As the dust settles on the last games of the 2019 season, taking (with video!) a look at Notre Dame's advanced stats in the Camping World Bowl win over Iowa State. The Irish dominated the key categories of explosiveness, efficiency, and creating and converting scoring chances. But things were closer than they appeared in the [...]
The chaos of the offseason reached South Bend today, as Notre Dame and offensive coordinator Chip Long mutually agreed to part ways. First reported by Football Scoop and confirmed by South Bend Tribune's Eric Hansen and a host of other beat writers, Long was Brian Kelly's offensive coordinator for the past three seasons. Long arrived [...]
Notre Dame finally broke through in Palo Alto, gaining an edge with an explosive offense and a defensive crackdown after the first quarter. The Irish lost the efficiency battle but were more consistent stringing successful plays together and on passing downs, allowing the visitors to create far more scoring opportunities. No garbage time was removed [...]
A dominant defensive effort led Notre Dame to a 40-7 route of Boston College that could have been an even bigger blowout on senior day. The Irish offense created nine scoring chances in ten drives before garbage time compared to just one all game for BC. But the ND offense settled for four field goals [...]
The Irish checked all the boxes for a perfect game against Navy - scoring every possession early, forcing turnovers and passing downs, and limiting first down yardage. Second-half garbage time stats obscure in the final box score what was an incredibly dominant performance by Notre Dame against a Navy team that's still competing for the [...]
Notre Dame dominated the Hokies in the most important categories that decide games, but the Irish shot themselves in the foot in all of the less predictable and more random facets of the game. Turnovers and special teams blunders that cost valuable field position nearly led to a horrendous loss reminiscent of South Florida loss [...]
As the great NBA writer Zach Lowe put it on a recent podcast, "as analytical as sports [now] gets, it's still about feeling". The feelings after Notre Dame's blowout loss in Ann Arbor mirrored the stages of grief - perhaps with an overemphasis on the anger and depression, although there may have been some "what [...]
Notre Dame hung on to a massive first-half advantage to defeat the Trojans in a three-point win in South Bend. Despite controlling the game, SP+ gave Notre Dame a 28% postgame win expectancy looking at the final box score - how did the Irish escape despite allowing a massive success rate on the ground, the [...]
Notre Dame played the worst team in FBS per the latest SP+ rankings, and dominated as expected with season-high advantages in explosiveness and efficiency. Where can the Irish continue to improve, what were the most impressive stats from the blowout win, and what challenges USC brings to South Bend next week. Per SP+ garbage time [...]
Notre Dame covered the spread while defeating #18 Virginia in a drama free 4th quarter, yet fell in SP+ rating. The Irish havoc rate was outstanding, the offense perfect in the red zone, and the defense limited Bryce Perkins and the Cavs when they had great field position. But the advanced stats see some sustainability [...]
In a hostile, very red environment, Notre Dame was able to create the same number of scoring opportunities as Georgia, and hang close in efficiency and explosiveness. What were the advantages that tipped the scales in the Bulldogs favor, and what encouraging signs and questions remain for the rest of the season, where the Irish [...]
Notre Dame averaged ten yards per play and held New Mexico to a 9.5% passing success rate in an explosive home opener. Yet there were some lingering red flags that will need to be cleaned up to have a shot at an upset in Athens. Breaking down the blowout of the Lobos and highlighting some [...]
SP+ predicted a 35-16 Notre Dame win at Louisville. The spread in Vegas was 18 points in many places. But the Irish win to open 2019 didn’t feel particularly fun, did it? Breaking down reasons to be encouraged, concerned, and confused using advanced stats from the season opener. Something not clear? Check out this handy [...]
What do projection systems like SP+ (newly re-named!) and FEI see for Notre Dame in 2019? A much more difficult schedule, an improving offense, and a defense that will hope its strength in the passing game helps it continue to be a top-10 unit. Transparently, this was intended to be a multi-part series, but hey, [...]
Unless you've been living under an internet-less rock, a terrific preseason tradition is the annual preseason ranking of Notre Dame's top 25 players at Inside the Irish. Once again our 18 Stripes crew was invited to participate, and as in past years we submitted a group ballot, using some "wisdom of the crowd" or whatever [...]
Recent Comments