Key Takeaways From The Notre Dame Victory Over Georgia Tech: Offense

Notre Dame earned a 31-13 victory over the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets this weekend. The Fighting Irish are certainly going to take the win, but it wasn’t the cleanest game of the year. Offensively, the Irish had some very strong moments and areas, but there is also a lot that will need to be coached up on here.

Here are my key takeaways of the performance of the offense from the victory.

Third-Down Success Continues

Notre Dame has been an outstanding third-down offense for much of the season, and that continued against the Yellow Jackets. Notre Dame converted 10 of its 15 third-down opportunities, and its 21 third-down conversions in the last two games is the best two-game stretch of the Brian Kelly era.

When you break down the third-down offense it’s clear that Notre Dame’s staff has put in a lot of work to have a very intentional third-down game plan. When it’s a run down they execute well, and the pass game looks different on third-down than it does on most downs. It is obvious that Notre Dame spends a lot of time developing its third-down pass offense, and the results are obvious.

An example was on a second-down third-down conversion throw to wide receiver Avery Davis. Davis motioned inside and then worked back out in a stack alignment with the tight end. Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees had the tight end run a vertical route, and Davis followed behind him before breaking off outside, and he was wide open thanks to that clear out.

It would be a good idea for the offense to be as creative and intentional with its pass game in normal downs as it is on third-down. This staff clearly puts a great deal of practice and game plan emphasis on third-down, and week after week we see it pay off.

Secondary Offense Pays Off

We saw a bit more nuance from the offense against the Yellow Jackets. Rees called several screens, he ran a reverse, and he used the reverse action to manipulate the defense on base runs.

Notre Dame got a 20-yard gain on a quick swing screen in the second half, a 16-yard gain with a quick look screen and a 21-yard gain on a reverse. Continuing to add to this part of the offense would be a good idea for Rees and the staff.

The reverse call to running back Chris Tyree was especially impressive. On the snap prior, Rees had Tyree fake a reverse on an inside handoff. Wake Forest didn’t respect the screen at all, and the backside safety and linebacker both worked towards the run away. Rees immediately came back with the reverse call and it went for 21 yards.

It was an example of using one call to set up another based on how the defense responds. This is something I want to see Notre Dame start doing more and more, so it was a positive to see from the Irish against Georgia Tech.

Run Game Was Inconsistent

If you look at the numbers this was another impressive rushing performance for Notre Dame, but this is also why I have said time and time again that you can’t just look at numbers. The reality is Georgia Tech has an awful run defense, and the film of the rushing performance wasn’t as impressive as the numbers.

Quarterback Ian Book had 46 rushing yards, and they all came on scrambles on pass plays. Tyree’s 21-yard gain had nothing to do with the run blocking. Notre Dame rushed for 163 yards on 34 actual run calls, which went for 4.8 yards per attempt. Those are decent numbers, but it’s below what Notre Dame is used to doing this season, and it’s not up to par against a team as poor against the run as Georgia Tech.

Notre Dame’s backs and the interior of the offensive line both played below the standard they’ve set in previous games.

From the front, we saw strong play from the edge, but the interior blockers did far too much catching and didn’t play with the same physicality we saw the previous five games. Georgia Tech’s front were aggressive and beat the Irish blockers too the point far too frequently. They were able to still open up holes at times due to having such a significant talent and size advantage, but they need to play better moving forward.

The running backs ran hard, but there were too many missed holes/reads. Kyren Williams putting the ball on the ground could have been a game-changing play against a better opponent. Williams has now put the ball on the ground three times this season, losing two, and both came early in the game and resulted in points for the opponent. This needs to get cleaned up ASAP.

Notre Dame is starting to have more issues protecting the edge in the run game, especially the backside, so there will need to be some adjustments to handle this against better opponents.

Red Zone Pass Game Needs Work

When Notre Dame ran the ball in the red zone it scored, when Notre Dame tried to throw the ball in the red zone it didn’t work nearly as well. Yes, the Irish got a touchdown pass on its first red zone drive, but the run game got them down inside the 10-yard line.

With Notre Dame up 14-7 in the second quarter, the Irish got into the red zone on the back of a pair of Tyree runs and an Ian Book scramble. Notre Dame then threw three straight passes, all fell incomplete and they had to settle for a field goal.

Book finished the game 1-4 in the red zone.

Working through the film, Notre Dame needs to make some dramatic improvement to its pass concepts in the red zone.

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