Last Saturday, Notre Dame’s BCS Bowl hopes took a crushing
blow when the Oklahoma Sooners handed them their second loss of the season, a
35-21 defeat. Unfortunately, I was not able to watch the entire game live, but
I did watch a replay of it today and I actually felt encouraged by some things.
While watching the parts that I did on Saturday, it looked like Notre Dame was
completely overwhelmed versus Oklahoma, but the replay had me believing
otherwise.
Obviously, the two early turnovers were a huge part of the
game. No team can give a talented team, like the Sooners, a 14-0 lead in the
opening minutes of the game and expect to win. From there, the Irish were left
playing catch-up for the rest of the game and it really impacted their play
calling late in the game. Notre Dame was able to bring the deficit within six
points at 27-21 in the fourth quarter, but a long touchdown catch and run on a
quick slant sealed the Irish’s fate.
The Positives
1. The Irish didn’t give up. With the score 14-0 before the
Irish could blink, a lesser team may have folded, but Notre Dame fought back
and really turned it into a great game. Watching the replay, I was impressed
with how the Irish handled the early adversity. As the game wore on, there were
points where it felt like the momentum was on Notre Dame’s side. However, the
Irish dug an early hole and were never able to fully complete the comeback.
2. The running game. Perhaps the best thing to take away from
this game was the emergence of a running game. Notre Dame rushed for 220 yards
on 29 carries, and would have had much more if they could have run the ball
more often. But with the deficit being two scores the majority of the time, the
Irish were forced to abandon the running game, especially once Oklahoma opened
up a 35-21 lead in the fourth quarter. It should be noted that 118 of those
yards came on just two carries, but even if you take away those two long runs,
the Irish still rushed for 102 yards on 27 carries. Either way, this was Notre
Dame’s most impressive running game of the season. And, without the turnovers,
Notre Dame may have been able to ride their ground game to victory.
3. The defense played better than the score would indicate. One of the reasons that the Irish were
able to stay in the game was by how well the defense played. Oklahoma scored 21
points off of 3 turnovers (14 of those points were a direct result of
turnovers), so Notre Dame’s offense certainly did not help out the defense. If
you take away the turnovers, Notre Dame’s defense played extremely well. Without
the two early touchdowns, Notre Dame probably has a 21-13 lead in the fourth
quarter. But, you can’t take away the turnovers and Oklahoma deserves a lot of
credit for cashing in on the miscues.
The Negatives
1. Turnovers.
2. Turnovers.
3. Turnovers.
I hate to blame the loss solely on turnovers, but that’s the
truth. If Notre Dame doesn’t turn the ball over three times, they probably win
the game. Oklahoma played well and executed their game plan, but so did Notre
Dame. Despite being down early, the Irish were still able to establish a
running game and scored three touchdowns against a talented defensive unit.
Without the turnovers, Notre Dame would have been able to stick to their game
plan for the entire contest, and that could have led to a different outcome.
But, it didn’t and now the Irish sit at 3-2. With seven games remaining, Notre
Dame will have to run the table if they have any hopes of making a BCS Bowl appearance.
-Eric Tichelbaut
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