Game Observations - Offense: Notre Dame Beats Syracuse

It wasn't always pretty, but the Irish did what they needed to do to beat Syracuse.

Offensively, the numbers will look good, but this was an instance where Notre Dame simply out-talented a far inferior opponent. The game plan was basic and did little to attack Syracuse's pressures early in the game, and the execution wasn't where it needed to be at every position.

It seemed Syracuse had a read on many of Notre Dame's runs based on either motion or the back alignment. There were a lot of carries, especially outside runs (outside zone, jet sweeps) where Syracuse crashed hard at the snap right at the run.

*** Quarterback Ian Book was quite erratic in the victory. Like the offense as a whole, his numbers will look much better than his actual performance. Book didn't handle the Syracuse pressures well, often moving into trouble, and the pressures forced him to rush his throws or lock into receivers too much. He was uncharacteristically inaccurate on throws he normally makes with ease.

*** Book not working through his progressions resulted in him missing a number of players coming open, especially over the middle of the field. He just didn't show the necessary anticipation needed. One example was a second-down run in the second quarter where Book took off, but had he worked through his progressions he would have seen a window over the middle for Avery Davis.

*** Book was short on a number of throws today. He underthrew Joe Wilkins Jr. on the opening drive, and the drive ended with an underthrow on a corner route in the end zone. Both balls should have still been caught, but they were not good throws by the quarterback. Book's interception was also a bad underthrow, but he also failed to read the defense after the snap and never saw the backside safety coming over. He did that kind of locking in all game, but on that play Syracuse had the right call and took advantage of it.

*** Where Book shined was as a playmaker. His second and third touchdown throws to Javon McKinley were excellent outside shots, and Book made two impressive scrambles that went for scores.

*** Sophomore running back Kyren Williams had a rough first half for the Irish. Williams had several missed missed reads and he was far, far too impatient as a runner. His pass pro was inconsistent but he did haul in three passes.

*** The second half was a completely different story. Williams was more patient, and when the holes opened up he exploded through them. Williams had more room to work in the second half and he took advantage. With that space he was able to get his legs moving, picking up a lot of yards after contact.

*** Freshman running back Chris Tyree had just one carry in the first three quarters, but on his second carry of the fourth quarter he raced 94 yards for a touchdown. It was a great read by Tyree, who cut the inside zone to the backside and then perfectly set up and read the second level block by tight end Brock Wright as he outraced the defense to the end zone.

👋👋👋👋

📺 @NDonNBC #GoIrish x #BeatOrange
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— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) December 5, 2020

*** Senior wide receiver Javon McKinley got off to a rough start, as he dropped what should have been a touchdown on the opening drive. The ball was behind and the sun got in his eyes, clearly, but it's a play he has to make.

*** That was the end of McKinley's struggles, as the veteran played exceptionally well for the Irish for the remainder of the game. McKinley finished with 111 yards to go with career highs of seven catches for three touchdowns.

*** McKinley made two impressive touchdown grabs on vertical throws, out-playing the corner for the first of those scores and beating the corner deep on the second. His first touchdown was on a catch-and-run after catching a short throw and turning it into a 21-yard gain.

*** McKinley also had some chain-moving type catches that weren't as flashy, but they set up other scores.

*** Veteran wideout Ben Skowronek caught a short cross route early and turned it into a 29-yard gain, but he didn't do much the rest of the game, and he had a drop.

*** Freshman tight end Michael Mayer caught five passes but had just 36 yards. Most of his catches were on short throws, and Book didn't see Mayer on a couple of downfield throws that could have made both of their stats more impressive.

*** Mayer had a big mental mistake on a fourth down where he caught the ball right near the first down marker, but instead of just pushing forward for a first down he tried to make a cut, which lost him yards and resulted in Notre Dame turning it over on downs. Mayer was trying to make a play, and as a coach you like that, but the lesson he'll learn is sometimes just make the simple play.

*** The Irish offensive line once again had a new look, and the unit took awhile to get going. Syracuse, like North Carolina, attacked the Irish line with a number of stunts, and for the most part the unit picked those up relatively well.

*** It was a slow start for the line, who got very little movement for much of the first two and a half quarters, and there were a few too many pressures right up the middle. Joshua Lugg - who made his first-ever start at center - had a hard time early getting rolling in the run game, and the Syracuse defensive tackles got under his pads far too often in the pass game.

*** Left tackle Liam Eichenberg and guard Aaron Banks also had too many misses in the first half, which added to the sluggish run game.

*** The unit got better in the second half, and even before they really started wearing Syracuse down you could see the unit getting more and more on the same page. The movement in the fourth quarter was impressive, and the line started to find its groove. Notre Dame ended the game with 283 yards, thanks in part to a 94-yard run by Tyree. But even with that long run, racking up 283 yards on the ground in a game where your line didn't really play well and took time to get going is still pretty impressive.

Note: Video highlights courtesy of the Atlantic Coast Conference

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