Game Observations: Notre Dame Defense Makes Big Plays To Put Away Cal

Analysis of the Notre Dame defense from its 24-17 victory over California

Notre Dame earned its first victory of the 2022 season by beating Cal by a 24-17 score. The Irish defense had some big miscues in the game, but around those plays there was a lot of really, really good football from the defense.

Here's my analysis of the Irish defense.

*** This was a much more aggressive game plan from coordinator Al Golden. Notre Dame was very aggressive with its pressures all game long and the coverages were also a bit more aggressive, taking away much of the quick game from the Cal offense.

*** Cal had some early success running the football, but Notre Dame started to bring its backs inside more, which allowed the ends to be a bit wider and allowed them to do a more effective job setting the edge, which played a big role in the Irish shutting down the Cal ground attack. The Bears finished with 112 yards on the ground but much of that success came from quarterback scrambles in the pass game.

*** That was without question the biggest issue of the game, the contain that allowed Cal quarterback Jack Plummer to constantly convert with scrambles. Notre Dame's inability to finish sacks and plays behind the line prevented the defense from truly dominating and shutting Cal down completely.

*** Notre Dame's defensive line had some big misses, which will have to get cleaned up, but that unit took over this game throughout. Notre Dame's defense finished six tackles for loss and four sacks, and the defense had a number of other run stuffs in the game. The defensive line was especially good in the second half, and made some huge sacks and stops late when Cal tried to tie up the game.

*** Senior defensive tackle Jacob Lacey had the best game of his career, finishing with five tackles and two sacks. Lacey was quick off the ball, used his hands effectively to get off blocks and the spin move he used to register his second sack was a thing of beauty. 

*** Lacey wasn't the only interior standout in this game, and the entire interior group was excellent. Howard Cross III was solid up the middle and Jayson Ademilola bounced back with a big performance. Ademilola used his quickness effectively and his block destruction was much better. Ademilola was in the backfield multiple times, and nose guard Chris Smith was very physical at the point of attack.

*** Isaiah Foskey didn't do much in the first half, but he was much better in the second half. He had a huge fourth quarter sack late in the game and he had several edge pressures, but he will need to improve not over pursuing and opening up inside run lanes. Justin Ademilola also had a strong performance and NaNa Osafo-Mensah had a couple noticeable plays where he set the edge effectively.

*** Notre Dame's linebackers were aggressive on run stunts, and I'll have to watch their film to really break them down, but I saw a lot of missed run fits, poor angles and missed tackles. This was especially true in space against the quarterback and perimeter throws.

*** Cornerback Cam Hart gave up a touchdown pass on a blown coverage and a late pass interference, but outside of that he was quite good. He looked sharp, healthier and he was very aggressive breaking on throws today. Veteran cornerback Clarence Lewis also had a very good game, but like the edge players he had a huge missed sack in the game. Lewis timed a corner fire very well but whiffed on the quarterback and allowed him to get outside for a big gain.

*** Freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison had a strong performance in the game. Nickel TaRiq Bracy had another strong performance in the slot.  I'll need to go back and watch the safeties, but they had several flash plays in the game. DJ Brown filled very well against the run but also had a bad roughing penalty late in the game. 

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