
The Irish haven’t been really good in many years since then, but they’ve had their moments. Brian Kelly’s teams had their moments too, in 2012 and 2015 specifically. This team is simply better all-around than those teams and the others in between ‘93 to the present day.
It’s more physical and seems to be getting better by the week. It has an identity that is based on its strengths. And the weaknesses seem to be getting stronger as well.
I’ll let the games play out in the next month before declaring any ridiculous “We want Bama” type of statements. (I’m kidding, I’ll never be the guy who says that. Please, don’t be the guy who says “We want Bama”). I’ll say that at this moment, I believe this team is a legitimate top-5 team in the country. Which is ludicrous to think of when examining where things were a year ago or for most of the past two decades.
Notre Dame is good. Very good. I know, not exactly a bold statement when you consider everything we’ve seen this season. But also not something I was thinking back when I wondered if Notre Dame could go 10-2 if everything breaks right. Now it’s to the point where things would have to go wrong for them to finish with two losses.
They are that kind of good.
More of my not-so-instant reaction after re-watching the game:
- Mike Elko blitzed a lot more on early downs. I think Nyles Morgan blitzed more than he had in any other game as well. It was all part of a great game plan on defense. They knew Ryan Finley was going to want to get the ball out quickly on shorter routes and the defensive backs kept jumping them to break them up. He forced Finley to throw the ball deep way more than he wanted to.
Some of that worked out on some conversions, but most quarterbacks are going to struggle when they have to be that precise throwing the ball over fifteen yards down the field. That’s why he went from a 70% passer to a less than 50% one.
I don’t know if people really appreciate how outstanding that is for the defense to accomplish. His splits all season, no matter what the down and distance or the time of the game, were practically a straight line before he faced the Irish. This dip was unusual and completely caused by the game plan.
- Elko used to have the Drop loop inside more with the rest of the line slanting early in the season, but I haven’t seen it much in recent weeks. It led to two good plays in this game by Daelin Hayes on a combined tackle with Khalid Kareem and another disruption by Andrew Trumbetti. It was just a nice little wrinkle to throw back in to mix up the blocking for the NC State O-line.
- The defenders must have done a great job in film study all week. Other than the one double move that Julian Love got beat on, they were anticipating routes before they happened. This was Love’s best game in coverage since he’s been at Notre Dame. The pick six was just an added bonus to it that wouldn’t have happened if not for the mistake by the NC State center, but great job by Love taking advantage of it.
- I’ve been talking about Notre Dame needing to play more corners and they have the last two weeks with Troy Pride coming to play outside when they are in the nickel. It’s more important that they aren’t just throwing a body out there and that he is actually capable of doing what is needed. He certainly looks capable right now.
He stood out to me with his play in this one. No pass breakups, but he certainly did well when targeted. It’s nice to see him growing as I think he is the most physically gifted corner on the roster.
- The sack numbers don’t reflect it, but Notre Dame punished Finley multiple times and I think it got to him. He made some great throws in the face of that pressure, but it wore him down a bit in my opinion. That Te’Von Coney hit on the delayed blitz and the Daelin Hayes hit on the RPO were both really hard, but clean, hits.
-Bradley Chubb is a baller. He could play for any program in the nation and I’m sure he’ll be a high pick in the NFL Draft. He was disruptive. However, I do think Durham Smythe did a decent job of holding his own against him. The plays where he beat Smythe stand out because they resulted in negative plays for Notre Dame, but it was far more of an even battle than those would indicate.
The touchdown catch, on a great touch throw by Brandon Wimbush, and the sideline grab were significant. I think his growth as a blocker is a far bigger story, though. Even back in the Georgia game he was struggling when it came to sustaining blocks or getting blown up at the point of attack. He has emerged as an asset in the run game. That is absolutely massive for the Irish to have with him and the other tight ends.
- When you’re running the ball 54 times and only throwing 19 passes, that says a lot. Usually that means winning. I really liked how Chip Long stuck with it despite not breaking anything big until that Josh Adams run in the 3rd quarter. He was patient and so was Adams.
He earned all of those 202 yards. My friend I was at the game with said Adams reminded him of Leveon Bell. In terms of his ability to be patient and his footwork, I think it’s actually a fair comparison. Bell is a better receiver, but as a runner, there is definitely some Bell in Adams’ game.
- I wanted to single out Mike McGlinchey on the offensive line because he did such a great job against Chubb when he was matched up with him in pass protection minus the early screen call on the second series of the game. I don’t want to say it was a statement performance from him after what happened at the end of the Georgia game, but I think the NFL scouts in attendance probably watched him in this one and came away impressed with what they saw from Big Mike.
- There are many great things to say about Quenton Nelson as a player, but the fact that he is rushing down the field to a teammate after a long run or pass play says it all about the attitude he brings to field. I’ve seen that from him since he started playing at Notre Dame and now I see it from just about every one of the offensive linemen.
- The best part about Te’Von Coney in this game is not that he was the leading tackler for the Irish or that he made so many big tackles to shut down the NC State run game. It was that he was playing so decisive that it put him in a position to make a play when he was unblocked or gave him a leverage advantage when it came to beating a block.
He is processing the game at a higher level now. That has to come from not only himself, but the coaching from Clark Lea.
- Absolutely loved when Long threw in four tight ends on the field at the same time to run out of the I-formation on 3rd and 3 and then kept rolling with it. Even if they ended up going to a different look to get into the end zone, it was great to see Long keep attacking until they stopped it. That kind of mentality is why the Irish offense rushed for 318 against their defense. The previous high they gave up was 133.
- The experience at the game is so much better because of the jumbotron. The Smythe toe tap catch and the Kevin Stepherson one foot touchdown are the greatest examples of that. Normally fans could only say “I hope he was in” rather than “I know he was in”.
- Notre Dame held NC State to their lowest rushing total of the season. They held Ryan Finley to easily his lowest completion percentage and the least yards per attempt. They were the first defense to hold the Wolfpack to under 5.0 yards per play (4.31) and less than 300 yards (263). Through ⅔ of the season, the defense is 21st in yards per play, 10th in scoring defense, 21st in yards per carry, 16th in yards per passing attempt, and have only given up one rushing touchdown in eight games. That’s number one with a bullet.
Yeah, you’re not dreaming. Mike Elko’s defense is for real.