What To Look For From The Notre Dame Offense vs North Carolina

Breaking down the early signs to look for to know that the Notre Dame offense is ready to breakout against the Tar Heels

Notre Dame (1-2) looks to even up its record today when it takes on the undefeated North Carolina (3-0) team. Notre Dame's offense has struggled all season, and if the Irish are going to get their 2022 campaign turned around that unit needs to get better .... a lot better.

The good news for Notre Dame is the North Carolina defense has been bad this season, 37.7 points per game allowed bad. Notre Dame needs to get right on offense against the Tar Heels.

Here are some things I'll be looking for to know that Notre Dame has not only come to play, but is doing what it needs to do to turn the corner offensively.

1. Youth Movement - From a big picture standpoint, if Notre Dame is going to turn the corner offensively it will require an attitude change from a coaching standpoint. That means a bit of a philosophical/emphasis adjustment, but also a willingness to start building around the younger players a bit more. The offense doesn't need to be completely built around the younger players, but they need to be a bigger part of the overall bigger picture on the offense.

That means we need to see wide receiver Tobias Merriweather and tight end Eli Raridon in more prominent roles. That means we need to see the sophomore tackles (Joe Alt, Blake Fisher) playing much better football. It means other young talents like Lorenzo Styles finally need to step up and start making plays. Notre Dame has too much talented youth not to play them a lot more, and then the young players need to respond with production.

If we don't see a lot more of Merriweather and Raridon today it will tell me Tommy Rees hasn't quite figured this out yet. If we do see them I'll have more confidence he's willing to do what it takes to get his best players on the field, and the ball in their hands.

2. Be Bullies - Notre Dame needs a bit of a personality adjustment on offense. It hasn't played with much confidence on that side of the ball outside of the first couple of series of the 2022 season. When you lack confidence you won't play with force, and Notre Dame needs to be a physical football team that plays with confidence, urgency and toughness.

If the coaches were able to make the changes during the week of practice from a preparation standpoint, scheme standpoint and if the team is going to build on its first win of the season we'll see this team play with a lot more confidence. That means being more physical and forceful up front, and that will show itself by Notre Dame pushing North Carolina around.

It will also mean the best skill players are playing with more urgency and toughness. Those two things together will be a great, great sign for the offense.

3. Drew Pyne Is More Aggressive - Quarterback Drew Pyne needs to do a lot of things to get this offense rolling, including being a better decision maker, being more accurate and doing the little things we didn't see enough of in his first start.

But a big key to Pyne not only playing better, but the offense reaching its full potential, is that he be a more aggressive player. This isn't just about Pyne, this is about Rees as well. He needs to do more to create isolations and big play opportunities in the pass game, and when he does Pyne needs to be willing to attack down the field and over the middle.

If Rees isn't willing to be aggressive with his play designs and play calling, and if Pyne isn't willing to attack a vulnerable Carolina defense the Irish could have a hard time winning. If Notre Dame can attack this defense, well, it's going to be a very bad sign for the remainder of the season.

If we see it, and if we see success, I'll feel very, very good about Notre Dame turning the corner.

4. Receivers Are Making Plays - All of that won't matter if the Notre Dame receivers don't start making more plays. Merriweather needs to be a factor, absolutely, and adding him to the rotation would be a plus. But this is still going to be about Styles getting back to form and playing with more confidence, it's about Rees starting to use Braden Lenzy in a way that better suits his skills, and then Lenzy needs to step up and make more plays.

This unit is a part of the reason the offense is struggling, and it needs to be a solution to getting things turned around.

5. Finding Some Efficiency - Notre Dame must get a lot better on third-down, and part of that means being more efficient in the pass game, more efficient in the run game and staying ahead of the chains. Do this and the third-down offense will get much, much better. It will also open up more big play opportunities, which the offense needs more of.

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