Game Observations - Offense: Notre Dame Blasts NC State

RALEIGH, NC - A weather delay and a slow start on offense couldn't stop Notre Dame (3-0) from dominating NC State (1-1) on the scoreboard as the Irish rolled to a 45-24 road win. The Irish offense was erratic in the win, but it did what it needed to do, and we saw some big plays in the victory.

Here is my instant analysis of what I saw from the Notre Dame offense.

NOTRE DAME OFFENSE

It was an interesting game for the Notre Dame offense, which put up good numbers, but it was erratic for much of the game. There were some very good takeaways and positive signs in the game, but also plenty of negatives that will need to be improved upon moving forward. At the end of the day, however, the offense put together scoring drives or made the big plays when they were needed most.

*** Notre Dame was very heavy with its tight end alignments today, running 12 personnel more than any other group, and we saw a good dose of 13-14 personnel as well. This allowed NC State to keep a lot of numbers in the box, and for the first half, and part of the second half, Notre Dame's run game was exclusively between the tackles, and very A-B dominant. This allowed NC State to create too many negatives and stuffs in the run game, at least early.

*** OC Gerad Parker used the play-action game with the tight ends very well in the second quarter and second half. The tight alignments made it tougher to be efficient running the ball, but it did open up some big plays in the pass game, including a 40-yard touchdown to Holden Staes on a play-action, and another to Davis Sherwood for a 10-yard touchdown.

*** There was one wrinkle in the run game I liked, and it worked in a big way. Out of 12 personnel, Notre Dame lined up in a Twins over look, but they took left tackle Joe Alt and put him to the side of the twins. That meant he was lined up right next to Blake Fisher. Notre Dame ran Power out of that. The first time they ran it we saw Jadarian Price go for 9 yards, and he was one player away from taking it for a long score. Notre Dame came right back to that play out of the long delay, and running back Audric Estime hit it for 80 yards and a touchdown. Very good design and execution out of that look.

*** My biggest beef with the play-calling was a 3rd-and-2 run in the second half that killed a drive that Notre Dame really needed to keep going. The Irish went 14 personnel, NC State loaded the box and they ran a mis-direction play, but NC State had too many defenders in the box and they couldn't seal the backside, which resulted in a tackle for loss and killed the drive. Outside of that the play-calling was solid most of the time, good at other times and had a few really well called action throws.

*** Notre Dame's pass game was very sloppy in the first half, and things didn't get off to a much better start in the second half. The line struggled to protect quarterback Sam Hartman, who also wasn't as crisp going through reads and getting the ball out today. He was pressured too much, and on the strip sack the line gave up a late pressure, but Hartman needs to protect the ball better or get rid of it. The pass game did make some much needed big plays, including a 65-yard gain to Chris Tyree on a scramble play that set up the final touchdown of the first half, a 45-yard gain to Tobias Merriweather that flipped the field, and the 40-yard touchdown Staes.

*** I'll need to go back and watch the film, but it appeared there were receivers coming open at times, but there were too many miscues. Either a pressure was allowed, a receiver dropped a pass (Jayden Thomas), Hartman didn't see someone open (Jeremiyah Love on a second quarter wheel route) or the timing wasn't where it needed to be. Merriweather also had a crucial third-down conversion on the opening drive of the second half, but a rookie mistake by Greathouse cost the Irish on the play and forced a punt a play later.

*** In the run game, the backs thrived in the game, often times in spite of the blocking being subpar, or at least inconsistent. The runs were slow moving at times, but the backs were able to grind out yards. Estime, Love and Price combined for 189 yards on 27 carries, and the youngsters (Price, Love) provided the early spark before Estime got going. When Estime ripped off his 80-yard score he had one yard on his three previous carries.

*** Up front, the Irish offensive line wore NC State down late, which allowed them to add some good yards and put the game away late. Prior to that, however, the line did not play well. Early in the game they were slow off the ball and failed to keep moving their feet, with the guards being the primary culprit. Both Rocco Spindler and Pat Coogan had big misses early on, and Spindler stopping his feet, or taking contact instead of delivering were his big problems early in the game. Right tackle Blake Fisher also struggled in the game, especially in the first half. Will have to go back and break the film down further, but the line was far too inconsistent in this game for the offense to play at peak form.

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