Notre Dame Blue-Gold Game: Final Observations - Defense
Notre Dame's defense was clearly the better unit in today's Blue-Gold Game, and that was true for both the Blue and Gold teams. I spent more time today looking at the offense, so I'll have more after breaking down the film, but here are my initial thoughts and analysis from the defense.
*** I was impressed with the improvement fundamentally from the defense. Both teams (Gold and Blue) used their hands well, flew to the football, took very good angles and for the most part did a great job reading playing action and screens.
*** Defensive coordinator Al Golden showed a lot more than we saw on offense, and I liked what I saw. We saw a number of different fronts but it was based almost exclusively out of four-down personnel. The defense showed excellent gap awareness and integrity in the run game and they were rarely out of position. The tackling was also much better.
*** Junior Rylie Mills looks extremely comfortable playing on the edge, and he was outstanding in the game today. His quickness off the ball is impressive, his block destruction stood out and he racked up three tackles for loss. His sack was a play where he showed very good awareness of the play-action, he sniffed it out and blew up the play. Sources have told IB that he had a very good spring, and this was the type of work that was said about Mills, his ability to make plays in the run and pass game as a big end.
*** Senior Howard Cross III is undersized and his weight continues to be something I get asked about in shows and on the Irish Breakdown message board. But today you saw why the coaches at Notre Dame are so high on him. What Cross lacks in size he makes up for with top-notch quickness and his hand strength/block destruction is outstanding.
*** Sophomore Gabriel Rubio did some solid things in the game. He held up well at the point of attack and his ability to get off blocks stood out at times. Rubio tends to stop his feet at the point of contact, which needs to improve, but I was encouraged by what he showed today. Rubio really battled inside. I also liked what I saw from senior NaNa Osafo-Mensah. His hips are a bit tight, but man he plays hard and he made some plays today.
*** I didn't watch Jacob Lacey much today but when I did he looked good. He's thicker than he was a year ago and was strong at the point of attack. I also didn't watch Osita Ekwonu much, but that didn't keep him from catching my eye. He showed a really nice burst off the edge and he plays really hard on the edge for a guy that doesn't have great size. Freshman Aiden Gobaira is very thin, but his first step burst and his competitiveness were obvious today. I only noticed Josh Burnham once and it was on a snap where he exploded off the edge and smoked Tosh Baker off the edge to force the quarterback out of the pocket.
*** The linebackers were very, very good in this game. There is a lot of speed at the position right now.
*** Senior Marist Liufau has clearly filled out and his speed today was impressive. I'm not even talking about his interception, where he read the screen and made a great play on the ball. Just overall he flew around the ball and looked really good.
*** Freshman linebacker Niuafu Tuihalamaka was outstanding in the game. Tuihalamaka looked like a veteran with how fast he was to decipher the run plays, he showed impressive downhill speed and he arrived with force. He looks like a veteran physically, he's strong for his age and his instincts as a linebacker are exceptional. He is going to be very, very hard to keep off the field this fall.
*** Junior Jordan Botelho was all over the field as well. He made plays in the pass game and run game, and his explosiveness really stood out. Botelho racked up five tackles and had an interception in the game. When he comes off the edge he explodes to the football.
*** Sophomore Prince Kollie is another linebacker that really stood out. He looked comfortable at the position, making quick reads and his foot quickness was especially impressive. Senior Jack Kiser was around the ball a lot today as well.
*** Transfer safety Brandon Joseph is really, really good. His feel for the game is tremendous. He sniffed out runs, and routes and even showed the ability to run stunt and blitz. He was around the ball all game long.
*** Freshman Jaden Mickey and sophomore Ryan Barnes both stood out in the game. Barnes was especially good coming down against the run game, and he was smooth in coverage. He has to finish tackles better, obviously (last drive) but outside of that he was good. Mickey can run and he showed good route recognition in the game. He's extremely competitive.
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