Notre Dame Must Build On Its Strong Pass Game Finish
Notre Dame has not been an explosive, elite offense for quite some time. There have been times the offense was in fact explosive, either in the pass game (2015) or run game (2017), but it always had some fatal flaw that kept the unit from being elite.
When looking at the Notre Dame pass game, the 2021 season showed what the pass game can be when it finally gets going. The strong finish to the 2021 campaign has certainly intrigued me in regards to what it can be moving forward.
Over the next few days I'm going to break down the pass game and discuss why we should be optimistic about it, what changed in 2021 and what must continue to change or evolve for the offense to take that final step and for the pass game to be a key part of it.
And don't worry, for those of you screaming at the computer, "What about the run game???" We'll have something on that as well, because Notre Dame must be very good at both to have an elite offense, and offensive coordinator Tommy Rees knows this.
STRONG START
Notre Dame's pass attack started the 2021 season off with a bang, with Jack Coan shredded Florida State for 366 yards and four touchdowns. If not for a late drop on the final drive of regulation those numbers would have been even better, and Notre Dame wouldn't have needed overtime.
A week later Coan and freshman Tyler Buchner combined to throw for 317 yards and three more scores in a win over Toledo.
ROUGH PATCH COMES
The next month of the season, however, saw the pass game struggle mightily.
After averaging 341.5 yards and 9.4 yards per attempt (68.5% completions) in the first two games, the pass game sputtered to the tune of just 230.6 passing yards and 6.7 yards per attempt (56.1%) over the next five games.
Notre Dame scored 36.5 points in the first two games but managed just 28.8 (and just 24.6 on offense) over the next five games.
LATE SEASON SURGE
Things started to pick up in the win over North Carolina, as the offensive line finally figured out how to give Coan some time to throw, and it allowed Rees to expand and evolve the pass attack.
Over the final six games of the season Coan and the pass game took off. The expanded attack, which included greater emphasis on certain concepts and more use of perimeter RPOs, shredded opponents down the stretch.
Notre Dame averaged 306 passing yards per game and 8.8 yards per attempt (68.4% completions) in the final six games, which included 509 yards and five touchdowns in a 38-35 loss to Oklahoma State. That Cowboy defense came into the Fiesta Bowl ranked 11th nationally in pass defense, 12th nationally in yards per pass attempt and had given up just 12 touchdown passes all season.
A case can be made that part of the success was due to playing poor opponents down the stretch, and there is some truth to that, but Oklahoma State also had plenty of problems handling the Notre Dame scheme.
In 12 regular season games and in the Big 12 title game the Cowboys allowed just one player to top 100 yards all season. Notre Dame had three different players go over 100 yards (Kevin Austin, Lorenzo Styles, Chris Tyree) and star tight end Michael Mayer also hauled in seven passes for 72 yards and a pair of scores.
Notre Dame averaged 40.2 points per game, 492.3 yards per game and 7.2 yards per play during the final six games of the season.
For context, let's take a look at where those numbers would rank Notre Dame if it was the season-long averages.
40.2 PPG - 6th
492.3 YPG - 7th
7.2 YPP - 3rd
306.0 Pass YPG - 13th
8.8 Pass YPA - 14th
163.03 Passer Rating - 9th
The improved pass attack also greatly aided the run game, which never really improved from a structural or execution standpoint. Notre Dame shredded opponents with the throwing game made it much harder for teams to get enough numbers in the box to shut down the run game.
After averaging just 107.7 rushing yards per game and 2.99 yards per carry in the first seen games, the Irish offense averaged 186.3 rushing yards and 5.59 yards per rush in the final six games.
When you think about the 2022 season the expectation is the run game will be much better thanks to the return of eight players with multiple career starts, a talented backfield, the proposition of having an athlete like Tyler Buchner at quarterback and the return of Harry Hiestand.
This season the run game will be able to balance things out and protect the pass game, which should make the offense even more dynamic and efficient, which should allow the offense to be effective against all opponents, not just the bad ones.
Notre Dame's hiring of Chansi Stuckey was hopefully a move towards helping the receivers learn how to play the position the way you expect top programs to develop that position. Notre Dame also returns a very young but talented group of receivers, one of the best tight ends in the nation and a group of backs that can do damage out of the backfield.
There are many reasons for optimism when looking at the possibility of the Notre Dame offense finally making the big jump forward.
Tomorrow I'll dive into more specifics of how and why the pass game improved. On Wednesday I'll discuss what remains for the pass offense to be even better.
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