Notre Dame Offense Must Show Improvement In Key Areas

It is no secret that Notre Dame must play better football on the offensive side of the ball if the program is going to become a team capable of competing for a championship. The offense has had its moments over the years, but when it mattered most that side of the ball has rarely been good enough to play on the big stage.

Notre Dame will have a much different look in 2023 from a personnel standpoint at the player level and coaching level. How quickly that group comes together is important, but Notre Dame offense must show improvement in some very key areas.

It's easy to say, "Score more points", but scoring is a byproduct of other aspects of your team. It's best to focus on those areas that lead to the yards and then points needed to be a dominant offense. That's the task that is in front of new offensive coordinator Gerad Parker.

Here are three areas where Notre Dame must make big strides in order to become that kind of offense.

1. Consistency In The Run Game - The Notre Dame run game sputtered in 2021, and it was wildly inconsistent in 2018 and 2019 as well. The unit was much better in 2020, but even then it couldn't thrive in the biggest moments. Notre Dame made big strides last season, making a jump of 49.1 yards per game and a half yard per run despite playing a much tougher schedule. It didn't start well, but once the line really started to embrace what then line coach Harry Hiestand wanted the line took off.

But as was the case in past seasons, it was still too inconsistent. In the final seven games Notre Dame had games of 281 yards (Boston College), 265 yards (South Carolina), 263 yards (Clemson), 246 yards (Syracuse) and 223 yards (UNLV). The other two games saw the offense rush for just 66 yards (Navy) and 90 yards (USC). In Notre Dame's four losses the offense rushed for just 111.5 yards per game and 3.5 yards per carry.

That lack of consistency has been an issue for some time, and it must get better. Notre Dame is a program that has to be dominant in the trenches to reach its full potential as a program, and continuing to build on that is important. Notre Dame had an outstanding line last season, and it should be good again in 2023 as well. That unit playing with consistency is important, but the run game thriving is beyond just the line playing better.

New line coach Joe Rudolph will be tasked with building on the foundation that Hiestand laid last season. Once the line figured out what Hiestand wanted it became a physical, punishing group. That must continue, and being even more assignment correct is important as well. Rudolph inherits a veteran center and arguably the best tackle tandem in college football. He needs to do what it takes from a coaching and personnel standpoint to get the line to take another step this season.

A dominant run game needs to be complemented by a more effective pass attack, which I'll discuss in the next point. Notre Dame has certainly upgraded its talent at running back, and the Irish boost one of the deepest and most talented running back rooms in the country. But you can't beat the Georgias, Alabamas and Ohio States of the world if your run game doesn't thrive, and it can't thrive in those moments without a strong plan, more diversity (again, see below) and a pass game that takes the pressure off.

2. More Efficient And Explosive Pass Game - Notre Dame needs a far more complementary offense in 2023 than it had in 2022. There were several reasons for the woes last season, but the reasons aren't relevant anymore. What matters at this point is that the improvements are made.

Notre Dame needs a pass attack that is far more efficient and explosive than it was in 2022, and what it has been for much of the past five years. Notre Dame ranked 37th in yards per pass attempt, 41st in yards per completion and 52nd in completion percentage last season.

In the last three seasons, the teams that played in the national championship game ranked between 1st and 12th in yards per pass attempt.

1st - Alabama 2020 - 11.0 YPA
5th - Georgia 2022 - 9.0 YPA
6th - Georgia 2021 - 9.3 YPA
9th - Alabama 2021 - 8.9 YPA
10th - Ohio State 2020 - 9.3 YPA
12th - TCU 2022 - 8.6 YPA

Notre Dame averaged just 8.0 YPA last season, 8.1 YPA in 2021, 7.9 YPA in 2020 and 2019, 8.0 YPA in 2018 (Ian Book was at 8.4 that season), and the offense averaged just 6.6 YPA in 2017. Yards per attempt is one of the best measures of efficiency in the pass game, and the numbers are clear, Notre Dame isn't anywhere close in that department.

The arrival of quarterback Sam Hartman should help quite a bit. He averaged 8.6 yards per attempt in 2022, 8.3 YPA in 2021 and 8.1 YPA in 2020. Hartman did this while playing in an offense that didn't have anywhere close to the run game support he'll get at Notre Dame, and with a defense that gave up 28.3 points per game in 2022, 28.9 points in 2021 and 32.8 points in 2020.

Efficiency is a great first step, as it helps the offense stay on schedule. An efficient offense helps be a more balanced offense by providing the run game with good support, and puts the offense in really good second and third down situations.

Efficiency isn't the only need for pass game improvement. Notre Dame also needs to be a more dangerous pass attack, which means more big plays. The Fighting Irish offense ranked 39th in completions of 30 yards or more last season, but the offense ranked just 117th in completions of 40 yards or more, completing just four throws that gained at least 40 yards.

The offense was better in 2021, ranking 44th of gains of 40 yards or more, completing 11 of those throws. The offense completed eight throws of 40 yards or more in 2020, 10 in 2019, 7 in 2018 and 8 in 2017.

From 2017-22, Notre Dame has never ranked higher than 30th in passing plays that gained at least 30 yards, and it has finished outside of the top 40 in this category in all but two seasons (2021, 2022).

In the last five years the teams that have played in the national championship have ranked inside the top 30 every season but one, and all but two teams ranked 12th or higher. Georgia ranked 28th last season and Ohio State ranked 37th in 2020. Of course, Ohio State played just eight games that season.

Georgia is a team that has won with defense and being able to run the football the last two seasons, but even that offense produces big plays at a much higher rate than we've seen from Notre Dame.

With Hartman at quarterback, Wake Forest has ranked 10th, 3rd and 14th in pass completions of at least 30 yards. If Hartman can add that to the Notre Dame offense it will make the offense far more explosive. It will do so by not only making the pass game far more dynamic, it will also make the run game far more effective.

3. Be More Diverse - Part of accomplishing this goal is to be a more diverse offense from a personnel and schematic standpoint, especially the run game. Notre Dame was a dominant 12 personnel team in the last few seasons, and for many reasons it had to be. The personnel of this team is different, and lends to the staff being able to mix things up more. Notre Dame is much deeper at wide receiver and running back this season, and it won't have All-American Michael Mayer at tight end anymore.

The offense also needs to be more diverse with its ground attack from a scheme standpoint. One of my big complaints of the 2022 offense was it was so Duo driven, and more broadly between the tackles driven. There's nothing wrong with being an offense that is dominant running between the tackles, but there need to be more complementary runs to support the inside runs (Duo, Inside Zone). Obviously running counters is part of that, and we saw that last season, but I'm also talking about running more stretch, outside zone, jet sweep and toss type of runs that throw off the eye placement of the backers and take advantage of tighter boxes.

Utilizing RPOs (Run Pass Options) is also something Notre Dame must add to its offensive repertoire, which also protects the run game, attacks the width of the field more, and puts defenses in tough decision making binds.

If we see big improvement in these three areas you'll see Notre Dame rack up more yards, continue being an effective third down offense, we'll see it improve in the red zone and we'll see this offense be a much more dynamic scoring offense.

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - 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.

BECOME A MEMBER

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
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter