They had us for most of the 1st half, I’m not going to lie. On Friday in Jacksonville, Notre Dame came out awfully rusty, looking a bit disinterested, while South Carolina was throwing the kitchen sink at the Irish early in the game. At one point, the Gamecocks led 21-7 and 24-10 to give me plenty of cause to continue hating these type of bowl games.
Then, the Gator Bowl simply took off with Notre Dame very much waking up on both sides of the ball.
Stats Package
| STAT | IRISH | COCKS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 45 | 38 |
| Plays | 80 | 72 |
| Total Yards | 558 | 352 |
| Yards Per Play | 6.95 | 4.88 |
| Conversions | 12/20 | 6/17 |
| Completions | 19 | 31 |
| Yards/Pass Attempt | 8.64 | 5.74 |
| Rushes | 46 | 22 |
| Rushing Success | 51.1% | 42.1% |
| 10+ Yds Rushes | 11 | 3 |
| 20+ Yds Passes | 3 | 3 |
| Defense Stuff Rate | 23.6% | 24.3% |
This game didn’t need to be so close. Indeed, a lot of the stats will point to what should’ve been a comfortable Notre Dame win. If the Irish had taken care of some things differently (like not turning it over) this had big blowout type of energy by the final whistle.
Offense
QB: B
RB: B
TE: B+
OL: C+
WR: B
I have no idea how to grade this offensive performance and Tyler Buchner, either!
It felt like there was plenty of opportunity to drop 60 points in this game and 3 interceptions with 2 pick sixes, the latter nearly breaking Notre Dame’s back, are just too many mistakes in a bowl game. You can see a future for Buchner with his skill-set, it’s just always lurking right there tantalizing with his dual-threat ability. He’s still so damn raw. In the NFL, he’d be the type of quarterback an organization would stay patient with and hope after 1.5 seasons there’d be a bunch of progress dealing with so many highs and lows.
Buchner likely won’t get that patience at Notre Dame in 2023, which you can’t blame anyone for looking elsewhere. However, it’s important to remember he still has 3 years of eligibility left and a full season of practicing (and playing sparingly) could really further develop his game. In the end, Buchner finishes the Gator Bowl with the most successful rushes on the team and 335 total yards with 5 total touchdowns. That’s 4,355 total yards over a 13 game season!
The Irish frustratingly struggled running up the middle and the 100-yard pick six was an all-time bad play-calling decision. Taking a quick glance around the internet it seems some people are not willing to let it go, but Rees really turned in a very strong performance for Buchner and the offense. Even a couple runs and kicking a field goal to go up 41-31 with 7 minutes remaining colors the perception of this game much differently.
Rushing Success
Diggs – 6 of 13 (46.1%)
Buchner – 8 of 10 (80.0%)
Estime – 7 of 13 (53.8%)
Tyree – 1 of 5 (20.0%)
Clearly, Notre Dame started to grind down South Carolina and found a lot of success running off the edges. Starting running back Logan Diggs didn’t start out very well but came on late, especially with a long touchdown run. As did Audric Estime eventually find his stride. For a while, it seemed like the Irish were going to lose with a really disappointing running game performance. Instead, they’re on the plane back to South Bend with 22 successful rushes, 11(!) rushes of at least 10 yards, and 264 total rushing yards.
What is it with the offensive line pass blocking with Buchner? Again, this was not a very good pass blocking performance up front. We always joke about how few quarterback hurries are actually logged officially, and South Carolina was credited with 9 on the night. That is way, way too many with Buchner getting hit far too often. Although, 2 sacks isn’t that bad. One of them came late in the 1st half when South Carolina could tee off on Buchner deep in Irish territory.
This wasn’t a great game for Merriweather and Colzie. It was great to see Lenzy actually become a playmaker with a huge 44-yard touchdown catch and the fake punt first down which was technically a reception from Davis Sherwood.
I was surprised Mitchell Evans caught his first pass of the season against South Carolina. Surely, that isn’t possible but it is! What a moment for him to catch the game-winner, great play-call!
Defense
DL: C
LB: B-
DB: B
Again, my grades for this game on defense could be completely wrong. What a weird game.
In the 1st half, this looked like a “The offense is okay but Buchner isn’t the answer but what the heck is the defense doing” type of performance. On South Carolina’s first 4 series they totaled 217 yards while clearly emptying the clip with weird play-calls catching Notre Dame off guard multiple times.
The defensive line was not getting much pressure and initially Spencer Rattler was finding a lot of easy stuff through the air in the soft spot behind the Irish linebackers and quick routes to the wide part of the field. If the Gamecocks hadn’t of fumbled on their 2nd drive there’s a possibility Notre Dame falls behind by multiple touchdowns and never comes back.
Credit to Al Golden and the defense, they definitely turned things around.
Stuffs vs. South Carolina
Botelho – 2
Kiser – 2
Liufau – 2
Mills – 1.5
Bracy – 1.5
Lewis – 1.5
Bertrand – 1
Rubio – 1
Mickey – 1
Smith – 0.5
Morrison – 0.5
Nana – 0.5
Kollie – 0.5
Henderson – 0.5
We finally saw Jordan Botelho get pressure off the edge, the linebackers were starting to get home and bother Rattler, and slowly the Cocks offense wilted. South Carolina’s last 9 offensive drives totaled 120 yards at 3.07 yards per play with just 7 points.
South Carolina got way too one-dimensional, too. Granted, they were missing a ton of starters. They’d only finish with 8 successful carries (Rattler tying JuJu McDowell with 3 apiece to lead the team) and a measly 65 rushing yards.
Rattler completed 29 passes but only for 246 yards while finishing the game 3 of 13 for 20 yards.
Notre Dame was missing some key pieces too and shutting South Carolina down over the last two-thirds of this game brings a lot of positive momentum into the post-season.
Final Thoughts
I’m curious to see what becomes of Chris Tyree next year, assuming he comes back. He finished the bowl game with 9 touches for 31 yards and the Irish really need to upgrade in this “slasher” hybrid tailback/receiver role in 2023. He’s supposed to be the speed guy but contributes too much to the offense looking plodding and slow.
This game was the 2nd most yards gained by the Irish in 2022, trailing only the 576 yards against North Carolina.
Notre Dame finishes the year +0.77 in yards per play differential, a pretty strong finish to the season given they were floating around even for a lot of 2022. Still lots of room for improvement in the future, though.
The 11 successful conversions on 3rd down tied the season-high set against BYU.
It’ll be a while until the final 18S Top 20 rankings is published after the National Championship. Where would you rank Notre Dame following this Gator Bowl win?
— Tyler Buchner (@tylerbuchner) December 31, 2022
Was that receiver out of bounds in the end zone for South Carolina? That felt like the final big play for the Gamecocks on offense for such a long time. What a weird game for their offensive coordinator, he was on top of the world and came crashing down hard.
One of the reasons why I hate bowl games (most of the time) is that the team travels back to campus and some of these players we don’t get to see anymore as they may leave to get ready for the NFL or whatever. I’m going to miss Jarrett Patterson, he really turned in one heck of a career after coming in late to the class as a recruit. He was super hobbled on that final touchdown play, I hope he’s okay.
We’ll need a thorough 30 for 30 on what happened to Lorenzo Styles this year. Only 80 yards over his final 8 games is mindboggling for someone thought to be a no. 1 type of guy heading into the season. He could be a “change of scenery” transfer, it wouldn’t surprise me.
It’s fair to say Brian Mason had the last laugh over Pete Lembo.
Brian Mason rn pic.twitter.com/YHAvw6pt1M
— 18 Stripes (@18stripes) December 30, 2022
I thought this game was a good example of how a lot of work needs to be done on the defensive line, and a little bit by extension, at linebacker going into 2023. There are pieces but not a ton of answers.
One of the things with a Buchner offense is the amount of explosive plays that could be there on a consistent basis. Against South Carolina, the Irish racked up 18 explosive plays (11 rushing, 7 passing) for 414 yards, or 23 yards a pop. That’s the type of stuff that wins playoff games. It’s just something you need to do against better competition. Off-season work for Buchner has to be slowing down and gaining more comfort and calmness on the intermediate throws.
Tom Loy put in a crystal ball for Sam Hartman to Notre Dame immediately after the Gator Bowl concluded.
On ND’s last possession of the 1st half, Rees’ 1st down call of a sweep was another very bad call. Too much of a chance for a negative play deep in your own end (which is what happened) and putting the offense in a precarious situation. ND was very lucky after their 3 and out that SC didn’t capitalize and put them further behind. Rees makes situational mistakes like this and the 2nd pick 6 call, too often. It needs to be addressed.
The pick 6 call was abysmal.
I think much of Buchner’s game can be cleaned up. I totally agree that calming down after gaining some more experience and thus confidence will make him more of a weapon. ND can win a lot of games with him, I think.
Hartman, Buchner, Angeli, Minchey is a damn good QB room. If it happens.
“Tommy Rees responsible for a terrible play on offense” is the center bingo square for the last 12 years of ND losses.
Comment of the year. And just in time too.
On the flip side, he did call a QB rollout sneak
And a 3-yard QB sneak worked too!
Yep, both on the same drive which also precludes the dipshit 100yd pick-six, yes?
Almost, the 3-yard sneak came 2 plays before the 100-yard pick six.
Then, the QB rollout sneak came 4 plays later on the next drive.
My assumption was we were in 4 down territory, not that we expected 3 yards. Or Rees is an evil genius but only 80% of the time (as seen in the off tackle sneak).
I just remembered them both happening within 20ish yards of each other in the field
Not a tommy rees apologist but nitpicking one first down call in the first half out of 70 play calls probably isn’t fair. Have to think every coach is gonna have some turds sprinkled in. Obviously throwing on first and goal up 7 was a way different story. trying to be way too cute dialing up the kill shot when they should have just smothered them
It was a very bad call putting his young QB and the team in a very bad situation. Luckily the team bailed him out or else they’d be more “nitpicking” from others about it. If he had made the same call at mid field it would not have been an issue. In the shadow of his own goalposts it was. How did I know this in the moment and he didn’t? You have to take in to account where your team is on the field and the game situation. Not the first time that Rees has erred at this. I hardly think it nitpicking to point to an example of it.
I don’t hate Rees but he needs to improve in this aspect.
The play in question:
I don’t have a problem with the call. They weren’t having a lot of success running up the middle in the 1st half. That’s a pretty safe way to get someone on the edge for maybe a big gainer or threaten for points right before half. It also was pretty safe in terms of keeping the clock running, too.
Arguably, a simple incompletion on that play is a much worse decision.
I don’t love giving the ball to Tyree, because he simply cannot break tackles.
Bad call, worse post.
It’s a misdirection play. The left side of the line pulls and frequently when that happens the DE, as close as possible including literally, will grab the back of the pulling tackle and follow him down the line to make a play.
Obviously he completely ignores the read we wanted him to get from the linemen, and correctly makes the play upfield on the RB. Sometimes the other guys make a good play, but next time we run the same motion the likelihood of the DE getting down the line fast enough to threaten Buchner pulling the ball is pretty low.
The worse decision was calling the timeout following the Scar third down play before the punt. We ended up getting the ball with 2:29 and 2 timeouts instead of 1:50 and 3 timeouts, which would have made us better able to manage the clock down the stretch of the half.
You get weirdly confrontational about once every couple months.
So if we’re being charitable, was the second pick six (hate having to clarify which one) supposed to be a wide receiver screen? If so, is the middle option only to clear out defenders?
I just didn’t get the blocking on that sweep play. They left the back side end free and pulled both the left guard AND tackle for the fake, and then the end blew up the play. I learned in 8th grade as a DE to watch for the reverse on a sweep away from you. At least keep the one of them blocking down when you send 5 people to the right.
On top of that there weren’t even enough blockers for the LBs and DBs on that side even if the DE doesn’t blow that up. Maybe Tommy saw something on tape that said that would work?
Buchner made the wrong read ? IDK.
Just win, baby.
Well, that was bonkers and the exact opposite of what I expected. Disorganized thoughts:
-That felt like playing a Johnelle Smith Michigan State team. Psychotic manic energy, big plays combined with big mistakes, a sideline meltdown by the opposing coach, and a shootout that went the distance. South Carolina wanted that one bad.
-Buchner was significantly better than I expected and opened up a number of things we couldn’t do with Pyne. However, I am certain we still need a transfer QB for next year – Buchner can be a great backup/change of pace/red zone QB, but I don’t think we can take a whole season of his Jekyll and Hyde stuff. I hope this game does not convince the staff that our QB roster is fine as is.
-This game was Tommy Rees in a nutshell – brilliant calls mixed with absolute malpractice. It is exhausting. Please someone end this and hire a normal OC.
Great win to end the season. Not many ND teams of my lifetime would have pulled this one off.
I’ll ask the same question I’ve been asking in other locations.
Do you think that a Brian Kelly team, after getting hit with such adversity early, could have come back and won this game? How about after the pick-6 in the 4th quarter?
Maybe I’ve got rose-colored glasses, but I think a BK team wilts under this kind of pressure. This Marcus Freeman team, got up and punched the other team in the mouth, not once, but several times.
It feels like we’re forging a new identity, i.e., a tough and physical team that never quits. I like it.
I don’t believe a Brian Kelly ND team loses to Marshall and Stanford.
A BK team absolutely loses those games because look at the mess he left regarding the roster and especially the QB room and OC position.
He also doesn’t beat the garbage out of Clemson or recruit 20+ 4-star prospects in this class. I’ll take Freeman for now.
Tulsa and USF
Granted, different seasons but still happened and just as bad
Not a Kelly fan, but since he reboot after the 4-8 he did not lose to unranked or bad teams. Also, it’s pretty clear Clemson is not the CFB power program they were before when Kelly coached against them. They are not that impressive without a stud QB. We will see if this frosh becomes one.
Just going off of close scores, I don’t remember exactly what happened in each game:
2017 Navy (7-6) 24-17
2018 Ball St (4-8) 24-16
2018 Vandy (6-7) 22-17
2018 Pitt (7-7) 19-14
2020 Louisville (4-7) 12-7
Point is valid that none of the above were losses, but some of them were lucky escapes, and the fact that he’s in that position to lose is still valid.
Kelly absolutely should have lost to Toledo last season, and would have if their qb had gone down instead of scoring a touchdown.
Why so few of the Kelly/Freeman comparisons have acknowledged this is beyond me. We also caught about a dozen lucky breaks against Virginia Tech that season and absolutely should not have won that game either.
Two things can be true – Kelly was really good at beating the lesser teams the last 5 years he was here and he was also occasionally very freaking lucky to escape.
I agree, but I also think a Kelly team would have been up two scores early, sat on the ball the rest of the game, and won 31-21.
In any event, it doesn’t matter, Kelly is gone and not coming back. We are different now. Whether we are better is an unanswered question. I am more optimistic now than I was in August.
I do believe we’re better under Freeman. I was at the Clemson game and I don’t recall seeing the team as psyched up in decades. Today, although it was different circumstances, the team showed psychological strength (INMHO) that I’m not used to seeing in ND.
If you were offered the choice of Lenzy coming back if Styles moved on, would you take it?
I would.
The choice I’d like to be offered is Matt Salerno never playing another snap for ND. Someone let me know where I can get that deal.
Here’s Salerno sealing the edge blocking both the nickel corner and a LB to spring Diggs for the first go-ahead TD.
Yes, absolutely yes. I’m hopeful Styles can get his stuff together, but next year’s team could be really good and Lenzy would be WR1 on it.
He announced he’s done with football and becoming an adult.
Oh man buchner is quite the ride. The good and highs are pretty high and the lows are just brutal. I feel like if you play his career out 10 times (from sophomore year high school on) and he has better injury luck there are some pretty high ceiling scenarios. He just hasn’t played much football. Was fun how many explosive plays there were and how easy 550 yards were considering how much they left out there. But there are still a lot of bad decisions, inconsistent throwing, lack of touch and throws at ankles. For as good of a runner as buchner is he has no pocket presence, still not sure he’s ever had a scramble for a big run.
I think bringing in hartman will really elevate our thoughts on the skill talent. Just like book coming in for wimbush and we thought so much higher about boykin and clay pool, hartman will have same impact.
Lastly please no more chris tyree runs. Really unfortunate they couldn’t bring in dylan edwards in that role but it just can’t be tyree. his 6 stutter step cuts are just brutal.
Also if I didn’t say it, no idea where buchner goes, but I respect the hell out of him. Physically and mentally tough and resilient. Think that’s been a trait for awhile of nd qbs and it does make it easy to root for them
I can’t tell if Buchner has bad pocket presence or is willing himself to stay in the pocket and fighting the urge to scramble. While not comparing him to be the same level of athlete as Justin Fields, but comparing the situation with Fields and the Bears up until week 6 where they unleashed him. Everyone was writing Fields off when they were trying to force him to be a pocket QB.
I’ll admit I have a soft spot for Buchner and really want him to succeed. He’s my favorite QB since Golson and would love if he beats out Hartman in the fall camp
With 3 ints I can’t give Buchner any higher than a C grade. Yes, I know all of the excuses. He has skill, you can see it, but it’s raw. I could see him being a very good QB in a couple of years – but you would go through a lot of ups and downs in the meantime. Not sure ND can afford to be that patient.
For some reason he reminds me a bit of Andrew Hendrix (TB is a much better QB), but both are better runners and were all fastballs and not enough touch.
It will be an interesting next few years at QB. Absolutely have to think that someone on the roster transfers if we get Hartman.
“That’s 4,355 total yards over a 13 game season!”
Eric retroactively claiming victory for his 3000 yards passing prediction 😉
Buchner finished the game with a QBR of 69, which, nice, and also seems more or less right: he was helpful to winning, but not so helpful that he was a legitimate MVP of the game. They should have given it to Botelho.
I don’t believe you actually believe these things.
https://twitter.com/jamieuyeyama/status/1609250049648885760?s=20&t=byc1f6JFQzRsEIcDZqHOQQ
I dunno, that seems good
He played well.
Ain’t no way the MVP is going to him with 1 sack over the final 64 snaps from South Carolina in a game with a combined 83 points in the highest scoring Gator Bowl ever.
Diggs, Estime, and Lenzy probably get more MVP votes.
Well, sure, if you use the logic of MVP voters. QBs, RBs, or WRs almost always win.
But who played a better game, Botelho or Buchner? Wasn’t close, really.
A couple amazing sideline shots of Freeman in this game. Our first:
This one had me absolute DYING:
The emotion wants to come out so bad, he doesn’t know what to do lolololol.
when did these happen?
The first was Buchner’s first pick six (I think, I was tracking a lot of his reactions).
The second was after Sneed’s unnecessary roughness penalty, which we never saw what happened btw.
You know things are bad when the gum is out
The second one is akin to Jimmy Dugan trying to talk with Evelyn about hitting the cutoff.
he’s so adorable i love him
Can this be a recurring segment? This is great.
Also, emotional MF > emotional BK.
Smh at Eric for not titling this recap “Irish Beat Off Cocks” like I suggested
Sounds like Eric was being kind of nutty. What a dick
It’s too bad the Gator Bowl isn’t on NBC anymore. Garrett could have spent 4 hours telling us about naked Irish-Cocks action.
It was nearly the stroke of midnight, I just wanted to bang it out and go to bed.
Eric, special thanks to you and the staff for all your hard work and excellent output throughout the year. We look forward to all of your posts and comments. Now, we have to wait until spring.
A couple of comments on the game:
-Estime and Diggs were standouts
-Foskey and Mayer were missed
-Buchner had some strange short pass misses early in the game. Jitters? I hope so.
-Bertrand had a great game
-Let’s pray Joseph returns
Any update on Sam Hartman?
Welcome!
I think Hartman is going to visit campus this week or next.
Fun to watch the Michigan game but unfortunately OSU is looking good.
Though the comment about the coaching strategy changes on defense make me think the DC played a big role of losing to Michigan – as good as Knowles is supposed to be. So even the best coaches have a bad game – even at these elite schools. The comment was that he thought he played too much cover zero and now was going to try to keep things in front of them, etc.
Yeah, I think everyone is just gonna bitch and Monday Morning QB about coaching decisions to an extent.
But at least Notre Dame didn’t run a reverse, flea flicker Philly special at 4th and goal on the 2 like Harbaugh 🙂
Can’t wait for the 12 team field to produce games like this year’s playoff.
Unfortunately you had to wait 10 years for the semifinal games to be any good in the four team playoff setup.
Presumably, the first round games should be good, then the quarters will probably ass kickings and the semis will be competitive again. With more games will allow less game planning, so maybe that advantage the Alabamas and Georgias have in prepping will be minimized.
Yeah, let’s hope so. The home games in the first round will be an interesting wrinkle to see how that develops and pans out.
Since all the non-playoff NY6 bowls have virtually lost all meaning by this point, at least a 12-team playoff adds a bunch more college football games that actually matter. Never a bad thing.
Did a Sun Bowl executive downvote this!??
Happy New Year everybody,
First of all, please accept my great thanks for helping me enjoy 2022: to Eric and the Staff, and to all of you intelligent, reasonable and well reasoned contributors.
Any word on Benjamin Morrison? It was so sad to see him standing forlornly on the sideline with no helmet. After that gratuitous hit the SC player put on him I assume he was on concussion protocol but am not sure.
Finally, for 2023 — I am planning to be in Dublin for the opener (living in Paris, I was able to make the two prior games). If any of you are planning to come yourselves, I would dearly love to organize an 18 Stripes event there!
Happy New Year Noise! I’m mostly certain I will be taking a trip to Ireland for the game, sounds like an event would be fun!
Hooks — totally! I know some spots. Event! 18 Stripes!
it cannot be a coincidence that the 2 games i attend are the two best in terms of yardage for ND this year right????????