That someone who lost, was Notre Dame. On a crazed night in Athens with Georgia fans frothing at the mouth, the Fighting Irish stood up toe-to-toe to one of the SEC favorites while falling short on a would-be game-winning drive. One the one hand, it was a frustrating night full of penalties and missed opportunities while on the other hand Notre Dame stayed right there stride for stride with Georgia for most of the game.
Yet, another big game loss and a reminder that the Irish are close but still lack the horses in these massively huge games. Let’s recap the 6-point defeat to Georgia.
Stats Package
| STAT | IRISH | DAWGS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 17 | 23 |
| Plays | 61 | 59 |
| Total Yards | 321 | 339 |
| Yards Per Play | 5.26 | 5.74 |
| Conversions | 5/16 | 4/11 |
| Completions | 29 | 20 |
| Yards Per Attempt | 5.85 | 7.19 |
| Rushes | 14 | 33 |
| Rushing Success | 42.8% | 42.4% |
| 10+ Yds Rushing | 0 | 7 |
| Defense Stuff Rate | 24.5% | 19.6% |
Offense
QB: B
RB: D
TE: A+
OL: B-
WR: C
This felt like a game where Notre Dame played far from perfect on offense, went into a funk (3 drives to open the second half totaling 9 yards on 9 plays, plus 2 picks on the first 4 drives of the second half), made plenty of mental mistakes, but in the end somehow finished right where I think their ceiling is in a game against Georgia with a few players missing due to injury.
Certainly, they put the game on Book’s shoulders and I think he acquitted himself well enough. The 10-play 75-yard touchdown drive to get within 6 points late is something for the Irish quarterback to take away for confidence moving forward. Book either dropped back to pass or ran the ball on 81.9% of all snaps finishing with 293 yards of offense. In a game that saw Notre Dame gain almost 2 yards per play more than the 2017 matchup with Georgia it was mostly due to Book stepping up because he had precious little help.
It’s debatable if the Irish should’ve run more. In a perfect world yes, but with so much reliance on Tony Jones (7 of Georgia’s 12 stuffs came on Jones’ touches) it would’ve been difficult. Moving forward, obviously getting the run game much improved for a game like this has to be a priority. Only 3 successful runs from a running back and no carries from anyone over 10 yards isn’t going to cut it.
By the way, the Irish converted both of their third and short opportunities in the game, including one Tony Jones run. After such a freak out in the first two games that’s likely to get lost in the defeat to Georgia.
Chip Long came out immediately with a varied game plan that loosened up Georgia knowing the Irish weren’t going to count on running a bunch inside. It’s times like these where you wish the offense had that ability to do everything but hats off to the staff for not slamming their head into the wall and really looking bad on a big stage. The offense seemed to lose some of its dynamic play-calling in the second half, I have to assume Georgia made some big adjustments.
Run Success
Jones 3 of 9 (33.3%)
Book 2 of 3 (66.6%)
Keys 1 of 2 (50.0%)
Welcome back, Cole Kmet! The tight end shined brightly with 9 catches for 108 yards with a touchdown easily becoming Notre Dame’s biggest weapon on the night. Add in Tremble’s 20-yard catch (and effective blocking) and this was a tremendous night for the tight end position.
Unfortunately, it was a poor night for the receivers. Only 2 of Book’s first 8 targets to Claypool were completed (this did include one pass interference call though) and the majority of the wideout’s production came late in the game on the final touchdown drive.
It was a bad time for Chris Finke to have his worst career game. Despite a circus catch off the back of a Georgia defender, Finke bobbled a catch leading to an interception and didn’t attack the sideline throw that lead to Book’s second interception. One poor game could be excused but with just 7 catches for 81 yards (most of that damage coming on last week’s pop pass) it’s been frustrating to see Notre Dame really struggle to find a consistent second receiver.
In just one game, Kmet moves up to the second-leading receiver in yardage for 2019!
It’s too bad that 6 false starts (5 from the line) marred what was a pretty good performance overall for the offensive line. Book was not sacked and officially there were no hurries from Georgia’s defense. This too will likely get lost in the pain of the defeat–the line protected Book well enough for the offense to move the ball through the air and did reasonably well in the few times they decided to run the ball.
Defense
DL: B
LB: A
DB: B+
There’s no question the Irish defense should get most of the applause after this game. It was far from a dominant performance against a very good offense but Notre Dame played right near their ceiling and kept the team in the game right until the end.
In fact, I think we can say Georgia’s running game was largely held in check. The tackling was impressive, the Dawgs were under 50% success rate on the night, and the longest run was only 16 yards. The 7 to 0 disparity in runs of 10+ yards shines a light on Notre Dame’s offensive woes in this area, although the Irish defense did have a stretch in the second half where they weren’t as strong limiting Georgia on the ground.
At one point, quarterback Jake Fromm was completing a bunch of passes but for little damage. That he ended up 1.3 YPA better than Book at the end of the game says something about both offenses. Fromm was efficient and his pair of third down conversions through the air on their first touchdown drive, and a big third down touchdown pass in the 4th quarter were massive plays.
On third/fourth down passing attempts, Fromm finished 5 of 9 for 42 yards with 3 first downs and the aforementioned touchdown. Book finished 6 of 13 for 40 yards with 2 first down throws, the 1-yard touchdown to Kmet, and an interception.
The Irish secondary held up well against someone who only threw 6 incompletions but they needed one more big play when Fromm was backed up on the sticks. Just one more play!
Stuffs vs. Georgia
(season stuffs in parentheses)
JOK – 3.5 (6)
White – 2.5 (7)
MTA – 2.5 (5.5)
Kareem – 2 (4)
Gilman – 1 (5)
Lamb – 1 (1)
Bilal – 0.5 (5)
Hinish – 0.5 (1.5)
Moala – 0.5 (0.5)
We’ve talked in the past about the inaccuracy of charting quarterback hurries (how many games have you seen no sacks or hurries from both teams?) but the Irish definitely made Fromm uncomfortable a handful of times. That includes a couple snaps from Julian Okwara who nonetheless still feels like he’s massively underachieving this year. To date, just 4 tackles and one sack!
The good news is that the Irish remain consistently productive in the stuffs department. Georgia was off schedule a lot more than I’m betting they thought they’d be and it was this aspect to the game that really contributed to the Dawgs unable to put things away in the second half when the Irish offense was sputtering.
In my game preview I bet that the Notre Dame offense and defense SP+ rankings would feel inverted against Georgia. As those numbers adjust throughout the season I believe we got a good glimpse that the defense is by far the stronger unit and will carry this team in many games this year.
Final Thoughts
Do we want to imagine this game without Kmet in the lineup? I wasn’t on his bandwagon prior to this season and needed evidence that he was a game-changing tight end. Sold! Unfortunately, the drop-off from Claypool/Kmet to the other skill players is just so massive right now. Development of some younger players is going to be so crucial for this program.
The running backs (Jones and Davis) combined for 15 touches for 45 yards, just a measly 3 yard average. Georgia’s running backs finished with 32 touches for 144 yards.
I was shocked that Ian Book didn’t run the ball more. Only one first half carry! Previously, Book’s fewest carries in a game was 6 and he only finished with 3 against Georgia. A bit strange to me.
I didn’t hate Smart’s decision to kick the late field goal (from a UGA perspective) as I would’ve probably done the same feeling like my defense was holding Notre Dame in check. You were betting the Irish couldn’t put together 2 touchdown drives late in the game when they hadn’t drove the whole field for a touchdown even once up to that point, and Kirby won that bet.
It’s a bad idea to run a flea-flicker and even worse idea to run a flea-flicker where two of the receivers are running out of real estate to the boundary side. Also, great corner blitz call by Georgia to disrupt the play and even better interception from the safety.
By my count, the Irish threw the ball on 17 of 24 (70.8%) first down opportunities. That’s skewed a little bit by the final touchdown drive but it does seem like when the chips are down this offense is throwing two-thirds of the time on first down.
Prior to the season I thought this was a 9-3 team. Following the performance on Saturday I would definitely bet on a 10-2 record. Where will the other loss come from? I’m not sure but there’s likely a game where the defense inexplicably doesn’t play well and I’m positive there will be at least two more games where the offense really struggles and puts the Irish in a tight contest. Beware this weekend with Virginia in a classic let down spot.
Are we talking enough about how well Jay Bramblett has punted so far this year?
Don’t look now but Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah is leading the defense in solo tackles. He’s also on pace for 82 tackles and 19.5 tackles for loss on the season.
Book has really improved his pocket presence over the last 2 games but boy that last snap of the game really did him in for good. He would’ve had a perfect opportunity to fire an accurate pass if he just stepped up into the pocket. Remember there was just under one minute remaining and the offense only needed 9 yards on 4th down. Resorting to a Hail Mary in that moment was a major fail for the offense.
I think Clark Lea is the bee’s knees.
I’ll go you one better. I think Clark Lea should be the next head coach of Notre Dame. We’ve taken shots at the next hot head coach prospect and been afraid to hire from within since Davie, but honestly lots of teams promote their head coach from current staff, and many of them have great success with it. Consistency of staff and approach would be appreciated for once the next time we have to make a coaching change. I’m not proposing that Kelly be fired, but maybe we can induce Lea to stay around for another couple years with the promise that he’s next in line.
Swarbrick has indicated that head coaching experience will not be a non-negotiable factor next time around with hiring, so, to the extent they’re not going with a head coach, I completely agree.
Yeah, I would think it will be a Matt Campbell/PJ Fleck type. And Lea is very, very good as a DC, but does that (and defensive coaches in general) really translate to HC? Seems a role more suited for an offensive-minded vision. I wouldn’t bet against Lea getting an opportunity somewhere, and possibly being good, but for the next Notre Dame head coach I would kinda hope for a young-up-and-comer with some program-building experience already.
Literally the most successful coach in the history of the game has an entirely defensive background. Bob Stoops was also a defensive coach prior to taking over at OU. Pete Carroll was primarily a defense guy. Kirby Smart is doing a great job after being in charge of defense only. I’m sure he learned a hell of a lot about how to be a good HC from Saban, but still.
Meyer, Swinney, Riley, Malzahn (?) are counterexamples of successful HC with primarily or entirely offensive pedigrees before taking over head spots, but I do think that one can make the jump from a very talented up and coming coordinator to a very successful head coach at a major program, and I don’t think which side of the ball you coach probably has much impact on that. Of those mentioned, Meyer “rose in the ranks” from coaching at BG->Utah->Florida/tOSU. The others jumped from coordinator straight to head jobs. Actually, Swinney went from WR coach to HC!
First of all, you’re right that defensive coaches can be great HC, I wasn’t trying to infer they couldn’t. It’s just my own personal preference and I was considering Notre Dame’s situation. To your Saban example, if you’re giving the next Saban his first shot, I think this hypothetical looks like Saban at Michigan St, not Saban at LSU or Bama. The best defensive coach needed to be in the south to recruit the pieces he needed.
I’m sure a DC could make a fine hire, but IMO if you look at the programs that turnaround or sustain success recently (like Oregon with Chip Kelly, LSU, Texas, anywhere Meyer was, etc) it’s usually with innovative offensive minds pushing it. That would be my personal ideal hire, to get a young guy with new energy and an innovative offense for the next hire.
Good point that Saban, while he started as HC at a power 5 school, definitely took a step up when he went to lsu. Bama (via miami) was a lateral move.
I guess the root of my point is that, after 10 years, ND is at a different place than it was for the last few coaching hires. Kelly has gotten the program to a stable place of double digit win seasons and fairly consistent though not outstanding recruiting. We dont need a rebuild job. We need someone who can build on this momentum and get us the next level. That could be an assistant just as well – perhaps better – than an up and coming HC from a lower tier school.
Besides, theres nothing to say that Lea couldn’t hire an exciting new OC. The best coaches let qualified assistants handle the areas outside their expertise
I hear ya. And I agree on someone to build on the momentum. To me guys like Fleck and Campbell are already well out-recruiting what should be expected to places like Minnesota and Iowa State, much like Herman did at Houston in the mini- “up and coming coaching generation” before those two. That’s the type of guy I’m specifically thinking of, not just a concept of a young, small school coach. I’d hope it’s an elite rising star type of hire that truly can recruit in the top 5. That’s a big ask though given all the constraints and variables in play.
Could Lea do that? Perhaps. Maybe it’s his low key personality or how he presents on game days but it doesn’t give me that same sort of excitement.
I think Kelly has shown us what you get when you hire a young up and comer from a small school. You get a coach (usually) who is not ready for prime time with the big boys, and takes a few years to get things figured out. There are obviously examples to the contrary, but the one that really stands out is Meyer. His tremendous success really seems more like an exception that proves the rule.
There is no appropriate preparation for the ND job because of the additional restrictions related to academic standing and general behavior, not to mention ND playing by the rules on 20-hour weeks and stuff where I suspect that most other schools cut corners (if not outright ignore).
There are no hard & fast rules that are always applicable, but my opinion is that HC experience tends to be overrated while fit and experience at (or at least an understanding of) an institution is undervalued.
PJ Fleck? Seriously? I would rather take my shot with Clark Lea today, right at this moment, than give the job to PJ Fleck.
but will Swarbrick be the AD when the next coaching hire occurs?
He’s the cat’s pajamas.
I’m very happy about the way the LBs showed up. We played against an uber-talented team (I looked at their last 5 recruiting classes before the game and got very worried) and gave up no huge plays. Would’ve been nice to end a few of those 10-15 yard runs sooner but seeing White make plays was quite a relief after watching Louisville. Defense looks like a very solid unit overall that can keep us in most if not all games. Giving up 23 to the #3 in the country is a relative success that gives our offense a chance.
Only alarming concern I have is running game (obviously). Even if Jafar were healthy I’m not sure we would’ve done all that much better against UGA. Fingers crossed Kyren can become a useful weapon by mid-season (would it be too much to ask for him to be legit by USC?). Could be a decent unit next year with Kyren year 2, Tyree, and Jafar, but this year I foresee Book throwing 40-50 passes against any teams with decent run D.
Re: the last play, that seemed like one of the few times that there was significant penetration by UGA. There were two guys chasing him backwards. I actually thought it was an accomplishment to get that pass off. I don’t think he intended to throw a Hail Mary. It just worked out that way. Of course, I was there and so didn’t get a chance to see a replay, so my impression may be wrong.
I thought Smart’s FG decision was OK as well. Worst case for UGA would have been a stuff on that play with momentum swinging, etc. Even if you figure that there was a decent chance they’d make the first down, the downside seems to outweigh in that situation, imo.
Was fun to see how quiet the stadium got when they had to punt after our last TD. Have felt that sense of dread myself too many times at ND not to enjoy watching it down there. UGA fans were at great pains to be friendly and welcoming. They obviously were very impressed with their treatment at ND in 2017. Makes you suspect that most SEC visitor experiences are pretty lousy (e.g. UGA traveling to Arkansas or something).
On the last play, Kmet got beat (he was only chip blocking it seems) and Eichenberg ended up blocking no one unfortunately. Still, Nolan Smith was 9 yards up field from the line of scrimmage. It’s not unreasonable to step up in the pocket and completely neutralize someone being so aggressive. Book would’ve had 4 guys blocking 2 defenders and it looked like Kmet was wide open underneath for an easy first down pass.
I don’t really blame him for bailing out and trying to extend the play for it being a 4th down. Can’t risk getting clipped by 1 of 2 free rushers or stepping into more pressure. At that point, especially given the circumstance, I don’t mind just trying to buy a little more time. After the fact I think your analysis here is totally right on what would have been a wiser move, but with the live bullets flying at that point the play was probably defeated by the start by allowing 2 free rushers in on the QB so quickly.
But going Clausen 07 in the pocket made it far, far worse that he would get clipped by a tackler as he spun right into the pressure. Slide up in the pocket and he’d have all day.
Yup, he does not climb the pocket enough. This might just be his ceiling….
This is the saddest thing I’ve read in regards to the game. So close, and yet perpetually so far….
A non-F grade for the running backs is generous, unless you’re saying that a chunk of that is the o-line (which also is pretty generous with a B-, even if they didn’t give up a sack).
On the plus side, A+ for TE is 100% accurate. Also MTA had a great game.
I guess I’m grading on a curve with the backs because we know there isn’t much clay to mold there right now.
Remember the ghastly reaction to Tony Jones moving from a 4-star to a 3-star by one of the recruiting sites? He is what he is and that was pretty evident when he was in high school, IMO.
RB should have only gotten an F if they missed blocks that led to sacks, and I think he did OK picking up a couple. So I’m glad they didn’t get a failing grade. Not Jones’ fault that he was overmatched (and it’s not like the line would have opened up a lot on that defense anyways).
You beat me to it — my impression was that BK was riding with Jones because he knew that the run game was going to ineffective, but he trusted Jones much more on blocking than one of the younger backs
Completely agree, but I think this should be graded on an absolute scale and not a relative one. So without Jafar Armstrong we’re probably starting each game at a D+ level. And this was a bad game, so F.
I was so impressed with our cornerbacks’ coverage last night. They made some ridiculously huge pass breakups with perfect form. Fromm, unfortunately, was nearly perfect all night.
I do wish we could’ve pushed the passing game downfield better last night. We had a few big passing plays to Kmet and Keys. And Tremble had a big gain on a nice play design. But our O-Line seemed surprisingly great in pass pro last night and I actually thought Ian did a better job of staying in the pocket (aside from the last play). It seems like there could have been more opportunity if we wouldn’t have run so many short crossing routes all game.
Pass coverage was great for us but that play from the Reed kid from Georgia when he picked off Book on the roll out was just crazy. How many DB in the country can make that play? The kid was running all out but still had the athletic ability and the hands to make that play. Just special.
Book was, I think, 3/5 on passes longer than 20 yards, with one of the incompletions being the chuck and duck at the end of the game. I obviously didn’t see what it looked like downfield, or what they were doing defensively, but it puzzled me that we didn’t push it downfield more.
I think QB is the true limit on this year’s team. I love Ian Book, but he just doesn’t have the arm /confidence/whatever to push the ball downfield. I agree the running game was anemic, but he had plenty of time to throw. I can’t believe that Long isn’t calling plays that don’t have a downfield option. It looks like Book just likes to throw it underneath more.
That would be an interesting breakdown from one of the smart guys in here.
Spent the last half of the 3rd qtr. pleading at the TV for ND to try a shot downfield.
I get that a lot of fans are happy or content with the teams play despite the loss but me not so much. Yes the team played way better than I expected especially defensively where I thought Georgia was going to run the ball down our throats all night and dominate in the trenches. Salute to Drew White and Wu who played fast and physical all night long. Both players seem to be getting better and better. I can’t say the same about the o line. I wasn’t particularly happy with the play of our OL last night or overall through 3 games. Eric is a little generous with his grade IMO. C+ from me because I thought they were average at best last night. I also wouldn’t give the RB anything but a failing grade (F) but BK did say the team is asking way to much from Tony Jones.
The main reason I feel the way I do is despite the team playing better than expected the bottom line is the narrative remains the same with this team and that is Notre Dame still can’t win on the big stage versus a elite program. There is still a pretty decent gap between us and the elite and as always that gap revolves around recruiting. Our coaches are good enough. Our strength and conditioning program is good enough and our facilities rank up there with the best of them. The difference is we are good at recruiting where the teams we are trying to catch are great. A lot of Irish fans will probably disagree but I feel like this program can compete with the super programs but we have got to give them a reason to pick ND over these heavyweight programs. The 4 year versus 40 year speech is getting old. These elite kids want to go the league and they want to play and more important they want to win these big games on the big stage. There is no bigger stage than Notre Dame but we keep coming up short. It blows my mind to hear other Notre Dame fans say that our recruiting is good enough. That sounds so crazy to me.
What I did like was the way Brian Kelly challenged this Irish team during his post game speech about playing Virginia next week. He said to let that game define our season and not the lost to Georgia. He recognizes how important is and I agree 100% with him. This upcoming game versus Virginia might end up proving to be bigger than both the Michigan and the Southern Cal games. If we beat Virginia I think we finish this season 11-1.
Also please Notre Dame get a offer out to 5 star CB Isaiah Johnson. Don’t be scared off by the injury. He is healing nicely and he is high on the Irish. This kid is a bigger faster Julian Love.
Honestly, I think that the recruiting is good enough in most spots. Our defense was up to the challenge last weekend in basically every unit, and this is after losing some incredibly valuable and experienced individual players in Tillery, Love, Coney and Tranquill last season. Our interior DL held up very well and we have better recruits on the way. I think we are getting close to a ‘reload’ as opposed to ‘rebuild’ situation there.
The offense is lagging, comparatively speaking, but this is mostly in skill spots where we should get meaningful upgrades next year with players like Tyree and Jordan Johnson. We need to keep hitting those spots hard. As for the rest of it? I would put our OL and TE recruiting up against Georgia or anyone else nationally, and we’ve done very well with Jurkovec, Pyne and Buchner in the pipeline.
Overall, I think we are closer than you suggest, but injuries and inexperience at this moment in time are hurting us more than Georgia.
Thanks for a very god wrapup to another tough loss, and also to all the commentators above. This one hurts but thank you team for coming back hard. This was worth missing another night’s sleep (still 2am to 6am in Paris). BK also mentioned the physicality, and so did Kirby Smart (several times each, must have been some hellacious hitting, and that is a very good sign on this bunch as well). For the wideouts — I have to hope that the return of M Young will be a boon. RBs, we are kinda screwed, but I hope Armstrong can heal fast.
Allow me to revert to my hobby horse — the loud crowd. Their impact was impressive. Tjhs is just what our stadium used to give teams in the north end of the field, and what I have been striving to inspire to recover lo a quarter of a century. The big video board and some savvy use of same has helped, but more could be done. I will omit the myriad small ways that could and should combine to get our wonderful fans (at least when they don’t sell their damn tickets to Dawgs) to make… More Noise! This night is really the proof of how that can make a difference.
Could we have pulled a Jimmy Johnson?
Ugh, this just can’t happen.
“The Irish had practiced silent counts all week, including a Saturday walkthrough, but in the actual game Book reverted to an old habit at times of clapping to get center Jarrett Patterson to snap the ball.”
“He just went back to muscle memory and what he had done with the clap, and it cost us,” Kelly said when pressed about it. “Obviously, very unfortunate, but we’ll have to continue to work on it and clean it up so it doesn’t happen again.”
Might have to increase my O-line grade now.
I saw this happening several times but didn’t realize there was anything wrong with it. If he did it once, why didn’t the coaches get on him about it and prevent it happening again? I wish Kelly would answer what exactly happened with the false starts – because three of them looked identical, in that Kmet took off running along with one of the linemen, while everyone else stood still. That seems like there’s some systematic issue happening, rather than one player jumping.
Yikes. That’s really bad. I take back my comments about B- being generous for the o-line.
“I’m sick about it. I’ve been a head coach for 29 years. I know better. We didn’t spend enough time on it. I thought our quarterback was prepared. He wasn’t. That falls on me.” — Brian Kelly
IMO, I think it’s Kelly falling on the grenade for Book not executing right. If they practiced it all week and emphasized it in the walk-through the Sr. QB with like 15 starts under his belt should be better there. Easy to Monday morning QB that one, but oh well.
Yeah, this is bad mostly for Book, not for Kelly. Doing it once means Kelly didn’t do a great job coaching; doing it multiple times means that Book has some issues with it.
Ya, I don’t understand this explanation….8 times Book forgot what he was supposed to do? Does that mean a bad coaching job pre and in game? Or just a bad plan, to handle the noise, altogether?
INVESTIGATIVE REPORT:
2 of the 5 false starts were pure flinches by Eichenberg and Hainsey after Georgia’s line shifted. The botched snap on 4th down from Patterson looks like he panicked when Georgia shifted and he snapped the ball a second early for some reason.
I can’t figure out the cadence Book was using early in the game. I thought he was doing some hand signal which then initiated a two second snap but he wasn’t doing that on many snaps. To my eye, it just looks like he’s using a normal vocal “hut” to snap the ball? Maybe he’s clapping? But the ball isn’t being snapped quickly after any movement from Book.
On the 4th drive of the game late in the 1st quarter, Book begins to clap for the snap and it seems a lot more animated than whatever he’s doing prior. Then he stops clapping for a couple snaps. Then, Book lifts his leg which Banks then taps Patterson to snap the ball. Then Book claps again and it leads to a false start. You can tell by the player reactions this was Book’s fault. He finishes the drive with the leg raise, Banks taps Patterson system.
THEN…he goes back to clapping on the next series after the fumbled punt return. A few of these plays are under center and nothing bad happens. The following series, he’s still clapping and there’s another false start. Then, back to the leg raise system.
It appears Book stays with the leg raise system except for one snap in the late 3rd where he claps again and the offense false starts.
So, it seems they tried some silent count approach early, Book reverted to clapping, then they switched to a third approach. Or, they started out clapping, didn’t correct Book right away, and that lead to a bunch of problems.
Holy hell, that sounds like a disaster. Many thanks for tracking this in the rewatch.
This season has reconfirmed for me that Jerry Tillery was an absolute god last year. O-Lines not needing to focus their attention on him this season has really allowed them to slow down our DEs. That the secondary has refused to allow many big pass plays this year is a testament to how good they are, because we haven’t really had much of a pass rush yet.
Didn’t love Chip Long’s play calling (but it can’t be easy with no elusive RBs). Maybe it was on Book, maybe Georgia’s DBs were content to let us take the underneath routes, but I would have loved more throws down the field. We should have done a better job of anticipating that Georgia would press their DBs up to the line after halftime, and unfortunately their adjustments easily outpaced ours. The final TD drive was beautiful; I wish we had shown that kind of aggression early on in the 2nd half. To me, it felt like we came out with the dreaded “playing not to lose” offense.
EVerything plays on itself. WIth no running game, and no real attempt at one, the safeties can sit back and either get deep or contest everything in the 10-15 yard range, or both.
With only two real receivers getting targets, it was tough. Book needs to read better. He is not comfortable stepping up into the pocket, and while it may have been the right decision on that last play, much like the clap, he can’t erase muscle memory. The clap should be easy too.
I thought that Chip Long called an excellent game…in the first half. The third quarter was atrocious (however, it might have been on Book, though). Clearly, Georgia adjusted and was sitting on the short / crossing throws. Why not take some shots down field?
It seemed like Georgia missed the scouting report on Book’s love of the short routes and inability to throw long, as they gave ND the short passes in the first half. Then, at halftime, it finally dawned on them that Book will not try to beat them deep and they started sitting on the short throws and jumping them.
I thought that the ND defense played a heck of a game, I loved the effort and sold tackling for the most part.
BTW, did anyone else notice Owusu getting to the outside of the block on a Georgia play (I can’t remember if it was a screen or sweep) that was moving horizontally? Thanks 18Stripes and Burger for featuring that type of defensive assignment in the “setting edge” play breakdown this past week!
man it really felt like we were finally gonna get that awesome last second win.
Haven’t felt like this since 2014