Last Saturday, Notre Dame was able to score 21 points in the
fourth quarter to rally from behind and beat Purdue 31-24. The Boilermakers got
off to a quick start with a 10-0 lead in the second quarter, and they rode the
momentum from an energetic crowd to maintain a 17-10 lead after three quarters.
Then, the Irish took off! Notre Dame scored three touchdowns
in 3 minutes and 29 seconds to take a 31-17 lead, and held on for a well-earned
road victory.
I predicted a 34-10 victory, so obviously I was disappointed
with the performance from Notre Dame, especially in the first half. For the
first 30 minutes, Notre Dame looked flat and out-of-sync. Maybe it was a letdown
from the Michigan game (Michigan also struggled at home versus Akron for a
24-21 win), maybe not? But, the fact remains that the Irish got a win to
improve to 2-1 on the season.
The Positives
1. DaVaris Daniels is a Beast! Looking at the box score, 8
catches for 167 yards and two touchdowns stands out, but it’s the way he did
it. Both touchdowns were NFL-caliber type plays and showed his size, speed, strength,
and athleticism. The first touchdown was a 9-yard fade route where he out-jumped
the defensive back. The second touchdown was an 82-yard fly pattern where he
stiff-armed a defensive back for 20-plus yards and managed to stay inbounds
down the sideline. It was an impressive night for Daniels.
2. Tommy Rees’ Second Half. After an awful first half, Rees
settled down and led the Irish to the comeback victory. Rees went 12 for 16 for
215 yards and two touchdowns. He had good rhythm and made some great throws,
especially on some deep balls. It was the kind of performance the Irish were
hoping to get for the entire game, but unfortunately that didn’t happen.
3. Bennett Jackson’s Pick-Six. Jackson made a great break
towards the ball and took it to the house. It was the second straight week the
Irish defense scored a touchdown. Hopefully the big play will hope boost
Jackson’s confidence for the coming weeks.
The Negatives
1. Tommy Rees’ First Half. As good as Rees was in the second
half, he was terrible in the first half. Rees went just 8 for 17 for 94 yards
in the first two quarters, and nearly threw three interceptions. One of which
would have been for a touchdown. Rees will have to put two good halves together
if the Irish are going to win this Saturday versus Michigan State.
2. Pass Defense. For the third straight week, the Notre Dame
passing defense looked weak. A good pass defense usually starts up front with a
good pass rush, but the Irish haven’t put a ton of pressure on the quarterback
early this season. However, despite the lack of rush, the secondary needs to
play better. The secondary seems to have a ton of holes in their zone coverage
and they are getting burned. With a struggling offense coming to South Bend
this weekend, the Irish secondary better figure things out before Oklahoma,
Arizona State, and USC light up the scoreboard in the coming weeks.
3. Lack of Running Game. For the second straight week the Irish
had a poor effort on the ground. Even though Notre Dame was trailing for a good
portion of this game, they still ran the ball 37 times, but managed just 91
yards. Cam McDaniel recieved the bulk of the work by getting 56 yards on 16
carries. Amir Carlisle had a rough day with just 16 yards on 11 carries, and
George Atkinson never really got involved with only 5 carries for 27 yards.
Actually, Atkinson had the best average of 5.4 yards per carry, but Kelly was
forced to go with McDaniel and Carlisle because they are better blockers in
passing situations. The running game might be in store for another quiet day
versus a tough Spartan defense on Saturday, but I still expect all five backs
to see some action. Hopefully, one or two of them will emerge as reliable
options out of the backfield.
-Eric Tichelbaut
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