Game Observations: Notre Dame Defense vs. South Florida
Notre Dame had a dominant 52-0 victory over South Florida, and the Irish defense was brilliant in the performance.
Here is my instant analysis of the Notre Dame defense from the win:
*** Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea, the defensive staff and the Irish defensive players deserve a great deal of kudos for this victory. Not only were they dominant, but they had to do it despite facing a great deal of adversity. On Thursday, the Irish learned they would be without two starters on that side of the ball (TaRiq Bracy, Shayne Simon), and several key contributors were ruled out on game day (Marist Liufau, Ovie Oghoufo). To make matters worse, the Irish would be without star safety Kyle Hamilton due to the ankle injury he suffered the game prior. Notre Dame was also without junior defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola.
*** Despite those losses, Notre Dame absolutely dominated the Bulls, limiting them to just 231 yards of offense while pitching a shutout. I don't care who the opponent is, when you lose that much from your defense, and lose them that late in the week, and you shut out a FBS opponent that's an outstanding performance. The Irish gave up just 88 yards in the first half.
*** Sophomore linebacker Jack Kiser was the third string Buck linebacker through Wednesday's practice, but after the loss of Simon and Liufau he was thrust into the starting lineup. The Indiana native thrived, racking up eight tackles and two tackles for loss. There are parts of his game that Kiser will need to clean up, which is expected, but he played aggressive, he played hard and he was productive.
*** One issue Notre Dame had with the Buck linebackers in the opener was not closing off the cut back lanes, but Kiser thrived in that department. He played with surprising assignment discipline when you consider his youth and lack of experience playing the position. Remember, Kiser was a quarterback and free safety in high school. He made his presence felt early, making a crucial open field tackle on third-down of the game's second drive, forcing a USF punt on South Florida's best drive of the opening half.
*** Overall, I thought Kiser's run fits were sound and he was stronger at the point of attack than I thought he would be at this point in his career. One area that he'll definitely need to clean up based on this game is being more disciplined on the backside in the pass game, both on play-actions and on crossing routes. He also got sucked inside on a read zone in the third quarter.
*** Part of the reason for Kiser's success was USF did a lot to try to avoid veteran linebackers Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and Drew White. The vets played solid football, and the convincing victory allowed the Irish staff to limit their overall snaps, which should benefit the team moving forward. Owusu-Koramoah had a couple of snaps where he got pinned inside, but he was active in the game. White's angles to the ball were not sharp in the game.
*** I didn't see much of junior rover Paul Moala, but on the few snaps where he did flash he impressed. That included a strong force play, which caused the USF back to bounce outside, where sophomore safety KJ Wallace was there to bring the back down for a loss. Moala won't get credit for the tackle for loss, but he had a key role.
*** Up front, there weren't any standouts that I saw from the standpoint of an individual just taking the game over. What I liked about this performance was the strong overall play from the unit. Despite not having key rotation players up front (Ademilola, Oghoufo), the line dominated at the point of attack.
*** South Florida rushed for 302 yards in the opener but had just 106 yards on the ground against the Irish. The Bulls rarely had room to work, and 42 of those yards came on just one run, and the Bulls didn't get over 100 yards on the ground until after Notre Dame pulled its starters from the game.
*** Senior end Adetokunbo Ogundeji was strong on the edge against the run, with one exception. The same is true for Daelin Hayes. Sophomore Isaiah Foskey had more flash plays in this game, including staying home backside on a fourth-down fake, forcing the quarterback out of the pocket before chasing him down for a drive-ending sack.
*** Inside, the veterans held up well, getting a good push in the run game and handling double teams effectively. I felt nose tackle Kurt Hinish was especially productive. I didn't see much of Jacob Lacey in the first half, but he started to flash in the third quarter. He had a strong inside slant win to help create a tackle for loss and had a pass break up in the game.
*** Freshman end Alexander Ehrensberger got into the game late when the Irish were up big, and he made a sack on the first play of his career. He also had a snap where he played a Power Read play perfectly, jumping the back and blowing him up near the goal line. He forced the quarterback to pull, and he had no room to run. Ehrensberger is raw from a technique standpoint, but he has impressive size, length and he played with a great motor.
*** Freshman end Jordan Botelho had a hurry in the game and was active on special teams. He almost blocked a punt early and recovered a blocked punt in the third quarter for a touchdown. He showed an excellent burst off the edge as a pass rusher. Freshman defensive tackle Rylie Mills got a lot of action with Ademilola out, and he had his moments as well. He needs to do a better job working his feet when he's double teamed, but Mills also showed good quickness off the ball.
*** Sixth-year safety Shaun Crawford had a bad miss in space early, which resulted in USF ripping off a 42-yard run. Crawford is missing far too many tackles so far this season. We saw this problem last week as well.
*** Freshman cornerback Clarence Lewis was thrust into the starting lineup with Bracy out, and all things considered he performed quite well. He misplayed on a comeback route and guessed a couple times in coverage, but USF isn't good enough to take advantage. But Lewis had plenty of good moments as well. He undercut a third-down crossing route and also played a deep ball incredibly well, ending with break ups on both throws. Those were two of his three pass break ups in the game, which is quite good for a first-time player at the position.
*** What I was most impressed by with Lewis was how physical and aggressive he was, especially in the run game. He had five tackles and a tackle for loss in the game, and he constantly beat blockers to get to the ball.
*** Sophomore Cam Hart was a bit inconsistent, playing the ball, and he caught a break not getting flagged at one point in the game. Hart also had some good coverage moments as well, including breaking up a pass in the end zone during the third quarter. He'll need to clean up his technique a bit, but he showed some impressive tools in the game.
*** I felt junior safety Houston Griffith and sophomore safety KJ Wallace both had quality performances. Wallace was active coming downhill and made good reads. I didn't see him much in coverage, but in the limited snaps in coverage he was solid. I was most impressed, however, with his willingness to fly downhill in the run game. Griffith was very active coming downhill as well, and he finished with five tackles in the game. He was disciplined, in good position and effective as a run and pass defender.
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