Notre Dame held their annual Blue-Gold spring scrimmage game
yesterday afternoon which provided a glimpse of what the Fighting Irish will
look like next fall. While there is plenty to talk about with what occurred on
the field, the biggest news of the day was delivered by Athletic Director Jack
Swarbrick when he announced that FieldTurf will be installed prior to the 2014
regular season. Swarbrick said that the process will begin after graduation in
mid-May and is scheduled to be completed by August 15th. I know that
there will be some Notre Dame fans that are upset over the decision based on “tradition”,
but I couldn’t be any happier with the switch. For the past several years, the
playing surface at Notre Dame Stadium has been an embarrassment. I had grown
tired of watching players routinely slip when trying to make a cut or plant
their feet. It would be one thing if Notre Dame didn’t play in a cold weather
city, but since they do, having FieldTurf is a must. Honestly, there is no
excuse for any major college program or professional team residing in a cold
whether city to not have FieldTurf installed. They owe it to their players and
fans to have the best playing surface possible. But, enough of that…now let’s
focus on what happened on the field.
Obviously, the biggest point of interest yesterday was the
quarterback play of both Everett Golson and Malik Zaire. Because of Golson’s
suspension in 2013, Brian Kelly has stated that he would have to earn his
starting job back. At the time, I thought that was just “coach-speak” and
Golson was all but guaranteed to be the starter for the season opener versus
Rice. Having said that, the quarterback competition might be a little closer
than originally thought. While I still expect Everett Golson to ultimately be
under-center this season, Malik Zaire is certainly in the discussion. As a
matter of fact, Zaire actually out-performed Golson yesterday, but both
quarterbacks played well.
I thought that Golson was a little bit hesitant and rusty to
start the game, but he made some really nice throws on the run, as well as in
the pocket. In particular, Golson’s throw on a deep route to Corey Robinson was
perfectly placed. Golson threw the ball high enough and with enough arch that
Robinson was the only one that had a play on the ball. That catch was one of
several that Robinson made on the afternoon, and he looks like he’ll be huge mismatch
for teams with his size and strength. On the other hand, Golson also had some
poor throws. Most notably, Golson severely overthrew Amir Carlisle on a skinny
post that would have been an easy touchdown. Carlisle had his man beat and
there was no safety help in the middle of the field. Since that play came
during Golson’s first drive, I think nerves and rust had a big impact on the
errant throw. The biggest negative out of Golson’s performance was that he was
looking to run way too soon on many occasions. Even though the defense was
vanilla and didn’t blitz, Golson faced a lot of pressure and took off running
whenever he was pressured. We all know that Golson can run, so it would have been
nice to see him try to keep his eyes downfield and find an open receiver without
the fear of getting hit. All things considered, it was a pretty impressive day
for Golson. He showed his tremendous arm strength and athleticism throughout
the day, and he definitely looks more mature physically and mentally.
As mentioned above, if the quarterback competition was based
solely on the performance yesterday, then Malik Zaire would be the starter.
Zaire started off on fire by hitting C.J. Prosise while rolling out to open the
game. Later that drive, Zaire also hit Will Fuller on a deep ball, but the play
could have resulted in a touchdown if it wasn’t slightly underthrown. But, the
good news is that he gave Fuller a chance to make a play. I’d much rather have
a quarterback underthrow a receiver as opposed to overthrowing him. The most
exciting play of the game might have occurred during Zaire’s second drive when
he threw a strike to Prosise on a curl route, who then proceeded to make a few
nice moves and sprint to the end zone. Prosise looks like a nice fit in the
slot this season, and should be able to make a lot of plays in space with
DaVaris Daniels and Corey Robinson on the outside. Zaire’s second touchdown
pass of the day came on a short quick slant to Amir Carlisle. Carlisle had just
enough separation from the defender and Zaire threw a bullet for the score.
That play was just one of several throws where Zaire showed off his strong arm.
Zaire later hit Durham Smythe while rolling to his left by zipping the ball
right past the defender’s arm. While watching the play develop, I thought the
pass was going to either get knocked down or intercepted (by the way, Smythe
looks like he’ll be the next solid option at tight end for Notre Dame). Like
Golson, Zaire performed very well and has made this a legitimate competition.
We’ll see what happens this summer, but it looks as though the Irish will be in
good shape regardless of who is the starting quarterback.
Outside of the quarterback play, I was also interested to
watch the running back situation. The Irish will primarily use a trio of backs
this season with Cam McDaniel, Tarean Folston, and Greg Bryant all figuring to see
plenty of action. The three backs all have different running styles, so the
offense will be able to be diverse with their running attack. Brian Kelly has
also stated that he expects the running backs to be more involved in the
passing game this season, and that was evident with McDaniel and Folston each
making some nice catches out of the backfield. Bryant stole the show late in
the game when he broke off a 51-yard run, showcasing some great moves and
lateral quickness. Bryant only had three carries last season and missed most of
the year with a knee injury, but it appears he will have a much larger role
this season. I’m excited to see what these three can do with the ball in their
hands. With having Golson or Zaire to go along with the running backs, Notre
Dame should be one of the better rushing teams in the country this season.
While it is hard to evaluate the defense in a game where
they don’t blitz or hit the quarterback, there were some nice plays made.
Despite not being able to blitz, I was really surprised by how much pressure
the defensive line was able to get on the quarterbacks. Since they couldn’t hit
the quarterback it is hard to tell how many sacks they would have had, but I
counted at least three instances where the whistle should have been blown to
signal a sack. Add those to the number of “sacks” they did have, and the total
would have been over double digits. I’m really excited to see what the defense
will look like this season. Brian Kelly has stated that defensive coordinator
Brian VanGorder will be more aggressive with his play calling than Bob Diaco.
As much as a respect the job Diaco did, the “bend but don’t break defense” was frustrating
to watch at times. Of course, the defense excelled at tightening up near the
red zone to limit the amount of touchdowns scored, but the defense was on the
field a lot with extended drives. VanGorder’s style of play might result in the
defense giving up some quicker scores due to the blitz being beat, but I expect
plenty of more sacks and turnovers with the aggressive style. One thing that I
do like is that VanGorder has said that Jaylon Smith will be used in various
roles. Smith is without doubt the best defender the Irish have, and it makes a
ton of sense to have him playing all over the place. This will allow Smith to
make more impact plays by utilizing his speed and athleticism in certain situations.
The last thing I would like to mention is that I was impressed with some plays
in the secondary. Cole Luke, Elijah Shumate, and Max Redfield all made their
presence felt by each having a spectacular pass breakup. The secondary should
be vastly improved over recent years, and thus will allow the Irish to be more
aggressive with their pass rushing schemes.
-Eric Tichelbaut
Twitter: @etichel07
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