Take Five: Notre Dame QB Strategy, Improving Defense, Defending The Offensive Line
Talking quarterback strategy moving forward, Brian Kelly defending Jack Coan, the improving defense and the Notre Dame offensive line.
1) Could Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly revolutionize quarterback strategy by using three of them regularly in a game? Highly doubtful but it’s an interesting thought. The Irish didn’t lose much, if anything, when Drew Pyne replaced Jack Coan last week. It’s clear, at this point at least, that true freshman Tyler Buchner is the quarterback of the future. Pyne is a redshirt freshman. Pyne is further ahead in the playbook than Buchner. It’s hard to really say that Pyne is as effective as Coan since he's only played a little over a quarter. Where Kelly and the staff should get credit is having three quarterbacks that are all pretty good. It’s not often that a back up quarterback finishes a game like Pyne did in Notre Dame’s 41-13 victory over Wisconsin on Saturday. Pyne was 6 for 8 passing for 81 yards with a touchdown.
2) How good is Notre Dame really? Hard to say but the Irish (4-0) have improved immensely the last two weeks, particularly on the defensive side of the ball.
These are some key defensive stats, according to the NCAA.
Notre Dame is tied for first in the country with nine interceptions.
The Irish are tied for fourth with four defensive touchdowns.
They are tied for 14th in team sacks with 14.
Notre Dame is tied for 30th in tackles for losses with 27.
According to teamrankings.com, the Irish schedule is ranked No. 14 in the country. Iowa, Oregon, Cincinnati, and Penn State are all ahead of Notre Dame, which is ranked No. 9 by the Associated Press. Those four schools have played a weaker schedule than the Irish. Notre Dame’s schedule was ranked 38th toughest last week. Irish opponents finished 2-1 last week. Purdue and Toledo won and Florida State lost to Louisville. The Seminoles are 0-4.
3) Kelly defended Coan vigorously in his Monday press conference when asked why he wasn’t getting the ball out of his hands quick enough. There just hasn’t been steady progress for Coan. It’s been up-and-down. Coan has been sacked 19 times. He had a quarterback rating of 58.5 against Wisconsin. Coan was 15 of 29 for 158 yards passing with a touchdown pass. He went out in the third quarter with an ankle injury. Kelly said making the adjustment to a shogun offense has been a challenge.
“This is where he was last year [under center],” Kelly said. “That's how he took all of his snaps. He's really made incredible progress. We're really pleased. He has thrown nine touchdown passes. He's 16th in the country in touchdown passes. He's made an incredible transition. There's still work to be done there and he would admit it as well, but there is a bit of a transition that he's going through. We've had to shorten his drop. He's used to taking a hitch step. He wasn't brought up in a shotgun offense.”
4) Notre Dame gave up six sacks and it rushed for just three-yards against Wisconsin. The Badgers have the No. 1 defense against the run in the country so that wasn’t a surprise. The offensive line woes are a tired refrain now. Kelly said it’s been this bad before. He defended offensive line coach Jeff Quinn Monday in his press conference.
“We've had periods like this at Notre Dame before. But I've known Jeff for over 30 years, so there's nothing that I don't know about Jeff. He takes it harder than anybody else. But look, he's got to keep working with his group like he has every day and we got to get our best players playing their best. We'll keep coaching them. We are who we are. From a production standpoint, like I said, it's everybody,” Kelly said. “It's the quarterback. It's our tight ends. Everybody has got to be on the same page. It's our running backs, who did a really, really fine job in protection on Saturday. It's everybody. The offensive line is always going to get the scrutiny and that was kind of my point. But this isn't let’s throw the o-line under the bus. Everybody's got to pitch in here and we all got to get better. We're committed to doing that.”
5) And finally, senior tackle Michael Carmody, who was dressed against Wisconsin, was 95% healed, according to Kelly. He’s hoping for 100% this week. It’s worth noting. The Irish need all the help they can get on the line at this point.
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