Game Observations - Offense: Notre Dame Beats South Carolina 45-38
Noter Dame earned a big Gator Bowl win with a 45-38 win over South Carolina. The Irish were out-played early, battled back and thoroughly outplayed the Gamecocks in the second half.
Notre Dame outgained South Carolina 559-362.
FIRST HALF
*** Notre Dame's run game struggled to get much going early against a South Carolina defense that was clearly prepared for Duo. The only success inside Notre Dame had in the first quarter and a half was a Jet sweep (outside), a quarterback draw with a kick out (great block by Blake Fisher), an outside counter to the quarterback and a counter run to Chris Tyree that took advantage of the inside emphasis by South Carolina. Notre Dame's line didn't get much early push and Logan Diggs didn't hit the holes with a lot of authority.
*** Notre Dame needs to do more to get the ball outside with its run game.
*** What the offense did well, however, is get the ball outside with its pass game. The Jet Sweep to Braden Lenzy was important, but they hit several boots and slides before the home run to Diggs that went for 75 yards. Notre Dame struggled attacking in this area for much of the season, so being able to get the QB outside in the run game was helpful, and Buchner was at his best throwing off platform to the outside where he had open receivers. South Carolina knew Notre Dame didn't attack this area during the regular season so they weren't ready for it. Tommy Rees did a very good job figuring out ways to get the ball outside in the first half. I'm curious to see how South Carolina adjusts, and if that can open up things inside for the Irish.
*** Wideout Jayden Thomas had quite a first half. He caught three passes for 39 yards, and his catches were impressive. He was open several other times but the ball was off target or didn't come.
*** QB Tyler Buchner had an interesting half. He missed on some really easy throws, and had some missed reads as well. On the second and goal where he missed Deion Colzie on the backline he had tight end Mitchell Evans open on a crossing route that would have likely gotten inside the 5-yard line, if not down to the goal line. Buchner also had a tough time finding the backs open on a couple of quick wheels. He just wasn't sharp sitting in the pocket and making throws. This combined for a very inefficient performance.
*** What Buchner did quite well, however, was make plays with his legs and make plays off platform and off script. Stepping up and hitting Evans on a seam to convert a 3rd-and-15. Hitting Thomas in the flats on slides, hitting Diggs on a drag by dropping his arm down as he was getting hit to convert another third down, hitting Diggs by changing his arm angle. In the second half Buchner will need to make more plays within the structure of the offense, but the playmaking is a big reason why Notre Dame is still in this game.
SECOND HALF
*** Notre Dame was a different animal in the second half. The Irish offense still had too many misses on layups from Buchner, but Rees was in the head of the Gamecock defensive staff and the Irish offense seemed to always be one step ahead in the second half.
*** One of the biggest adjustments was starting to get outside more with the run game. There weren't any big runs, but we saw counters that were designed to go outside (the touchdown run by Buchner), we saw a few stretch plays and they kept running the jets and quick throws. That continued to soften up the interior of the South Carolina defense and ultimately led to them popping the 39-yard touchdown run to Diggs.
*** Buchner finally started hitting some outside throws. Braden Lenzy outran two South Carolina defenders on a post route for a touchdown, Jayden Thomas got open on a deep corner route off of boot away action, and even the misses served to soften up the SC defense. It was a very aggressive game plan from Rees in the second half. The post route to Lenzy was on the first play of a series in which the Irish started the drive in SC territory, it was clearly an attempt to take a shot due to the good field position, knowing they were starting the drive on the verge of two-down territory.
*** The game turned, however, with a play call that just got too cute. Notre Dame was up 38-31 and driving. The line was starting to wear South Carolina down and Audric Estime just ripped off a 26-yard gain to get the ball inside the 10-yard line. Rees tried a bit of a gimmick play that got Mitchell Evans the ball on an in cut out of a quads look. The quads look brought the backside backer over and he stepped in front of the Buchner pass, and Buchner never saw him.
*** Notre Dame followed that up with another great drive, mixing up the run game and quick perimeter pass game to put another scoring drive together. As bad as the red zone call was on the previous drive, Rees had a great play call to get Evans free for a touchdown. Notre Dame faked the quick slide outside that had worked all game, including for a third-down conversion to Chris Tyree just a few plays before. Buchner pulled up, looked back and found a wide open Evans on the backside for a score.
*** The Irish still had plenty of miscues in the second half. Buchner did a bit too much on his third quarter interception, he missed some easy layups and the pass protection was a bit inconsistent at times, but the big plays negated much of that.
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