Behind Enemy Lines: Talking Notre Dame Football With Bryan Driskell
To get a full perspective from a Notre Dame expert I chatted with Bryan Driskell, editor and publisher of Irish Maven. Check out all the great work they are doing for game preparation and make sure to follow Bryan on Twitter.
AJ: Expectations are always high in South Bend, with a close loss to Georgia and a bad loss to Michigan, what is the feeling around the program in regards to how the season has gone?
BD: There is a lot of frustration. Most fans were happy that Notre Dame battled Georgia so closely, although some were frustrated that the Irish could not capitalize on its final possession in which it got the ball in Georgia territory with over two minutes to go. A touchdown in that situation would have won the game.
Going into Michigan Stadium, arguably the most hated rival among fans, and getting blown out has put a huge damper on the season. Not only did Notre Dame get blown out, but they weren’t competitive in the game. There were no answers to what Michigan was doing to them, and fans are rightly upset about that, especially since this is becoming the norm for Notre Dame in those types of road environments.
Winning big against Boston College and Stanford would certainly help ease some fo that frustration, but until Notre Dame finally earns a big road win over a highly ranked opponent, something it hasn’t done since 2012, that frustration will remain with some.
AJ: Ian Book has quietly had a superb year for the Irish. What makes him such a dangerous quarterback
BD: I’ll talk more about what makes him dangerous in question No. 5, but let me first push back against the notion he’s had a superb season. When you look at his numbers they are certainly impressive. But dig beyond the surface and they tell a different story.
Book passed for 905 yards and 15 touchdowns in just three games, all against non-Power 5 teams (New Mexico, Bowling Green, Navy). That’s 39.5-percent of his passing yards (in 10 games) and 57.8-percent of his touchdowns. Bowling Green ranks 125th in pass efficiency defense and New Mexico ranks 126th.
If you look at Book’s numbers against even Power 5 opponents they tell a completely different story. He’s averaging just 5.9 yards per attempt, 10.5 yards per completion, 198.3 yards per game, has a 115.14 passer rating and is completing just 55.7-percent of his passes in those games.
Those numbers would all rank between No. 71 and No. 99 in the country if expanded out through the season. Even if you took out the Michigan game due to the heavy rain, Book would still rank 81st in completion rate, 91st in passer rating, 97th nationally in yards per attempt and 97th in yards per completion based on his numbers against Power 5 opponents.
That has been the frustrating part of his season, and combined with an inconsistent run game it has slowed down an offense that was supposed to fuel the team this season.
AJ: The Irish are loaded both on the offensive line and in the skill position areas. Who are some names BC fans should look out for on Sunday?
BD: Let’s start outside.
Senior wideout Chase Claypool has been Notre Dame’s best offensive player this season, and he’s currently playing the best football of his career. During the last three games - which were wins over Virginia Tech, Duke and Navy - Claypool caught 20 passes for 332 yards and five touchdowns.
He’s a unique player in that he’s big enough (6-4 1/2, 228 pounds) to play a hybrid tight end role, but he’s athletic enough to be a matchup nightmare on the outside. He’s made plays down the field, after the catch and he’s been virtually impossible to defend on back shoulder throws, at least when the ball is thrown accurately.
He’s had a hard time staying healthy, but when he is on the field sophomore wideout Braden Lenzy has been a major playmaker. His first career catch went for 52 yards, and his second career catch was a 22-yard touchdown. He had a 51-yard touchdown on a reverse against USC and had a 70-yard touchdown reception against Navy. His 13 touches this season have gone for 278 yards (21.4 YPT) and three touchdowns.
Junior tight end Cole Kmet has flashed big-time ability this season, but he’s caught just two passes for nine yards in the last two games with defense’s focusing a lot of attention on him.
Up front, Notre Dame is missing its two most experienced blockers, with right guard Tommy Kraemer and right tackle Robert Hainsey both going down with season-ending injuries. Left tackle Liam Eichenberg is a talented blocker that has played at a high level all season, but in recent games he’s eliminated some of the mental mistakes that plagued him early in the season. When Eichenberg is playing clean ball he is without question Notre Dame’s best blocker, and you can see why some NFL Draft analysts project him as a first-round pick.
AJ: ND's run defense looks suspect, and BC can run a team out of a stadium if they get going. How do you think the Fighting Irish will attack AJ Dillon and David Bailey on Saturday?
BD: It depends on which version of the Notre Dame run defense shows up. Will it be the unit that gave up 303 yards to Michigan or 249 yards to Louisville, or the unit that held Georgia to just 152 yards, Virginia Tech to 96 yards, Duke to 95 yards and Virginia to just 4 yards?
The run defense has been quite good in the last three games, so the hope for Notre Dame fans is that the inconsistent unit has finally found its groove.
Defensive coordinator Clark Lea likes to mix up his run stunts, but in recent games he hasn’t used as many as he did early in the season. While Notre Dame hasn’t had as many tackles for loss, it has also limited big plays in the run game. Against BC’s potent run game I expect him to be a bit more aggressive.
The key for Notre Dame is two-fold. One is the front four has to play well. Notre Dame needs senior end Khalid Kareem to be on top of his game, and the talented interior players need to be as impactful as they have been the last three games. The second part of that is the safeties need to be disciplined and tackle well, which has been an issue at times this season.
I expect Notre Dame to attack with its front four in hopes of getting its linebackers free to run downhill, which they’ll need to do if they want to handle the size/speed combo that Dillon and Bailey bring to the game.
AJ: The X Factor for ND is.....
BD: Ian Book.
I’ve been frustrated with his play this season, but the fact is when Book is on his game the offense is very hard to defend. In the last two games - wins over Duke and Navy - Book has been far more aggressive attacking the defense down the field, something he has been unwilling to do for much of his career.
If Book is aggressive against Boston College then the only hope for the Eagles is to win a shootout, because Notre Dame is going to score. There are just too many weapons for that not to happen. Between the size and power of Claypool and Kmet, the third-down prowess of fifth-year senior Chris Finke, and the speed of Lenzy, sophomore receiver Lawrence Keys III and sophomore tight end Tommy Tremble, there’s too many weapons for Notre Dame when Book is on his game.
We saw that last season as well. When Book comes out sharp and aggressive the offense can roll good defenses. When he comes out rushing through his progressions and unwilling to push the ball downfield, the offense sputters and struggles to score even against mediocre defenses.
As Book goes, so goes the Notre Dame offense.
AJ: Does hearing the name David Gordon still make you queasy?
BD: Yes! But it’s not just about the fact it kept Notre Dame from its 12th national title. That was the last golden age of Notre Dame football. From 1988 to 1993, a span of six seasons, Notre Dame went 64-9-1, with one national title (1988), five Top 10 finishes and four Top 5 finishes.
Notre Dame went 6-5-1 the next season and has never gotten back to that type of dominance. In the 25 seasons that followed that loss to BC, Notre Dame has not won a national title, has just three Top 10 finishes, two Top 5 finishes and just six season with at least 10 wins.
That’s why a strong finish to 2019 would mean so much for the Irish. If Notre Dame wins it out would mark the first time since 1991-93 that it had three straight seasons with at least 10 wins and would mark the first time since 1992-93 that Notre Dame finished with back-to-back Top 10 finishes.
AJ: Do you have a score prediction?
BD: I have Notre Dame winning 55-27.
Boston College will likely have some early success running the ball, and I would expect a big shot or two in the pass game. But defensive coordinator Clark Lea has been excellent at making adjustments, and when an offense is one dimensional - which Boston College has been in my view since Anthony Brown went down - he usually has his unit playing at a very high level.
The question then is will Notre Dame continue the strong play on offense we’ve seen the last eight quarters. If Book plays like he did last week the Irish will put Boston College away in the second half.