Notre Dame Blue-Gold Game: Final Observations - Offense
It was great being back inside Notre Dame Stadium for the annual Blue-Gold Game, which was won by the Gold Team by a 13-10 score. It's a spring game and I don't put too much in it from a big picture standpoint, but that doesn't mean there aren't some takeaways from the actual game.
Here are my initial thoughts and observations after the game:
*** It was obvious that offensive coordinator Tommy Rees didn't want to show much in the game, especially with him down a quarterback, and the likely starter at that. Notre Dame's pass concepts were relatively vanilla, although I did like how much different screen work they did in the game.
*** At quarterback, Drew Pyne had a rough day. Obviously throwing multiple picks isn't a good sign, and talking to sources before the game this has been an issue for him for much of the spring. Pyne didn't look nearly as comfortable working through the offense as we saw in the fall. He was slow working through his reads, which caused him to be very late getting the ball out. That caused him to not get the ball out when he had open players, like on the first drive when he had a receiver breaking free inside but he wouldn't pull the trigger.
*** Pyne was rushing his mechanics all game and he wasn't setting his feet, which caused him to miss a lot of relatively simple throws that we've seen him make in games. I'm not sure how much having to play back-to-back-to-back series while playing for both teams impacted him, if at all, but he wasn't comfortable or confident in the pocket today.
*** His interceptions were really poor, either just bad decisions throwing into coverage or missing badly. His interception to Jordan Botelho is something I'm still trying to figure out. Both receivers were working inside and he threw it outside, and I can't think of what the call or concept would have been to make him think he was throwing outside. There was also a miscommunication on a red zone route with Deion Colzie and from what I could tell it appeared Pyne was the culprit.
*** We've seen Pyne play much better than this in real games, so a big part of me wants to brush this game off and not worry too much about it. But a small part of me is concerned because this is what I heard was an issue for him for much of the spring. Pyne isn't a super talented kid physically, so he needs to be confident and precise, and he wasn't either one of those things in this game.
*** It was actually freshman Steve Angeli that looked more poised in this game. Angeli obviously had some freshman moments with his progressions, but he was confident, poised and showed decent ball placement. His arm is solid and he handled the pocket well.
*** It wasn't the physical gifts that impressed with about Angeli today, is was the confidence with which he played, and how calm he looked during the game. The misses and the footwork can get cleaned up, but I was impressed with his command and demeanor in this game. Even when the Gold team had the ball and the clock was winding down he didn't rush, he didn't look out of sorts, he calmly made the throws and then on the final play showed some guts to tuck the ball and race for the end zone, knowing the game was over after the play, whether he scored or not.
*** I liked what I saw from the running backs. There were some missed cuts that went outside, but overall they ran hard and they made good decisions. They were efficient with their feet and when they had room to run they maximized yards.
*** Freshman Jadarian Price is a very, very explosive football player. He showed off home run speed but his ability to plant his foot in the ground and get vertical was quite impressive. He missed some reads but the young man showed big-time potential in this game.
*** Sophomore Audric Estime's numbers won't blow you away (13 carries, 59 yards) but he ran very well. He showed impressive leg drive, his agility and ability to make quick cuts stood out and he's not a guy that is easy to bring down with just one guy. As the line comes together and continues to improve he has a chance to put up really big numbers behind this unit.
*** Classmate Logan Diggs did some nice things but he has to play within the system a bit better. He gets the ball and starts looking for where to bounce. He needs to show more patience than he did today, at least as a runner. We only saw one carry from Chris Tyree but it was impressive. He made a great read on a counter, got vertical, picked up 10 yards and finished it with authority.
*** Veteran Brady Lenzy did some nice things in this game. He is clearly stronger, which he showed on the jet sweep where he lowered his shoulder and ran over a defensive back. He made an impressive back shoulder catch as well and while his releases still need work, they were better. He was open twice on in breaking routes but the ball never came his way. I want to see him catch the deep in that went over his head, but that ball was out too far and high. I want to correct Lenzy and say go get it, but the ball also needs to be inside more.
*** Sophomore Jayden Thomas really caught my eye today. He's not a super explosive athlete but he's very smooth and he's a confident football player. His ability to make plays after the catch was something we saw from him as a junior in high school but injuries slowed him down the last two years. His ball skills flashed today and he played with a lot of confidence, which I noted above. He should have had a touchdown on a scramble play. Thomas turned up and was wide open but the ball was woefully under thrown and ultimately broken up. If he keeps playing like he did today there is no doubt he'll help this football team in the fall.
*** Classmate Deion Colzie did some nice things as well. He should have had a touchdown but there was a miscommunication with the quarterback on the route. Colzie had a couple of nice grabs and at times showed more confidence as a route runner, but other times he just didn't seem to play with a lot of urgency, or perhaps they are snaps where he still isn't sure what he's doing. It was a positive step for Colzie but I need to see him play more aggressively and with a bit more zeal.
*** I liked what I saw from much of the offensive line. I thought they battled and competed in the game. As we discussed in the preview show, I expected to see technical mistakes and assignment mistakes, especially with the unit not playing together in the form that it had all spring. But the compete level was there and there were several holes to work through. The line was effective in the screen game as well. I'll have more on the line after I go back and rewatch the game, but I did like how the unit competed.
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