Midweek Musings: Notre Dame Run Game - Then and Now
Thoughts on Notre Dame football and the latest with College Football
COMPARING THE HIESTAND vs. QUINN TENURES
Notre Dame's run game is off to an abysmal start, and it has proven to be quite costly for the Irish offense this season. It has sparked a number of interesting debates about the offense, the coaching, the talent and a much more.
So how bad has it been? Notre Dame is averaging just 80.8 rushing yards per game and has been under 140 rushing yards in all five games.
One of the more interesting aspects are those who rush to the defense of current coach Jeff Quinn by offering up unconvincing, and often lazy analysis of Quinn's performance compared to former line coach Harry Hiestand.
I've seen people try to point to yards per game or use very flawed stats in regards to "big games" in a misguided attempt to prove Quinn was Hiestand's equal, and in some instances his superior. The lack of context and the spin coming out of many of these arguments is laughable.
I won't pretend to know people's motivations, but I figured I might as well give my thoughts on this discussion with proper context to the discussion.
Let's not forget the fact that when Hiestand took over in 2012 the Irish were still recovering from the brutal line performances of the Charlie Weis era. In the three seasons prior to Hiestand taking over the Notre Dame offense averaged 138.7 rushing yards per game and 4.2 yards per attempt.
Hiestand was hired in part to completely change over the rush offense. Notre Dame went from a gap scheme in 2011-12 to a zone scheme, so there was a philosophical shift that had to happen. By the time Quinn took over Notre Dame had inherited the moniker of "O-Line U." In the three years prior to Quinn taking over the Notre Dame offense averaged 214.8 rushing yards per game and 5.5 yards per attempt.
In Quinn's first three seasons the offense has averaged 190.4 rushing yards per game and 4.8 yards per attempt, that was before the current debacle.
If you take out Hiestand's best season (6.3 YPC in 2017) and Quinn's worst season (2.4 YPC in 2021) both coach's oversaw run games that averaged 4.8 yards per carry. If you add in those two seasons the overall yards per carry number is 5.0 YPC for Hiestand's teams and 4.5 YPC for Quinn's teams.
If you're making an honest argument and you're not discussing the context of the numbers of the two periods then you're trying to prove a preconceived point and not arguing in good faith. It puts into context why Quinn's numbers his first three seasons were better than Hiestand's first three seasons, as the former Irish line coach had to improve the program's recruiting at the position and was completely overhauling the run game, whereas Quinn was tasked with building on the brilliance of the Hiestand era.
The differences in offensive philosophy are often being ignored in these conversations. Notre Dame was a far more pass-oriented offense in 2013-14 before committing to the run game more beginning in 2015. That's why yards per attempt are a better barometer than yards per game if someone is being honest and objective.
Here are the yards per rush during the Hiestand tenure:
6.3 YPA (2017)
5.6 YPA (2015)
4.9 YPA (2012)
4.5 YPA (2016, 2013)
4.3 YPA (2014)
Here are the yards per rush during the Quinn tenure:
5.0 YPP (2020)
4.9 YPA (2019)
4.4 YPA (2018)
2.4 YPA (2021)
The two best rushing seasons under Hiestand were significantly greater than the best under Quinn, and it's not even close.
Proper context of this discussion should also account for an offense having a mobile quarterback, or not. It also doesn't account for plays that aren't necessarily part of the rushing offense (sacks, team losses, etc). So I looked at the stats for the top three running backs each season and looked at the yards per rush.
Here are the yards per rush numbers for the top three backs of the Hiestand tenure:
7.0 YPA (2017)
6.6 YPA (2015)
5.7 YPA (2012)
5.4 YPA (2016)
5.2 YPA (2013)
4.8 YPA (2014)
Here are the yards per rush numbers for the top three backs of the Quinn tenure:
5.7 YPA (2018)
5.6 YPA (2020)
5.1 YPA (2019)
3.6 YPA (2021)
Again, there's a dramatic difference between the success from the running backs in the Hiestand tenure than there was in the Quinn era.
Prior to this season the one area where Quinn had a very, very slight advantage was giving up fewer sacks, even though Hiestand coached multiple seasons where the offense was more pass oriented than anything we've seen the last four seasons. But prior to 2021 the Irish offenses gave up 1.7 sacks per game under Quinn while giving up 1.8 sacks per game under Hiestand.
How about when the Irish were facing top rush defenses.
Here's the yards per game and yards per attempt against Top 40 rush defenses:
Hiestand Era
2012 (4 games) - 202.5 YPG - 4.9 YPC
2017 (3 games) - 197.0 YPG - 4.7 YPC
2015 (6 games) - 185.8 YPG - 5.5 YPC
2016 (6 games) - 177.5 YPG - 5.3 YPC
2013 (6 games) - 129.8 YPG - 4.4 YPC
2014 (5 games) - 120.0 YPG - 4.3 YPC
Quinn Era
2018 (2 games) - 135.5 YPG - 3.2 YPC
2020 (4 games) - 126.5 YPG - 3.2 YPC
2019 (5 games) - 100.0 YPG - 3.5 YPC
These numbers aren't even close.
How about numbers vs. ranked opponents?
Hiestand Era
152.5 YPG - 4.4 YPA (27 games)
Quinn Era
136.5 YPG - 3.8 YPA (13 games - 2018-20)
124.1 YPG - 3.6 YPA (15 games - 2018-21)
Even without looking at the 2021 season, which has been abysmal thus far from a run game standpoint, there is no argument anyone can make that the line play or the production from the run game has been on par with the Hiestand tenure.
Let's not forget one key aspect of all of this discussion. In 2018 all five starting linemen were recruited by Hiestand and were coached by him for at least one season. In 2019-20 four of the five starting offensive linemen were recruited by Hiestand and coached by him for at least one season. In 2021 there is only one Hiestand recruit that was also coached by him left on the roster, Josh Lugg. This offensive line is the very first to be dominated by Jeff Quinn recruits that were only coached by Jeff Quinn.
But I'm sure that's just a coincidence, right? Just as much of a coincidence as the reality that Notre Dame's best offensive line of the last four seasons, by far, was the 2020 unit that was not only built on the back of Hiestand recruits, but it was also the year that Chris Watt - a Hiestand discipline - was part of the staff.
BIG WEEKEND OF COLLEGE FOOTBALL GAMES
The number of undefeated teams has diminished greatly in the last two weeks and there are three games where undefeated teams face tough tests, including one matchup that is guaranteed to put a blemish on one team's undefeated season. The fact Notre Dame plays at night means I get to watch all of them, which makes for an exciting weekend!
#6 Oklahoma vs. #21 Texas - 12:00 PM ET
Oklahoma is 5-0 but they are winning games in a similar fashion to what Notre Dame was doing prior to their defeat, and that is winning ugly, close games. It's FBS wins this season are by 5, 7, 3 and 6 points so far, including a 6 point road win over Kansas State, who was without their starting quarterback.
Texas got smashed by Arkansas but bounced back with three straight wins. Its 32-27 road victory over TCU was preceded by a 58-point win over Rice and a 35-point win over Texas Tech. Texas has been much better on offense but they will be challenged by an improved Oklahoma defense.
The Red River Rivalry (I miss the old name) is going to be a battle, and a win by the Longhorns will make it hard for an unbeaten team to come out of the Big 12.
#2 Georgia vs. #18 Auburn - 3:30 PM ET
I had serious questions about Georgia until last weekend. Watching the Bulldogs destroy Arkansas despite not having JT Daniels was one of the most impressive wins by any team this season, if not the most impressive. Georgia is arguably the best team in the country right now, and it will face another test this weekend.
On paper this game shouldn't be close, but Auburn is a gritty team under Bryan Harsin. They battled Penn State and played their tails off to earn a win at LSU last weekend. Of course it also needed a late rally to beat Georgia State.
Georgia is a 15.5-point favorite and I am going to predict them to win this game, but I'm at least going to watch this and see if the Bulldogs are going to keep rolling, or if they look past the Tigers. This game begins an interesting three game stretch that includes undefeated Kentucky and Florida.
#4 Penn State vs. #3 Iowa - 4:00 PM ET
Someone is going to be knocked off the list of unbeatens. Penn State has earned some gritty victories this season while Iowa is smashing teams. This is almost always a competitive game and I expect it to be one again this weekend. I'm going with the home team but this will be a fun game to watch.
TWEET OF THE WEEK
Santa Ana (Calif.) Mater Dei had a huge 42-21 victory over St. John Bosco in a game in which they trailed early before pulling away in the second half. Notre Dame commit CJ Williams had two touchdown receptions in the game. He was interviewed afterward and you can see just how impressive he is as a young man.
VIDEO OF THE WEEK
Notre Dame must get its offense rolling this week. This week we broke down what the Irish can do in the run game and pass game to get rolling against Virginia Tech.
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