First Half Analysis: Notre Dame Leads Wake Forest 17-7

Notre Dame leads Wake Forest 17-7 through the first two quarters, but it was an overall sloppy half for Notre Dame. Both teams missed field goal attempts, and the Irish defense allowed Wake Forest's low-ranked offense to move the ball on the final two drives.

NOTRE DAME OFFENSE

*** There was a lot to like about the game plan in the first half for Notre Dame, but the execution was poor and the defense's struggles limited possessions.

*** A key for Notre Dame was to attack down the field, and the game plan called for that. Unfortunately, until Sam Hartman finally connected with Tobias Merriweather in the second quarter for a 35-yard touchdown, they just couldn't connect. Hartman badly missed Merriweather on an outside go route due to pressure on the second drive, he had Chris Tyree open over the middle on a failed third down but he never saw him, and a corner route that Tyree appeared to catch for a 28-yard gain was overturned on replay.

*** Notre Dame also moved the pocket and used play-action effectively in the game's first half. We saw RPO's used effectively, and another potential good gain on a RPO to Tyree was dropped.

*** Notre Dame attacked the intermediate zone more effectively in this game, using in breaking routes and deep overs effectively. Not only relying on the short meshes opened those routes up, but also resulted in the crossing routes being more open by taking the linebackers deeper in their drops.

*** Hartman missed several opportunities for even more yards in the first half. He rushed far too many of his reads, and he either threw late (the TD to Merriweather is an example), or was unwilling to pull the trigger on open receivers down the field. On the second touchdown drive, Hartman took a cross to Holden Staes, but he had Rico Flores Jr. open behind him for what would have been a bigger gain.

*** Hartman's struggles showed on the final field goal drive, where twice he missed open one-on-ones that could have gone for big plays, if not a touchdown. He had Merriweather on a one-on-one post route, but he took a shorter throw. He also had Eli Raridon open on a corner route in the end zone against a much shorter defender, but Hartman failed to look at the presnap match, which should have taken him backside where Raridon was running his route.

*** Notre Dame didn't get a call in properly, or it wasn't called correctly on the field, which forced a late timeout. Hartman then forced a ball he shouldn't have that resulted in the Irish having to do a second spike and forcing a field goal. The drive started off well, but the poor communication and missed opportunities by the quarterback stalled the drive.

*** The Irish run game was inconsistent in the game, with the line failing to get a consistent push. Even on Notre Dame's 21-yard gain that converted a 3rd-and-2, Audric Estime initially got hit behind the line because the line got knocked back, but he kept working his feet and made a big play. Estime has maximized the yards that were there, however, and he's playing good football. Fellow running back Gi'Bran Payne missed a read on a 3rd-and-4, but the Irish converted the fourth-down attempt on a crossing route to Flores.

NOTRE DAME DEFENSE

*** The defense had a strange first half. On the first two drives Notre Dame dominated Wake Forest in the trenches, and the Deacons had -5 yards of total offense. The next two drives, however, were poor. Notre Dame was undisciplined and failed to make necessary stops.

*** The biggest disappointment of the first half was the failure to shut down the run game. Wake Forest's run game is not very good, and it rushed for just 7 yards a week ago against NC State. Against Notre Dame, however, the Deacons have 74 rushing yards in the first half alone.

*** Notre Dame failed to get contain on multiple plays, which allowed Wake to have success with its outside zone runs, and also opened up a big gain by the quarterback on a scramble. Senior end Jordan Botelho had an especially tough time on the edge in the first half.

*** The inside backers are struggling to properly flow and get over the top on outside runs as well, which allowed Wake to gash the defense on the final two drives of the half, both ending deep in Notre Dame territory. Jack Kiser seemed to not be comfortable with his decisions, and linebacker Marist Liufau got blocked far too easily in the game. He did have a good early pressure that forced a throw away, but Liufau struggled in the run game.

*** Wake Forest attacking outside also slowed down the Notre Dame pass rush, which gave the quarterback more time to throw on the final two drives.

*** The lack of discipline and contain allowed Wake to have two big plays on tricks, and both should have been shut down.

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