Keys To Victory For Notre Dame When It Takes On North Carolina
Notre Dame (1-2) will look to build some momentum this weekend when it heads to North Carolina (3-0). The Fighting Irish earned their first win of the season this past weekend, and it squares off against the potent Tar Heel offense in hopes of beginning a win streak.
Notre Dame will be challenged in all aspects, and there are a number of very intriguing matchups to look for. In our most recent podcast we broke down the keys to a Notre Dame victory in all three phases of the game.
Here's a quick look at the keys.
NOTRE DAME OFFENSE
Notre Dame's struggling offense needs to wake up against a UNC defense that has been as equally bad, if not worse. Here are the keys to the Irish offense getting rolling.
1. Control The Line Of Scrimmage - This is the top key on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame controlled both lines against California, and it needs to play even better against the Tar Heels. Notre Dame's offensive line took a positive step forward last week, and now it really needs to take it to a defense giving up almost 40 points per game and almost 200 rushing yards per game.
Giving quarterback Drew Pyne is also important, and the line will also play a key role in establishing the attitude of the team in this game.
2. Move The Chains - Notre Dame has one of the worst third-down offenses in the country through the first three games. Notre Dame's inability to sustain drives has played a huge role in this team's inability to put points on the board.
Against North Carolina the Irish need to have strong early down success on the ground and through the air, and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees needs to establish third-down weapons not named Michael Mayer, something we haven't seen so far this season.
3. Win On The Perimeter - This involves a few areas. One is to continue spreading the defense out formationally, something we saw a lot more of last week against California. The Irish need to spread UNC out in order to create more space in the run game. Getting the ball out to the perimeter with the run game, screen game and pass game is also very important.
Winning on the perimeter is also about the personnel. Notre Dame's receivers need to block much better than we've seen so far this season, Rees needs to create a more effective perimeter RPO game, and the wideouts need to start winning more battles off the line and to start winning more contested throws.
4. Create Big Plays - Moving the chains is part one of scoring more points, but Notre Dame must start making more big plays. Obviously the pass game is area number one where this must become of the utmost priority against North Carolina. If Irish wideouts Lorenzo Styles and Braden Lenzy can hit a big play or two it could serve to soften up the box numbers you can be sure UNC will employ. Start ripping up UNC in the pass game and you'll see the ground attack get more room to work, and that's when the big run plays come.
NOTRE DAME DEFENSE
This is the good on good matchup, and the Irish defense will have their hands full. Here's a look at keys to the defense slowing down the potent Carolina offense.
1. Control The Line Of Scrimmage - We finally saw the Notre Dame defensive line show up last week against California, and the unit needs to at least be as good against the Tar Heels. That means setting the edge effective and controlling action up the middle in the run game. Notre Dame cannot allow UNC to get its ground attack going, because a balance UNC offense is one that is very, very hard to stop.
North Carolina is 15-4 the last three seasons when it rushed for at least 175 yards. That means the Heels are 2-7 in games when they rushed for under that mark. It's not easy to accomplish, but from a strategy standpoint it is that simple.
2. Do Better With Leverage And Contain - Notre Dame has had a rough time getting out-leveraged on the perimeter, and it's had an even tougher time keeping contain on the perimeter. North Carolina will absolutely look to exploit this, and it's not out of what they already do to accomplish that.
3. Limit Big Plays - North Carolina will attack down the field and look to rip off big plays with its screen game and ground attack. Notre Dame needs to make the Tar Heels work for their yards. A season ago Notre Dame gave up way too many big plays, and that allowed North Carolina to stay in the game that in many ways Notre Dame dominated.
Notre Dame limited those plays after the first couple of series in the 2020 matchup, which combined with dominating the trenches to allow the defense to hold North Carolina to just 17 points and 298 yards of offense, both lows that season.
4. Tackle, Finish - It's simple, Notre Dame needs to tackle much better than it has in recent games. UNC will look to get the ball in space, and Notre Dame must limit yards after contact. When the defense gets chances to bring the UNC backs and quarterbacks down in the backfield they must finish off those plays.
NOTRE DAME SPECIAL TEAMS
The keys for special teams are the same each week. Help win the field position battle and do no harm. In this game, however, it would be good to see the special teams create a big play that either generates points or puts the Irish offense in position to quickly punch one in.
Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge
Irish Breakdown Content
Notre Dame 2022 Roster
Notre Dame 2022 Schedule
Notre Dame 2023 Class Big Board
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Offense
Notre Dame 2023 Commits Board - Defense
Notre Dame 2023 Scholarship Offers
Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Offense
Ranking The 2022 Signees - Defense
———————
Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.
Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!
Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @CoachD178
Follow me on Gettr: @IrishBreakdown
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook
