Instant Reaction | Notre Dame 38 Stanford 17

Do you like apples?

How do you like them apples? Notre Dame just beat Stanford by three touchdowns.

The Irish had the better team and proved it. The monkey is off their back after earning that win and it definitely had to be earned. It wasn’t easy, but they finished like they needed to. The defense dominated in the second half and the offense got into the end zone when it mattered in the 4th quarter.

It was a statement game for the 2018 Fighting Irish and in many ways a statement win for Brian Kelly and his staff after losing to Stanford three straight times.

Now the Irish look like a legitimate contender and have set themselves up for a big matchup with Virginia Tech in Blacksburg next week.

- There are just so many things to say about the play of the defense. Stanford has a ton of talent on offense with plenty of players who are going to play in the NFL. If you needed proof that Notre Dame’s defense is legit, you just got it with what they did in the second half against this defense. (Or what they did in the final nine drives against them, but let’s just go with the second half.) 

Stanford had 198 yards in the first half. They had 29 yards in the second half. They did that on 21 plays. That is domination.

KJ Costello was playing really good in the first half. He was 11 of 17 and was averaging 7.6 yards per attempt. In the second half he was 4 of 10 for 4.4 YPA and had an interception.

The big difference was the pass rush. When he was comfortable early, he was sharp. Even on 3-step drops he was uncomfortable as the game went on because the pass rush affected him so much.

Five sacks, several other times where his throws were affected, and he looked like an ordinary quarterback rather than the one who could be a 1st round pick.

- Stanford started 2 of 4 on 3rd down. They finished 1 for 9 after that start. Costello was 0-7 on 3rd and long. Heading into this game he was lighting it up in those situations.

- Jerry Tillery had those two sacks to close it out, but that long arm he used to bully All-American right guard Nate Herbig in the first half was nasty. It was borderline unfair.

The entire defensive line was outstanding and even though Tillery had the numbers, I think Julian Okwara might have played even better than him. Both Walker Little and AT Hall could not handle him laterally.

- Only 4.5 yards per play (almost two full yards below their average) and holding Bryce Love to 73 yards. When you do that, you’re going to win the football game.

They let Love get loose for that 39 yard touchdown. He ran for 34 yards on his 16 other carries.

- That pick for Te’von Coney was coming. You could feel it with the way he read Costello earlier in the game. He was all over that play.

Their tight ends were killing teams earlier this year. Kaden Smith was a dominant factor in the Oregon win. The trio of Coney, Drue Tranquill, and Asmar Bilal were fantastic when they had to play them in man coverage. Even with that Tranquill pass interference play that took away that Alohi Gilman interception, it would still qualify as a clinic.

- The pass rush played such a huge part in assisting the pass defense that it’s easy to forget the work of the secondary. Other than one bust on a big play to Osiris St. Brown and Houston Griffith getting beat on one of the filthiest routes I have ever seen from Trent Irwin, the defensive backs were great too.

- JJ Arcega-Whiteside is a stud. That touchdown catch says it all. Julian Love had it covered as good as you could do it but got beat by a great throw and a receiver who is incredibly good at those kind of plays.

Arcega-Whiteside is a great player who averaged 17 yards per target heading into this game. Thanks to Love and the pass rush, he averaged just over 3 yards per target tonight. What they have done against him and Greg Dortch the last two weeks is pretty ridiculous. 

- Kelly has been conservative in some of these bigger games. This was not the case tonight where he went for it on 4th down two times early in the game and was calling timeouts at the end of the half to not even allow Stanford to take a knee.

Maybe it’s just that he has confidence in his defense? Or maybe it’s because he has confidence in his quarterback? Either way, the players have to like that Kelly is doing what he is doing right now.

- With how it went down, we can all say that Notre Dame would not have won this game without Dexter Williams. No way. Not a chance.

And yep, he’s going to be sore tomorrow. But he showed he can carry the load when called upon with 21 carries in the game.

He’s so good at getting skinny and hitting the creases when they are there. He’s got some power too, which he showed on that 4th quarter 9 yard run which was maybe his best of the night. He was carrying defenders with him.

Williams has that great burst, but today he showed he can be more than that. The touchdown run was a fitting welcome back to a team that needs more athletes who can produce explosive plays. He still needs to be better in blitz pickup, but you can live with it if he runs the ball that well.

- The offensive line was tested in the 3rd quarter when Stanford started bringing the house on what seemed like two out of every three plays, but they weathered the storm and really did a job with the inside run game.

They were moving people off the ball in this game more than any other this season. Some of those double teams on the Stanford defensive ends were downright disrespectful. Stanford is known for trying to be the bully. They got bullied at the point of attack for most of this game.

- I wrote earlier in the week that people should slow it down with Miles Boykin and Chase Claypool before picking them apart. Sometimes I look stupid when I write things like that. This time it worked out.

Boykin balled out. He was the go-to guy for Ian Book and delivered some really tough catches under tight coverage. He caught 11 of the 14 targets thrown his way for 144 yards. I think Alijah Holder might wake up with night terrors thinking about Boykin.

Claypool had that touchdown catch and was relatively quiet receiving (3 catches on 4 targets), but his blocking and his special teams work were special.

The stats weren’t eye popping. Who cares. He was one of the best football players on the field.

- Book made more than a couple of big time throws, but the ones where he fit it in between the linebacker and the safety to Boykin for a couple of big plays stand out. Yes, he can make the routine throws, but there’s nothing routine about most of completions he had to Boykin.

What I was most impressed with from him tonight were the throws he didn’t make. His feel for the rush was outstanding and it helped him escape the pocket. When he didn’t see anything down field, he didn’t force the ball into a bad spot either. He used his legs to move the chains and eventually it got to Stanford.

Later on they had to respect him as a runner and then it opened up plays like that key 3rd down conversion to Chris Finke when Finke came open late on the crosser or the touchdown to Claypool. 

- While there may have been a series or two in the second quarter where I felt Notre Dame got a little conservative, Chip Long left that all in the dust with the sudden change call after Coney’s pick. T

hat throwback to Alize Mack for the touchdown was the polar opposite of that Penn State 4th down call that ended their game. It was going for the jugular up two touchdowns and it was the perfect call.

- It wasn’t a perfect night with a couple of injuries to Alex Bars and Tony Jones Jr., but these types of games are rarely ones that teams walk out of fully healthy.

Even with those injuries, it was a great night for Notre Dame and for everyone who follows the program. For all of the doubters who expected Stanford to get another win, it was tough to blame then. They can wash that doubt away with this performance.

The Irish didn’t just come out ready to play tonight. They came out to finish and did just that.