Are you not entertained? Saturday night in Blacksburg started out as a sleepy punt-fest before morphing into one of the more exciting finishes of the season featuring multiple quarterbacks, flags everywhere, untimely turnovers, and one clutch game-winning kick from Jonathan Doerer.
The Fighting Irish now move to 5-1 on the season with the bye week coming up.
Stats Package
| STAT | IRISH | HOKIES |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 32 | 29 |
| Plays | 69 | 71 |
| Total Yards | 394 | 321 |
| Yards Per Play | 5.71 | 4.52 |
| Conversions | 3/12 | 8/17 |
| Completions | 15 | 17 |
| Yards/Pass Attempt | 8.50 | 5.50 |
| Rushes | 43 | 37 |
| Rushing Success | 52.5% | 37.1% |
| 10+ Yds Rushes | 5 | 4 |
| 20+ Yds Passes | 4 | 2 |
| Defense Stuff Rate | 28.1% | 20.2% |
For a large stretch of the game it looked like Tyler Buchner grabbed the reigns of the offense and permanently sent all other quarterbacks to the bench. However, a pair of bad interceptions and a rolled ankle brought Jack Coan back onto the field for 2 massive scoring drives to seal the victory.
Offense
QB:Â B-
RB:Â B
TE:Â D
OL:Â B
WR: B
First, how about this offensive line huh!?? As far as I could tell the line stabilized with a grouping of Alt (LT), Kristofic (LG), Patterson (C), Madden (RG), and Lugg (RT) turning in a quality performance on the road while blocking for 2 different quarterbacks. It didn’t start out great by any means, although things trended upward with Buchner at quarterback and remained more than competent with Coan coming into the rescue late.
The offense had their first rushing success over 50% of the season and didn’t give up any tackles for loss outside of the 2 sacks on Coan early in the game. Massive improvement.
For sure, things started rough for Jack Coan leading 3 inept and scoreless drives before being benched. Buchner was a breath of fresh air who actually made some plays with his arm before seemingly regressing and losing his confidence. Through almost 3 full quarters of football, Buchner would complete just 6 passes with 2 interceptions, including a back-breaking pick six. He threw another interception that was dropped in hilarious fashion by Virginia Tech, too.
Yet, the differences in the run game with Buchner was especially stark. Notre Dame only had 3 successful rushing plays in the 5 series with Coan at quarterback while with the Wisconsin transfer the stuff rate was 29.6% compared to just 14.2% with Buchner at quarterback.
This will certainly set up a debate over the bye week about who will start moving forward. It’ll likely be Coan after his excellent comeback in the 4th quarter, however, this game was an indication that Buchner’s stock is pointing up again and he’s likely to continue playing a lot. I personally feel like it’s unlikely he consistently throws 2-3 picks every game so that’s not a huge worry for me, plus his comfort and more playing time will improve his ability to take care of the football.
Rushing Success
Williams – 10 of 18 (55.5%)
Tyree – 1 of 3 (33.3%)
Coan – 0 of 1 (0.0%)
Buchner – 7 of 12 (58.3%)
Diggs – 3 of 6 (50.0%)
Let’s not forget a massive security blanket in tight end Michael Mayer was missing from the game due to his groin injury. In his place, the tight ends failed to impress with Mitchell Evans being thrown out on an iffy targeting call and George Takacs hauling in a 15-yard catch.
True freshman Logan Diggs picked up his first action of the season while looking pretty good. Although it wasn’t a huge game statistically (this offense still cannot break long runs!) it was more of a vintage Kyren Williams performance.
Overall, it was a pretty good game for the receivers especially in big moments. Austin, Davis, and Lenzy all caught passes of at least 20 yards while the Austin 2-point conversion catch was a phenomenal 2021 moment so far.
Defense
DL: B+
LB:Â C
DB:Â C-
I’m sure Notre Dame and Marcus Freeman are kicking themselves a little bit for lacking consistency. Virginia Tech had success early, particularly on the ground, although that got clamped down as the game wore on. It was a strong performance on the whole interspersed with poor blitzes and a few too many intermediate plays given up.
Seven out of the 10 drives after allowing 10 points in the 1st quarter were really impressive holding the Hokies to just 40 yards to really put the Irish offense in a position to come back for the win.
Still, those other 3 drives were very frustrating including a pair of field goals just before and after halftime, the former coming on just 5 plays over 28 seconds.
The drive coming after Buchner’s 2nd interception that would give Virginia Tech a 29-21 lead was particularly galling. With their backup quarterback, the Hokies converted a 3rd & 9 on the ground, later converted a 3rd & 6 with a Hamilton penalty tacked on, and eventually a 3rd & 15 touchdown. Gross.
Stuffs vs. Virginia Tech
Foskey – 3.5
White – 3
Bertrand – 2
MTA – 2
Hinish – 2
Mills – 1.5
Ademilola, Jus – 1.5
Hamilton – 1
Hart – 1
Lewis – 1
Pryor – 0.5
NaNa – 0.5
Bracy – 0.5
This didn’t seem like a game to be super aggressive with run and pass blitzes. Tech’s quarterback’s were mobile enough to run away from pressure and it exposed the lack of talent for Notre Dame at the 2nd-level with too many successful plays allowed.
Unfortunately, the Irish are not getting much from the Rover, non-Cam Hart corners, and non-Kyle Hamilton safeties. They can survive with 7 or 8 others playing at a high level but can get exposed at times with the other middling players and a strategy that isn’t always on point. For once, they didn’t play well on 3rd down and it nearly cost the team a victory.
Final Thoughts
This was a howler of a game for the ACC officiating crew. The ACC Network also continues to feel like a budget-level ESPN broadcast, which I guess is exactly what it is these days.
Speaking of howlers, that Cam Hart missed tackle was an abomination.
I don’t understand Drew Pyne not getting any snaps at all. It really makes me wonder if there’d be a greater urgency to play him if he wasn’t so team-orientated and one of the few players who genuinely grew up idolizing Notre Dame football. He’s probably unlikely to transfer but most quarterbacks in his situation are likely starting the process in November if he doesn’t play more.
Virginia Tech really picked on Tariq Bracy at corner and he does not look explosive for his size anymore. However, Bracy came through with an outstanding interception for some much-needed redemption.
Chris Tyree is suffering from a turf toe injury. Even with the bye week coming up you could imagine he might miss a game or 2 as he recovers from an injury difficult to put past you as a running back.
It was great to see Kurt Hinish back in the lineup following a 2-game absence with an undisclosed head injury.
Notre Dame hasn’t managed to average 6 yards per play on offense since the opener at Florida State. However, things were strong enough on both sides of the ball to move back into positive YPP differential on the season but just barely at +0.04 yards.
At times, this looked like a sure loss with Notre Dame starting at a 8-4 season or worse. They pulled it out and now sit at 5-1 while 4 out of their last 6 remaining opponents lost this weekend and look entirely beatable. Obviously, there should be no delusions of grandeur because a major bowl win seems nearly impossible right now with an offense that may end up ranked the worst of the Kelly era. Unless, it’s a rock fight matched up against Iowa.
Stones from Jonathan Doerer to win the game. He’s 5th all-time in field goals made for the Irish and will likely pass Nick Setta for 4th place later this season.
I am deeply concerned that we’re not laughing enough at Southern Cal for just getting casually blown out at home by Utah.
Maybe we can laugh harder in exactly two weeks time. Until then, lets keep those chuckles close to the vest.
Yes, this team has enough warts that it should take no foe lightly right now.
Don’t worry, I’m not overlooking bye week. Laser focused here.
Cheeseburgers are still undefeated
Sliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight chance of cheeseburger ranking this week if Ole Miss really struggles with Tennessee.
I think UK and OkSt have decent chances of dropping their games, as well.
I’m busy being deeply saddened Nebraska couldn’t finish off beating scUM
Big picture, can we hope that the Oline keeps improving (which they should) and therefore the run game and QB play too? If they do we’re more talented offensively than most but, it all starts at the line of scrimmage.
Rushing 4 and spying the QB with another when VT is on their own 29 and there are 16 seconds left in the half. Sending a multi player blitz(which wasn’t working all game) on third and long when VT’s QB has what looks like a badly hurt throwing shoulder. Questionable Freeman strategies.
Buchner made some poor decisions and used poor technique on a few throws too. He could have had at least two more balls picked off. Still he should come out of this game with more confidence. His ability to process info will be tested as he has so much to learn. The talent is obvious though.
Good lord, I would hope the committee would spare the world an ND vs Alabama NY6 game. The only one it could occur in this year is the Peach as the Fiesta should be receiving the Group of 5 rep. (Unless Cincinnati makes the playoff! In that case I don’t believe the G5 is guaranteed another team.)
So some more gathered and non “WOOOO FUCK YEAH” thoughts
This team is very very very far from perfect with an offense that alternates from inconsistent competence to sustained putrid failure. The OL actually didn’t look that bad even with Coan in the 4Q (how much of that can be attributed to quick throws from Jack) and the run blocking was probably the best yet. Speaking of Jack what a damn performance to come in after being benched and lead one of the clutchest drives I have ever seen in *that* environment with *this* offense. Defensively we are pretty damn good 90% of the time and then the other 10% I get PTSD of the BVG experience. The biggest thing to me is that sometimes they look like they have never seen a mobile QB before in their lives lol and sometimes the tackling can be suspect but I’ve loved the growth I’ve seen from EVERYONE. What a win without key guys like Mayer heading into the bye week and lets beat the fucking brakes off of Southern Cal in 2 weeks.
The only thing more excruciating than following a nail-biter game on ESPN.com “Gamecast” is following a nail-biter game on “Gamecast” while watching Nebraska squander a chance at beating UM. God bless the fans in Lincoln (we’ve been there). LOL Damn Tide.
My lasting memory from this game will be that absurd 2 pt conversion.
-look to Davis on a rub route
-if covered…..
…….
…….
…….
Profit!
What a confusing team. Nice to be confused and 5-1!
Good point Eric about Pyne loving it here! A point I made on Twitter last night is that they want Buchner to be the guy long term (I think most of us want that) and making Pyne the guy now makes going to Buchner next year more difficult at least in theory. I feel bad for Pyne but Buchner is the guy with the upside to get us where we want to be. I want Pyne to stay though as he has shown he can play
Buchner’s performance yesterday is seeming to be a massive Rorschach test – there are people on boards saying he should be the obvious starter and other people saying he’s New Brandon Wimbush (or worse). Would be interesting to see some analysis of whether his bad throws were due to inaccuracy or bad reads.
Which, I think, proves that there’s no easy answer at QB. Coan is a huge liability who pulls the offense backwards until he wins the game for us. I dunno.
Like I said this past week, my preference is to build toward 2022 rather than focusing on an offense and a QB we definitely aren’t going to use next year.
It’s fine and expected for a freshman to be a mystery and be inconsistent, it’s really weird how Coan just stands there and takes sacks. But then in crunch time he looks like a different player. It’s really impossible to know what is next.
Agree with what you said at the start, there’s no easy answer. There might not *be* an answer. Coan is mostly poor but still, somehow, able to come through in the clutch several times now (FSU, Toledo, Tech). Buchner has shown he can be OK but is also flawed and far from a finished product. Pyne is probably not going to play again (a personal hunch), he must suck in practices and the coaches just can’t be using every QB under the sun indefinitely.
So maybe the imperfect solution is what we saw last night? Give Coan the starts and pray something clicks in his brain to play games early like he does late and stop taking sacks. If he is ineffective in 2-3 drives, give Buchner the rest of the half and then re-adjust as needed. Then possibly have to go back to Coan to bail out the game.
What was different about Coan’s final drive? Was it tempo? I ask because I don’t know — it seemed like we were moving a bit faster, but not remarkably so. Maybe VT just didn’t have time to adjust back to Coan after defending Buchner for three quarters.
At this point I think I’d rather just start Buchner. Coan’s first three drives last night were brutal and could have easily put us in a hole we couldn’t climb out of.
Not sure what was different, it did seem like Tech was playing very soft coverage, even on the go-ahead drive they were way off Lenzy (when they weren’t, typically). But the biggest difference to me seemed like Coan’s urgency. Maybe that’s not true, but it feels like it.
I’d be fine with Buchner starting, but I don’t know how deep he can go. In the second half last night he was 1 for 6 for 12 yards, with 2 INTs, and a third was dropped. That’s not going to cut it. Coan the first three drives wasn’t much better, but there’s no obvious solution. Probably just got to set a plan (start one, make change, reassess) and go from there. And it will be fluid because neither operate well for very long before becoming ineffective.
haha that’s pretty good because both of those thoughts definitely crossed my mind last night
He’s most definitely not the new Wimbush. When he missed he was consistently high, which is a sign that he needs to settle down. The second pick (a miss high) was a bad post-snap decision – he needs to be more situationally aware and just chuck that one into the stands next time. That’s come with time.
The first pick was a bad pre-snap decision. He locked onto Colzie pre-snap despite a numbers advantage on the other side. It didn’t help that Colzie (I think, and not surprisingly for a true frosh) lost at the line, or that Buchner stared the throw down. I think he’ll get that with time too.
This is a good spot to remember Buchner’s rawness. Here’s his high school experience:
2017 – 9 games, 37 pass attempts, 20 rushes
2018 – 1 game, tore his knee up 15 minutes into the season
2019 – 13 games, 81 total TDs (not a typo)
2020 – 0 games, COVID cancellation
Coming into this season he had basically appeared in 13 games in the previous three years. He only had one season as a starter in high school (he was set to start as a sophomore) and that season was two years ago. He shows promise, and the mistakes he’s making I don’t think are of the same variety as the mistakes Wimbush made. He’ll get it.
He looked jumpy on a couple of short throws. I don’t recall him having that problem on his HS film. Of course they don’t show the bad ones on HS film. Still I think that was nerves and/or adrenaline.
The TEs were awful blocking. We should have just put in an extra WR and had him block (or just spread things out).
Alt seemed pretty good and Lugg maybe had his best game. Kristofic seemed to come in and be unnoticeable (a great trait this year!) after Correll missed a pretty bad block in space (seemed like he just didn’t have the athleticism to get out pulling). I wonder even if the other guys get back from injury – Baker and Carmody if we’ll stick with this lineup for continuity’s sake.
Good write-up, but I think Drew White deserves a particular shout-out; he arguably had the best game of anybody on the field!
Kind of incredible how this is like a good version of 2016 – we’re winning all of our many close games!
What makes you think White played particularly well?
Looking at the stats it seems like Bertrand had a better game, but it felt like White was all over the place.
For whatever it is worth, White (57.3) graded out slightly better than Betrand (56.5) by PFF, but both were not particularly good.
White was around the same in all facets of the game whereas Betrand is pretty good in run defense + tackling but pretty bad in coverage (and run defense to coverage plays are almost 50/50 for Betrand).
Watching these games feels so much like 2016.
SP+ had nd at 97% post game win expectancy and pretty sure the 2019 va tech game was like 99%. it’s only funny because nd escaped with victories but pretty dumb nd has been that much better and both felt like miracle escapes.
Last week I was questioning tyree and diggs kind of made me double down on that. I really like him as the second option at rb. find a way to get tyree the ball in space but I just much prefer the efficiency and elusiveness of kyren and now diggs, especially with this o line.
Also, noticed that C’Bo Flemister didn’t travel with the team on coach’s decision. I believe he did dress last week (but didn’t play) after his 4 game double secret probation for his, umm “late night car problems”..Wonder what his future with the team might be, seems like the coaches are ready to move on from C’Bo, if he’s not already ready to move on from Notre Dame.
Loved Diggs though, he has a lot of patience and then a good burst. Nice that ND has the depth that it really doesn’t even matter if the C’Bo situation doesn’t work out nicely.
And if Tyree is out, Diggs showed enough to believe he can be a solid #2.
yea Diggs looked good. Skill set like Williams. And only a freshmen.
Friendly reminder that the 2019 game included literally the worst possible anti-win-expectancy play – the 99 yard fumble return TD. 14 point swing that would’ve dramatically changed the rest of that game.
Which is another fun (?) reminder – ND’s post-game win expectancy for the 2011 USF game was 99%. Aliens, man. They’ll get ya.
I see no reason to be concerned about Drew Pyne transferring. He completed 40% of his passes against Cincy. He’s not the long term answer here, and he’s not going to get drafted, so he might as well stay here and get a degree. What’s he going to do, transfer to Bowling Green? I have to imagine an ND degree would be worth sticking around for. Regardless, if he transfers, that just opens up the opportunity for Ron Powlus III to win 3 Heismans.
Why was the pass blocking so much better for Coan at the end of the game? Did we just wear down their D Line by running on them when Buchner was in? If so, maybe Buchner should start going forward, with Coan coming in later in the game if we need to generate some quicker points.
I think it would suck if Pyne transfers, then depth chart gets real thin. Maybe/hopefully Clark will stick around to get his degree (he was a full dress and warmed up on Saturday, and supposedly is running the scout team offense now). Agree that it’s not the end of the world if Pyne leaves, should be Buchner’s show anyways, but it would be better if Pyne hangs around. Wouldn’t really blame him for going to play in his 3rd year, most QB’s don’t hang around forever if there’s no path to the field these days, so just kinda will be what it will be.
I thought the line was pretty good for Coan at the beginning of the game, but if the QB holds the ball indefinitely, sooner or later they’re going to get to him.
To be fair, I missed the beginning of the game, so I didn’t see the sacks. If the line played decently from start to finish, that’s fantastic news.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t WANT Pyne to transfer, but if he does, we can easily get a mid-tier QB to transfer in for his graduate degree. There are about 10 other positions I would be more concerned about losing a transfer this offseason than Pyne.
The third down sack on the first series wasn’t on him – Alt got beat immediately by a nice spin move. I don’t know how many QBs could make something out of a play where a blindside rusher is on them 1.5 seconds after the snap. Correll was also still in at LG at that point; I think he was benched around the same time Coan was.
That said, Coan clearly didn’t look great early and definitely stepped into some sacks. I think when he plays free, when his head is clear, he’s a different guy. Hence the two minute drill excellence… I would continue to build towards Buchner as the starter, whether it’s later this year or to start next year, in an RPO spread while using Coan to run a hurry up pass spread. I think with our personnel we can move between those reasonably well and be effective at both.
My preseason prediction was 5-1 before the bye, but I did not see it happening like this. To me watching this team is as frustrating as 2016, which makes me get big 2014 vibes on the season. I am just waiting for the wheels to completely fall off. That said, we have definitely improved, which gives me some hope.
Overall, I guess I should be happy that our record is what I expected (and was perfectly happy with), and that our opponents look mediocre to bad the rest of the way. But alas, being an ND football fan just won’t allow me to feel joy and hope, even after this game.
Yep, I was 5-1 as well, and thought Cincy was maybe the most or 2nd most likely loss. And yet, this team could not be more different than I could have imagined.
I had an 11-1 season with the loss most likely coming from Cincinnati, because I thought they were going to be the best team on our schedule (broken clock, etc. etc.).
And I’m still annoyed, lol.