There was pretty much nothing to take from today’s 52-0 Notre Dame win over Bowling Green except that it was great to see ND, for the second time this season, take care of a totally overmatched opponent. It says a lot about the team’s focus level.
For the record, I have no problem with playing New Mexico or Bowling Green, but man, those are not two teams that Notre Dame should be playing in the same season. The Falcons may well be the worst team ND has ever played, non-NCAA-death-penalty division. The majority of the game pretty much looked like a Blue-Gold scrimmage.
That said, here are a couple of things to note from this one.
Ian Book looked great
This is the Ian Book ND fans have been waiting to see. He was decisive, accurate, and willing to take a risk. (He had one throw to a double-covered Cole Kmet in the end zone that may not have been the smartest, but it was aggressive and, because Kmet has magnetic hands, very unlikely to be intercepted. I liked it, even though it didn’t work.) It probably helped that he was going against a Brian VanGorder secondary and had all week to throw. (Like I said, there’s very little to actually take from this game.)
Notre Dame = Tight End U@ColeKmet follows @TommyTremble‘s example and gets into the end zone for six.
#9 ND 14 | Bowling Green 0
6:46 Q1 | NBC#GoIrish ☘️ #BGvsND pic.twitter.com/YsKfnLpfVN— Notre Dame Football (@NDFootball) October 5, 2019
If Book can take that kind of mindset into the rest of the season, though, Notre Dame can be a much better team than it has shown to date. That would be excellent, my friends.
Tony Jones continues to run hard
Tony Jones Jr. had a fantastic second half last week against Virginia and he took that into today’s contest. He only had seven carries, but broke free for several huge gains and turned those seven attempts into a second consecutive 100-yard game.
Some more great news came during the telecast when Mike Tirico said Jafar Armstrong now had a chance to return from injury against USC. Between the seeming re-emergence of the ND running game behind Jones and the pending return of Jafar (I didn’t even mean to do that but I’m leaving it in), the Irish appear in good shape on both sides.
Nice to go against BVG for once
Ian Book threw a wide-open touchdown to Javon McKinley on a play where Bowling Green rushed three. Phil Jurkovec threw a prayer into coverage that somehow turned into a wide-open pass because a Falcon had his head turned the wrong way.
Man, it’s nice going against Brian VanGorder defenses. Now I know how Louisville, Northwestern and Duke felt.
Notre Dame converted 3rd-and-VanGorder with Jurkovec finding Avery Davis.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) October 5, 2019
Brian Kelly wisely did not run up the score. If I had been coaching this team, I’d have tried to drop 80 or more on VanGorder just to prove a point. The jamoke probably cost the Irish a playoff berth in 2015 and tossed gasoline on the fire of 2016. But I suppose it’s not the Falcons’ players’ fault they’ve been saddled with him as defensive coordinator.
I’m just glad ND got to face him. No fan base deserved it more.
Shutout
The ND defense stonewalled Bowling Green. In a fun twist of fate, because the Irish earned the shutout (thanks for blocking that field goal, Julian Okwara!), BVG is no longer the architect of the most recent Notre Dame shutout. Plus, it gives us a chance to bring up that shutout, the 37-0 (#RememberThe6) win over Michigan in 2014.
USC next week
After this glorified open week, the Irish return to relevant action next week when the Trojans come to town. When that one is over, we should have a good idea of ND’s chances of running the table the rest of the way.
(Photo credit: Indianapolis Star)
Nice to feel like BG was never in it, not the case for the 1st quarter against New Mexico. Both sides of our lines were great.
Nits to pick with Book. He still didn’t look great throwing outside of the pocket. Also when he tucks and runs it’s so obvious and the defense can see it. He needs to be more deceptive and still be a threat to pass. TJJ is running hard but he had some big gaps today that I think Jafar (certainly Dexter) would have housed. I know it’s unfair to ask that of him, but it hurts to see borderline D1 players catching him.
A few very random thoughts.
I was surprised that they announced that the game was a sellout, keeping the streak alive. Hmmm.
Tom Noie made the comment that ND fans were unusually obsessive about BVG and he did not understand why. Yes, he was a bad coach, but he also had his moments (Michigan – ha!) and the fist pump gif. It’s not like he “tried” to mess up 2015 and 2016. He just was not good. Oh, and he sucked as a recruiter, too.
It will be great if Jafar can play next week, even if it’s for a few plays. It will help to get him back in form for Michigan.
Glad to see Brock Wright make a nice catch. I believe he was rated even higher than Kmet out of HS.
It more than just being a bad (ineffective) coach. It that he makes things worse than they needed to be. E.g. running a defensive scheme that kept his best defensive athletes off the field because they couldn’t understand it.
That, and as the article points out, his defense likely cost the 2015 team a playoff berth, squandering the best offense of the Kelly era. Chances at the playoff won’t come around very often.
Yeah if you look at the talent on defense for that 2015 team it would be difficult to do a worse job if you tried. Jaylon Smith as a junior finished with 1 sack! 1 sack! I bet he got it on accident too just reading the QB and going in on him when his assignment stayed in to block or something.
To minorly quibble with a point you made (and not to snipe at you but fully to snipe at BVG), even if BVG hindered the growth and development of some players (completely believable!) he still had a ton of talent on the field. And he didn’t extend himself to recruit at all so he doesn’t get credit for anything.
In conclusion, I bet ND to cover and I’m thrilled they pitched a shutout and I wish Kelly wouldn’t have called off the dogs and gone for even more late in the game.
Yeah, I don’t disagree with you, but it was odd that so much venom was spent on a former assistant coach who has proven not to be a good college coach. The response on the podcast, by Tyler James, I think, was that it was because there was not a lot more to talk about given it was Bowling Green.
I do believe hiring BVG was Kelly’s biggest mistake at ND. On the other hand, it likely was the prompt for the house cleaning after the 2016 season, which was one of his best decisions.
Yeah, i think time has shown that hiring BVG was a necessary evil…even if the team never breaks through to elite under BK it has become apparent that BK 2.0 is a crucial building block toward the goal of an elite team.
On the flip side, we’re probably an elite team in 2015 with a competent D Coordinator.
Visual meme – Dave Chappelle as Tyrone Biggums scratching his face.
Hey y’all got any more of them….Okwara brothers
If only ND could have an unlimited stream of Martin’s for the OL and Okwara’s for the DL. So great to watch them all grow up and show out.
For sure, but we’ll need some Tua, Jeudy, and Etiennes to really break through