Key Takeaways From Notre Dame's Win Over Duke: Offense

It was often sloppy, but the Notre Dame offense did what it needed to do to come away with a season opening victory over Duke. There was plenty to chew on from the victory, with some of it being positive, and some of it being concerning.

Let's look at the key takeaways from the win.

BOOK STRUGGLES OUT OF THE GATE

Quarterback Ian Book's season opening performance in 2020 looked a lot like his performance last season against Louisville. It looked a lot like the performances we saw from him last season against quality defenses, and make no mistake, Duke has a quality defense.

Book locked in on his initial target far too often, he didn't work through his progressions, his footwork in the pocket was rushed, his pocket awareness left much to be desired and he showed an unusual lack of touch on throws that a player with 23 career starts under his belt should not be making. We also saw a quarterback completely unwilling to attack down the field, much like we saw last season against the Cardinals.

As we have become accustomed to over the last year, head coach Brian Kelly defended his quarterback and blamed all of his struggles on working with a bunch of new players. That excuse, however, falls a bit flat when you consider that six of the seven players that caught passes yesterday are players who Book has played with in the past, and thrown passes to in the past. To add to that, the reality is working with new players shouldn't have all that much to do with areas where Book struggled.

Take his interception for example. He locked in on Tremble, who caught a lot of passes from Book in 2019, and didn't see the defender standing right in the throwing lane. Book rushed the throw, it got tipped and picked off in the end zone, which negated the 75-yard catch and run from Williams the play before.

None of what went wrong on that play can be attributed to a new receiver or Book not being on the same page. That is a QB 101 type of read, and Book missed it, something we saw often yesterday. The reality is a veteran quarterback should be far more poised and far more effective at going through his reads than what we saw from Book yesterday no matter how many new players surround him.

Having said that, it's just one game. Was it concerning? Yes. Am I ready to say nothing has changed? No, not yet. Book has two more games against really bad teams (South Florida, Wake Forest) to get right, get his timing down with the "new players" and build on his game one struggles. Perhaps struggling in the opener can provide him with some fuel to lock in and play better. It would help if his coaches held him accountable for those struggles instead of dismissing them, but perhaps that is Kelly's public stance, and perhaps he'll be much harsher with his criticism of his veteran quarterback in private.

GAME PLAN WAS QUITE CONSERVATIVE

The game plan from first-year offensive coordinator Tommy Rees was conservative and a bit disjointed, although I'm not overly surprised when you consider it was his first game as the official OC, there was a threat of rain and he was working with new players in new parts. The excuse that Kelly used about Book would fit better as a justification for Rees than it is his quarterback.

Rees seemed unwilling to call deep shots, and many of the deep routes that were called on Saturday against the Blue Devils seemed to be more about clearing out underneath throws than they were about taking deep shots. Duke loaded the box against Notre Dame at times, and when they weren't loading the box they were aggressively attacking the run game, and Rees didn't do enough to threaten that.

There were two calls that I really liked that did attack the pressures. The first was the screen pass to Jafar Armstrong off the fake reverse. The second was the quick screen outside to Kyren Williams. There was a third screen that would have gone for another huge gain if Book didn't miss the throw. The fact Notre Dame's screen game was so effective was one great sign that did come out of this game. The next step is getting more aggressive down the field.

Notre Dame also worked at a relatively slow pace offensively, and if an offense is going to do that the design needs to utilize more motions, shifts and other pre-snap maneuvers in an attempt to gain leverage or numbers advantages, especially with the run game. We will need to see more of that in future games.

The inability to establish any kind of between-the-tackles run game was especially disappointing, especially when you consider Duke had so many new players up the middle. There also didn't see to be a lot of setting up in the game, which means running certain plays and looks and then using them to set up other opportunities. I'll study the game plan even more later today as I break the film down again, but moving forward I want to see a bit more cohesion from the game plan and play calling.

RUNNING BACK DUO IMPRESSES, BUT WORK IS NEEDED

The bright spot was the play of the Notre Dame running backs, sophomore Kyren Williams and freshman Chris Tyree. The duo combined for 25 carries and 132 yards, which is impressive when you consider how ineffective the line was in the run game for much of the contest.

Yes, there are things the two will need to clean up from a decision making standpoint, and the pass protection especially needs to get better, but overall this was a strong intro for the young backs. As bad as Williams was in pass protection for much of the game, he did step up and deliver a good block on Book's touchdown pass to Avery Davis, which was a huge play in the game.

Williams ran hard early in the game even when there wasn't much room to work, which was a great sign. As the holes opened up a bit more he was more effective. Tyree also didn't get much room to work, but every time he touched it you just felt that if he got room he could rip off a long one. I would still like to see what Tyree could do with a screen pass like the one we saw go to Williams for 75 yards. I have a feeling Tyree would have put six points on the board.

Position coach Lance Taylor will need to get in the film room and clean some things up, especially in the pass game, but he has to be pleased with the effort, toughness and production from his young backs.

Armstrong showed a burst on his screen run, so if the backfield can get him back to his 2018 form this could end up being an outstanding running back group.

OFFENSIVE LINE IS INCONSISTENT IN THE OPENER

Notre Dame's offensive line was facing a very good Duke defensive line, especially on the edge. Despite that, I expected more from the line, especially in the run game. We heard all summer and throughout fall camp how good the line looked, but in the opener we saw a line that looked too much like its 2019 self.

There was too much catching and not enough firing off the ball with force in the run game. This allowed an aggressive Duke front seven to be far more disruptive than it should have been. There were some good moments, but the struggles of the line - especially from right guard Tommy Kraemer - will need to get cleaned up in a hurry.

Simply put, Notre Dame has too much talent up front to not perform better in this game, opener or not. This is a unit with over 100 returning career starts, I expected it t be more physical than we saw on Saturday.

The pass protection wasn't great early on, as Eichenberg and right tackle Robert Hainsey had a battle on their hands with Duke's edge rushers. I felt the Duke players got the advantage early, but the Irish blockers settled in as the game wore on. It was an expected back and forth affair between really good tackles and really good ends, but I felt the Irish blockers would have performed a little better than they did. That's more about high expectations than a true evaluation of their play. At the end of the day the tackles didn't allow a sack.

WIDE RECEIVER UNIT NEEDS RE-WORKING

I didn't like the receiver lineup coming into the game and I don't like it coming out of the game. The unit got open enough for the pass offense to be more effective than it was, but it also didn't battle as well as it should have. The route running wasn't aggressive, they didn't handle the physical Duke corners very well and players were miscast.

I can't figure out why Joe Wilkins Jr. was playing in the boundary and Javon McKinley was playing to the field. Neither is ideally suited for those roles. Wilkins had a quality day, hauling in four passes for 44 yards, but there were too many instances where he got jammed up at the line, and he's not quite strong enough to thrive against those looks, which are harder to execute to the field.

McKinley lacks the burst to really thrive at the field position, and he didn't look comfortable in the game. It was also obvious the offense wasn't featuring him at all. Put him into the boundary and let him use his size and physicality there, and then move Wilkins and Ben Skowronek (when he comes back) to the field. Do that and I think all three players will be in better positions to maximize their talents.

The receiving corps without Braden Lenzy lacked burst. Lawrence Keys III was the only wideout that showed the ability to run by anyone. I know Kelly loves playing veterans, but the fact is freshmen like Xavier Watts and Jordan Johnson bring a burst and level of athleticism the receiving corps was clearly lacking, and just getting Lenzy back won't fix that, especially with Lenzy's inability to stay healthy.

If Watts and Johnson only know three routes, fine, put them in and let them run those three routes, and get them a screen or two. That's what programs like Ohio State and Clemson do routinely, especially against opponents like Duke.

The offense needs juice, and the reality is three of the four most explosive receivers on the roster were standing on the sidelines the entire game. One with a reported injury (Lenzy) and the other two because of coaching decisions. One you can't fix (injury), the other two you can. If Notre Dame doesn't work Watts and Johnson into the mix the next two weeks against inferior opponents, and I'm talking getting them in with Book, it will be a huge mistake by the coaches.

TIGHT END POSITION GROUP IS LOADED

Notre Dame has a loaded tight end position group. Tommy Tremble was sloppy in the pass game, but still managed to haul in five throws for 38 yards. His blocking was excellent and he's poised for a big season. Freshman Michael Mayer showed why many people like myself believe he was the best tight end in the 2020 recruiting class.

This duo combined for eight catches and 76 yards, and that's just the beginning. With all due respect to Brock Wright, the Tremble/Mayer combination needs to not just be the future of the position, it needs to become the present.

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content, our premium message board and gets you a FREE subscription to Sports Illustrated! Click on the link below for more

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes.
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Follow me on Parler: @BryanDriskell
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter