Notre Dame Pass Game Still Has Areas For Improvement
There were aspects of the Notre Dame pass game this season that were very impressive, and the Irish laid a foundation for future success. I've already broken down why I believe the pass game was so effective for big chunks of the 2021 season, but there are still areas where it can and must continue to evolve or improve.
Of course, improvements can't come with other aspects taking a step back. So continuing to use the RPO (run pass option) game is a must for Notre Dame, and maintaining a steady dose of quick throws and the levels concepts and the isolations we saw late last season are a must.
But here are some areas where the Irish pass game must improve.
PROTECT THE PASSER
For this breakdown I studied many of the nation's best teams (Alabama) and the best pass offenses (Ohio State, Oklahoma). One thing is for sure, when the Notre Dame offense gave Jack Coan and other Irish quarterbacks a clean pocket last season the pass game was very good.
Notre Dame ranked 15th in passing yards per attempt (9.0) and Coan ranked 10th in completion rate (73.1%) among Power 5 quarterbacks when they had a clean pocket last season (according to Pro Football Focus).
Alabama quarterback Bryce Young averaged 9.3 yards per attempt and Notre Dame had a slightly higher yards per completion (12.5 to 12.4) with a clean pocket compared to Alabama.
Moral of the story, give the quarterbacks time to throw and the pass game is dangerous.
CATCH THE BALL
While the 9.0 average is a quality number it should have been higher. Alabama's 9.3 average and Notre Dame's were dragged down by a higher number of drops, something the Irish pass catchers must improve this season.
Notre Dame had 20 drops last season on 347 clean pocket attempts, while Alabama had 23 drops on 382 clean pocket attempts. Ohio State, for example, had just 14 drops on 349 clean pocket attempts. It doesn't completely explain why Ohio State had a 10.5 yards per attempt average on a clean pocket, but it's a step in the right direction.
Notre Dame's pass catchers also didn't win enough contested throws last season, which also adds to greater efficiency. Notre Dame's pass catchers hauled in just 45.1% of their contested targets last season, compared to 58.5% for Ohio State's wideouts. From 2018-20 Alabama's pass catchers won at least 51.6% of their contested throws.
Notre Dame's number got a bump from Michael Mayer, who won 56.5% of his contested targets, but the rest of the offense must step up.
DOWNFIELD IMPROVEMENT
Notre Dame has to get better at hitting deep shots and it has to be a bit more aggressive down the field. That was very hard to do in 2021 for reasons already discussed (protection), but if the line improves the offense needs to be a bit more aggressive hitting the downfield (20+ yards past the line) and intermediate (11-19 yards past the line) zones.
Notre Dame attempted 63 shots of at least 20 yards past the line, which is a good number. Ohio State's CJ Stroud attempted 62 and Bryce Young attempted 74. When you account how many times Alabama threw the ball (571) to Notre Dame (451), the Irish actually attempted deep balls at a higher percentage of their overall throws compared to Alabama and Ohio State.
The issue for Notre Dame is the effectiveness. Notre Dame quarterbacks completed just 33.3% of their deep throws this season, compared to 51.6% for Stroud.
Alabama was at just 37.8% this season, but that was an abnormally low season. The Tide were at 58.9% in 2020, 48.7% in 2019 and 55.2% in 2018.
Notre Dame was at just 39.0% in 2020, 40.8% in 2018 and 34.8% in 2017. Only once (2019) has Notre Dame been above 50% with its deep ball completion rate.
The Irish need to get to at least 40% to be solid and closer to 50% to be good.
Notre Dame was much better last season on the intermediate pass game than it had been in past years. Notre Dame averaged 11.1 yards per attempt and 19.9 yards per completion on throws that travel at 11-19 yards past the line of scrimmage.
Compare that to 11.7 YPA and 20.0 YPC for Alabama and 10.6 YPA and 16.5 YPC for Ohio State.
The difference was usage. Notre Dame threw it just 95 times in that zone compared to 130 for Young and 121 for Stroud.
PLAY-ACTION NEEDS WORK
Notre Dame upped its play-action usage in 2021, throwing 138 play-action passes compared to just 87 in 12 games a season ago, but it was on par with past seasons and 16 below the recent high from 2018.
Where Notre Dame must improve, however, is with its effectiveness with the play-action game. Of course, this requires better pass protection, and a better run game would certainly add to that as well.
Notre Dame completed 63.8% of its play-action throws last season, but the closer that number gets to 70.0% the better.
The Irish offense averaged 8.7 yards per attempt and just 13.6 yards per completion last season on play-action throws. That number needs to get to at least 10.0 YPA and 20 YPC to really make the play-action game a major weapon.
Ohio State, for example, was at 10.8 yards per attempt last season. During Kyler Murray's Heisman Trophy winning season at Oklahoma in 2018 he was at 12.4 YPA and 18.7 YPC.
Notre Dame also threw just seven play-action touchdowns last season, compared to 14 for Young at Alabama and 19 for Stroud at Ohio State.
I believe offensive coordinator Tommy Rees wants a more productive run game than we saw last season and a more potent pass game than they had in 2020. Heading into 2022 I believe he has his best chance at combining those two areas into one dynamic offensive system.
The combination of an improved pass protection system, Mayer at tight end and the speed Notre Dame will possess at receiver next year I expect the play-action game to be a much more effective aspect of the offense. Now it comes down to the quarterbacks making quick decisions and getting the ball out accurately, especially down the field.
Note: All data is from Pro Football Focus
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