Game Observations Of The Notre Dame Offense From The 35-14 Win Over Clemson

Notre Dame improved to 6-3 with a dominant performance against 4th-ranked Clemson (8-1). The Irish offense was not sexy, but it was physical, efficient, limited mistakes and did what it needed to do to earn an impressive team win.

Here are my thoughts and analysis of the win.

*** Coming into the game I didn't think there was any chance Notre Dame could basically repeat the performance it had against Syracuse. By that I mean simply pound the ball with limited production from the pass game. Notre Dame did just that, as the Irish physically beat up Clemson the entire game.

*** From a run game standpoint, offensive coordinator Tommy Rees did a very good job mixing up his rushing attack. The overall philosophy from previous games was there, but Rees did a better job mixing up his looks and run schemes. We saw plenty of Duo, but Rees also used a heavy dose of Inside Zone, and that allowed the backs to rip off a number of cutback runs. That also helped make the Duo runs more effective. We saw some Outside Zone and the Irish added a G Wrap play that was effective. Formationally, Notre Dame did a very good job of protecting the edges, which prevented Clemson's talented edge players and the edge pressures they like to use from being effective.

*** Rees also did a good job early of using 21 personnel to get running back Chris Tyree in space in the pass game. We also saw Tyree rip off a good cutback on an Inside Zone, which is his bread and butter.

*** Running backs Logan Diggs and Audric Estime were outstanding in the win. Both backs ran with authority, showed patience and ran with great authority. Their ability to make defenders miss behind the line and also run through tackle attempts allowed them to churn out positive yards all game long. Diggs also showed good vision to see the outside bounces and cut back lanes. Estime was hard to bring down and on multiple runs he made a defender miss behind the line, turning a potential negative into positive yards. Even when Clemson knew they were going to run the backs attacked downhill and got yards.

*** Notre Dame's offensive line was brilliant. They pushed Clemson's vaunted defensive line around all game long. The inside movement was excellent, the tackles were great on the edge and the tandem blocking was as good as it's been since 2017. They got a body on a body all game long and did a great job of driving their feet at the point of attack and staying on blocks. There were plenty of snaps where Irish blockers were knocked back, but they were able to anchor, keep their feet working and stay engaged, which allowed the backs to still get positive yards even when the line didn't get a great push.

*** That was about as physically dominant of a performance from a run game against a team like Clemson that I've seen in a very, very long time. It was reminiscent of the performances we saw from Harry Hiestand's Joe Moore Award winning offensive line back in 2017.

*** Pass game wise, it wasn't a great performance from quarterback Drew Pyne, who once again had snaps where he missed reads that should have been easy, including an inside post to Mitchell Evans that should have set up an inside the 10-yard line situation. Pyne did make some clutch throws, including an impressive throw to Jayden Thomas on an out cut where Pyne was rolling to his right and had a defender in his face. Pyne also used his legs to avoid sacks and pick up positive yards, which played a big role in the win. It wasn't sexy, but Pyne played hard and was a positive for the offense on the whole when you take the game plan into account.

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