Game Observations Of The Notre Dame Defense From The Win Over UNLV

Notre Dame picked up a 44-21 win over UNLV, which got the Irish back on track. The Irish defense was brilliant for a half and played a big role in the victory. Here are my thoughts on the game.

*** The performance of the Notre Dame defense was a tale of two halves. In the first half the Irish were dominant outside of one long run early in the game. Notre Dame gave up a 73-yard run on the second drive, but outside of that they allowed just 62 yards of offense in the first half. The line dominated up front and harassed the UNLV quarterback and run game.

*** In the second half, however, we saw a defense lose focus and struggle to execute. After playing a crisp first half, including good open field tackling and effective play on the edge, both at the point of attack and on the perimeter, the second half saw the Irish struggle with both. UNLV was able to rip off a few more long runs, the linebackers had too many bad fits and the tackling was once again a major issue. UNLV also found some success in the pass game behind the backers and in front of the safeties in the second half.

*** In the first half the defense did a great job handling all of the mis-direction that UNLV likes to employ. They made good reads and kept good leverage against the jet sweeps and perimeter screens. Notre Dame's defenders did a great job in the first half of staying outside and forcing the perimeter runs to the sidelines, and forcing the perimeter screens back inside where the help was.

*** Defensive end Isaiah Foskey had a bounce back game after struggling a week ago against Stanford. He had two sacks in the first half and another in the third quarter. He had multiple other pressures that kept the UNLV signal callers from getting into rhythm. UNLV had zero answers for Foskey in this game.

*** Getting nose tackle Howard Cross III back to good health was a positive for Notre Dame, as the senior defender had an outstanding performance. UNLV had a very hard time with his quickness and he was impactful as a pass rusher and disruptive in the run game. This was arguably the best career game for Rylie Mills as an interior player. He's had some strong performances on the edge, but Notre Dame used him more inside in this game, and Mills responded with a strong performance against the run and pass.

*** One of the inconsistencies in this game was the play of the big end position, which had some troubles setting the edge this game. Senior NaNa Osafo-Mensah had multiple snaps where he failed to stay outside against the run, which allowed UNLV to get outside of him. You saw this in the second long run of the game.

*** Defensive coordinator Al Golden used his linebackers a bit differently in this game. He did more run stunts in the first half, which played a role in the improved play from that unit. Outside of their failure to get over on the first long run, the backers played a strong first half. This benefitted linebacker Marist Liufau more than others. Liufau had two bad plays, both on the first half touchdown run, but outside of this his first half was his most effective and disruptive of the game. When Golden allowed him to attack downhill, Liufau was very, very good. He also made a great read to blow up a slip screen. The defense of the UNLV screen game was one of several bright spots for the defense, and the linebackers played a huge role. Sophomore Prince Kollie also blew up an early screen with a great read early in the game.

*** The performance of JD Bertrand was up and down, but overall it was arguably his best game of the season. There is still a lot of work to be done, but Bertrand was a bit more downhill and effective attacking the run game. He was a bit late reacting on multiple snaps, which continues to be one of the issues for the linebacker unit.

*** Notre Dame's safety play was disappointing in this game, especially when it comes to tackling in space and driving on in breaking routes.

*** Notre Dame's corners did a good job protecting the deep ball against UNLV, and the Rebels couldn't get much going on the outside. Getting cornerback TaRiq Bracy back was important and he had a strong early break up. Benjamin Morrison was a bit inconsistent with his transitions, but he was able to recover and not get beat. Cam Hart was often late reacting in this game, but he caught some breaks by the UNLV quarterbacks being off target on some early throws against him. The corners were inconsistent getting off blocks on the edge.

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