First Half Analysis: South Carolina Leads Notre Dame 24-17

South Carolina leads Notre Dame 24-17 at halftime of the Gator Bowl. After being thoroughly outplayed in the first quarter (21-7), the Irish rebounded and outscored South Carolina 14-3 in the second quarter. Notre Dame will start the second half with the football.

NOTRE DAME OFFENSE

*** Notre Dame's run game struggled to get much going early against a South Carolina defense that was clearly prepared for Duo. The only success inside Notre Dame had in the first quarter and a half was a Jet sweep (outside), a quarterback draw with a kick out (great block by Blake Fisher), an outside counter to the quarterback and a counter run to Chris Tyree that took advantage of the inside emphasis by South Carolina. Notre Dame's line didn't get much early push and Logan Diggs didn't hit the holes with a lot of authority.

*** Notre Dame needs to do more to get the ball outside with its run game.

*** What the offense did well, however, is get the ball outside with its pass game. The Jet Sweep to Braden Lenzy was important, but they hit several boots and slides before the home run to Diggs that went for 75 yards. Notre Dame struggled attacking in this area for much of the season, so being able to get the QB outside in the run game was helpful, and Buchner was at his best throwing off platform to the outside where he had open receivers. South Carolina knew Notre Dame didn't attack this area during the regular season so they weren't ready for it. Tommy Rees did a very good job figuring out ways to get the ball outside in the first half. I'm curious to see how South Carolina adjusts, and if that can open up things inside for the Irish.

*** Wideout Jayden Thomas had quite a first half. He caught three passes for 39 yards, and his catches were impressive. He was open several other times but the ball was off target or didn't come.

*** QB Tyler Buchner had an interesting half. He missed on some really easy throws, and had some missed reads as well. On the second and goal where he missed Deion Colzie on the backline he had tight end Mitchell Evans open on a crossing route that would have likely gotten inside the 5-yard line, if not down to the goal line. Buchner also had a tough time finding the backs open on a couple of quick wheels. He just wasn't sharp sitting in the pocket and making throws. This combined for a very inefficient performance.

*** What Buchner did quite well, however, was make plays with his legs and make plays off platform and off script. Stepping up and hitting Evans on a seam to convert a 3rd-and-15. Hitting Thomas in the flats on slides, hitting Diggs on a drag by dropping his arm down as he was getting hit to convert another third down, hitting Diggs by changing his arm angle. In the second half Buchner will need to make more plays within the structure of the offense, but the playmaking is a big reason why Notre Dame is still in this game.

NOTRE DAME DEFENSE

*** Many of the issues that plagued Notre Dame all season were evident again in the first half against South Carolina. The Irish, for much of the season, have struggled to stop pass-oriented teams from running the football. South Carolina didn't tun it a ton, but when they did they had enough success to keep the Irish off balance.

*** Linebacker player has been an issue all season and that also continued in this game. Missed tackles, bad penalties, being out of position, getting no depth over the middle in the pass game and turning a tight end loose on a play-action pass from the wildcat alignment were the major first half mistakes by the Irish. We also saw JD Bertrand in a Cover 2 look work out to the No. 3 receiver and stop despite not getting threatened in his zone. A well-coached LB would have ridden No. 3 vertically. He didn't and it allowed an easy seam completion in front of the safety for a third-down conversion. These types of mistakes by the linebackers were constant in the first half.

*** Notre Dame's inability to fix its linebacker issues after a month off is very troubling. Not just for the second half of this game, but also for next season. This must be addressed by head coach Marcus Freeman during the offseason.

*** The linebackers and safeties both had issues getting out to the flats, which allowed South Carolina to get some each check down completions, negating good pressure at times, and in the second quarter negating good downfield coverage.

*** I'll need to watch film to see the specifics, but the defensive line as a whole got a good push against the run. Many of the mistakes that allowed good runs were the linebackers not getting into gaps and giving up too much ground. The front also started getting more consistent pressure on the quarterback in the second quarter, something that will need to continue in the second half.

*** Outside of the first touchdown, which was a poor angle by DJ Brown, the Irish handled the quick perimeter screens.

*** Safety Xavier Watts got beat on a 2nd-down slant on the first series, but later he had a crucial pass break up in the end zone. Watts had excellent underneath coverage on a seam route and stayed between the wideout and the quarterback the entire time.

*** A positive from the defense was how well it played the trick plays from South Carolina for much of the half (on defense, special teams is another story).

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