Game Observations: Notre Dame Offense vs. South Florida
Notre Dame earned an impressive 52-0 victory over South Florida to improve to 2-0. The Irish offense dominated, racking up 281 rushing yards in the win.
Here is my instant analysis of the performance by the Irish offense:
*** I was impressed with what I saw from offensive coordinator Tommy Rees in the win. The first series of the game set the tone, as Rees went with a three tight end alignment, only to call a play-action downfield throw to Tommy Tremble for 24 yards. He called a pass on the next two plays to keep USF off balance.
*** We saw some run game wrinkles for Notre Dame, as the Irish ran a gap scheme (Power) that was effective in the matchups.
*** On drive two, Rees called a bootleg that got the ball to wide receiver Braden Lenzy, who missed the first game of the season. He also called a reverse to Lenzy later in the game, and the wideout was targeted four times in the first half, which was smart by Rees.
*** One of my favorite calls of the game was a 3rd-and-13 in the first quarter. On the previous snap, South Florida blitzed away from where the running back was lined up, and since the back was on a free release there was no one to account for the blitzer, who hit Ian Book and almost forced a fumble. On the ver next play, Rees lined up with the back at the same spot, and then called an angle route by the back, which got the back behind the rushers and in front of the dropping defenders on 3rd-and-13, which set up what was essentially a downfield screen. It was a great call that would have worked against dropping coverage (which is what USF did) or against a blitz, which we saw the previous snap.
*** One issue for me in the game is the lack of RPOs. On the few instances where Notre Dame couldn't get the run game going it was due to a safety inserting into the box, and the offense had no answers without effective RPOs.
*** The biggest takeaway for the offense was the play of the offensive line. There were several assignment mistakes, but I am honestly okay with that. It’s still just the second game of the year and there are going to be some early-season miscues. What I wanted to see from the line was more force, more power and more of an edge from a physicality standpoint, and we saw that. The line moved South Florida off the ball all game, and there was much better vertical movement from the front than we saw in the opener.
*** Center Jarrett Patterson had an early miss on the second level, but after that I felt he performed extremely well after scuffling a bit in the opener. Patterson was very physical at the point of attack and his pass protection was strong up the middle. Getting to the second level was a big problem for the Irish line in the opener, and for much of last season, but Patterson thrived in that department against the Bulls. He had multiple downfield/second level blocks that sprung Irish running backs for big gains. Very strong sign for Patterson.
*** The Irish tackles - Liam Eichenberg and Robert Hainsey - both played well in the game. Hainsey had a huge play when he recovered a fumble by an Irish back. Their pass protection was outstanding and both blocked well on the edge in the run game. I’ll have a better feel for their overall execution after breaking down the film, but watching the game live I felt both got very good movement on the edge, and they were key to the offense being so effective running outside and with off-tackle runs.
*** Left guard Aaron Banks was a bit inconsistent in the game, but when he was on he got excellent movement. He and Eichenberg pushed the USF defensive line off the ball on multiple snaps, and he had a couple of good second level blocks as well. Watching Banks and Patterson working to the second level it seems obvious that line coach Jeff Quinn emphasized that during the week of practice after struggling so much with it in the opener. Banks was solid in pass protection, giving up only one pressure that I saw, and overall it was a good progress game for him.
*** Right guard Tommy Kraemer was less effective for the line. He had some quality snaps and his pass protection was solid, but his run game performance was subpar. There were a few good movement snaps, but he had a few too many misses, including giving up the inside gap on a run where the back was tackled for a three-yard loss. Kraemer’s footwork was sloppy, which hurt his bad level and ability to finish blocks.
*** Tight end Tommy Tremble had an excellent performance for the Irish. He caught three passes for 60 yards, which included gains of 24 yards and 27 yards. His 27-yard grab was a tremendously well-played move on an underthrown pass, which allowed the defender to make a play on the ball. While his pass game production was strong, Tremble made an even bigger impact in the run game. He was incredibly physical at the point of attack, making plays while attached on the edge, making strong blocks as a lead blocker on the power concepts and blocking well in space. He sprung backs for extra yards throughout the game, just an excellent run game performance.
*** Freshman tight end Michael Mayer also had a strong blocking performance. As you would expect from a freshman, his technique needs some work, but he was physical on the edge and showed good strength for a guy in his second game.
*** Senior Brock Wright had an excellent block on the 26-yard touchdown run by C’Bo Flemister. He came off and drove the edge player off the ball and inside, combining with Tremble to open up a huge lane on the bounce for the back. Wright had multiple strong blocks on the edge.
*** Sophomore running back Kyren Williams had a quality performance for the Irish. He rushed for 62 yards on 10 carries, showed good patience, made better reads on the outside runs and his pass protection was much improved.
*** Freshman running back Chris Tyree rushed for 65 yards on just eight carries. He maximized the open run lanes, but more importantly he ran extremely hard. Tyree had several forced missed tackles in the game, and not because of his speed, but because of his lower body strength and leg drive. Tyree’s 31-yard run was incredibly impressive. A USF linebacker stepped right into the hole, but Tyree pressed him outside, got him to bite and then quickly planted his feet and broke inside, making the backer miss before he ripped off for 31 yards.
*** Junior C’Bo Flemister also performed well in the victory, both with the first-team offense and with the second team, rushing for 127 yards on just 13 carries. He ran with authority, which allowed him to break through multiple arm tackle attempts. Flemister ripped off a 26-yard touchdown run on a short-yardage situation because he perfect read the blocking, bounced the ball outside and out-ran the defense to the end zone. His patience and willingness to bounce and show good timing was a great sign.
*** The combination of Williams, Tyree and Flemister combined for 254 rushing yards on 31 attempts, good for a 8.19 yards per carry average.
*** Notre Dame’s wideouts did not play all that well in this performance. They struggled to get separation and continue to not come off the ball with much urgency. Notre Dame’s wideouts combined for just four catches for 41 yards, although that lack of production was not entirely their fault.
*** Quarterback Ian Book wasn’t asked to do much, but he handled what the coaches asked him to do relatively well in the first half. There were a couple of shots I think he could have taken downfield, but they were somewhat contested routes and I was fine with him going to the check downs. His accuracy with the quick game was good throughout the game, but he wasn’t as on point with his intermediate and deep throws, and he had two bad misses, including missing a wide open McKinley on an in cut.
*** His second half performance wasn’t as sharp. Book under threw Tremble, although his tight end made a great catch for a 27-yard gain, and he under threw receiver Joe Wilkins Jr. in the end zone for a possible touchdown. Book was late with his read, which caused him to throw the quick corner with zip instead of putting it high and with touch.
*** Overall, I thought Book’s pocket presence was better and his footwork was cleaner, but his reads weren’t all that much improved.
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