The sun came up in South Bend Monday morning. But likely well before that, Brian Kelly and his coaching staff were in the office—a day behind on preparations for Nevada, with an unexpected loss already on their resume.
Moving forward is the only option for a young Irish football team who showed plenty of character on Sunday night, though none of that adds up to a victory. And while there’ll be plenty of opportunities to diagnose all that ails this football team, let’s go through the good, the bad and the ugly from Sunday night’s 50-47 double-overtime loss.
THE GOOD
DeShone Kizer. Notre Dame’s junior quarterback played exceptional football, throwing for five touchdowns and running for another against the Longhorns. With Kizer at quarterback, the Irish scored six touchdowns... leading us into a discussion everybody (or at least the one typing this) is already sick of.
Kizer’s poise has improved from his redshirt freshman campaign. His ability to stand tall in the pocket and throw is unmatched. And for as good as we all believe Malik Zaire to be as a runner of the football, Kizer’s Football IQ and comfort making split-second decisions make him probably at least Zaire’s equal when it comes to the lethalness of the zone read.
He wasn’t perfect. With the game on the line and more than three minutes remaining, the Irish couldn’t do anything more than go three-and-out. But Notre Dame’s part-time quarterback just because a Heisman Trophy candidate, making the decision to pick a starter all but academic.
C.J. Sanders. Notre Dame’s slot receiver and return man was a dynamic piece of the puzzle for the Irish. His 25-yard score in overtime made things easy for the Irish offense. His dazzling 40-yard punt return helped set the Irish up as well.
With no depth behind him at slot receiver other than former walk-on Chris Finke, Sanders needed to play big. And he did.
Equanimous St. Brown. It’s interesting to look at the expectations of a sophomore receiver with one catch to his name. Especially after most in the media forgot about his potential breakout after seeing others step to the forefront.
“Well he’s a stud. We expected it out of him,” DeShone Kizer said after the game. “We treated him as if he was a veteran because quite frankly, all the reps he got last year as well as all the things he did this year, he is a veteran. So we’re relying on him to make big plays just like he did today.”
Two touchdowns in game one was a nice way to start.
Isaac Rochell. Notre Dame’s veteran defensive lineman was about the only guy up front who consistently held his own in the trenches. He tallied nine total tackles and made 2.5 TFLs, graded out by PFF College as the team’s best defender.
With the Irish struggling to find a good fit in their odd front, Rochell moved inside and out as Brian VanGorder looked for a solution. Rochell was a consistent force up front, and also a workhorse, playing a ridiculous 87 snaps.
Nyles Morgan. While I was tempted to keep him out of the good category after he took a 15-yard personal foul penalty, Morgan made 13 tackles from his middle linebacker spot, leading the Irish defense. Nine of those stops were solo.
In a brawl that required Morgan to play big and go head-to-head with not just a 250-pound running back or quarterback but also interior offensive linemen, Morgan did a nice job holding up under pressure.
Quick Hits:
It was great to see Tarean Folston back on the field, his 54-yard run on the first series of the game a nice reminder that Folston didn’t forget how to play the position.
What a great knack for blocking kicks Jarron Jones has shown. The length and power the fifth-year senior brings to the point of attack is a true weapon.
Justin Yoon‘s consecutive field goal streak ended when his 36-yarder was blocked. But he made a clutch kick in overtime and did a nice job with four touchbacks on six kickoffs.
Notre Dame’s offense made it through the game without a turnover. That’s the first time the Irish have lost without committing one, Kelly now 19-1 in games where the Irish put up a goose egg in that category.
Those worries about Devin Studstill not being up for it turned out to be unfounded. Studstill played 47 snaps, doing a nice job as Notre Dame’s highest-rated defensive back, per PFF College.
THE BAD
The Defensive Front. If there’s a surprise for most Irish fans, it’s the battle Notre Dame’s defensive line lost to the Texas front. Even with three of the five Longhorn starters battling nagging injuries, Texas won the war at the point of attack, scoring five rushing touchdowns and running for 237 net yards.
The decision to start Andrew Trumbetti is one that’ll look questionable when the tape goes on. No doubt it was a move necessitated by the injury to Jay Hayes, who didn’t play, but Trumbetti was overwhelmed as a run defender and no better as a pass rusher.
Jarron Jones only logged 26 snaps and Daniel Cage only played 33. That’s not going to get it done for the Irish when they need those big bodies in the trenches, especially considering how impactful Cage was when he was on the field.
The big plays. Nick Coleman won’t want to watch this tape again. Asked to play three deep against Texas’ receiving weapons, Coleman got torched multiple times, unable to run with John Burt, who got vertical on the Irish defense.
“We were in cover three when we got beat. We weren’t even man-to-man,” Kelly explained, a surprise to most. “The inability to play cover three requires better coaching on our part.
“I thought we put ourselves in a tough position when we let the ball get thrown over our head. That’s one thing were the game changed a little bit.”
Texas took dead aim at Coleman until Shaun Crawford was moved outside and Julian Love came in at nickel. Drue Tranquill also subbed out, Studstill taking his reps while Sebastian stayed on the field. The loss of Nick Watkins loomed large on Sunday night, an additional cover corner needed, especially if Coleman is going to commit a defensive back’s cardinal sin.
Missed tackles. Sure, it’s easy to call it a missed tackle when you’re trying to take down a 250-pound bowling ball. But there just wasn’t enough sure tackling when Notre Dame had a chance to slow down Texas’ runners—and it consistently blew up in the Irish defense’s face.
An unofficial tally revealed some key misses by Avery Sebastian, inserted into the lineup because of his ability to do the little things and know the system. He was hardly alone—Morgan missed a handful, Jerry Tillery ran through a few TFLs, including one that came on the game’s final play.
Greer Martini’s debut at Will had him playing like a guy learning a new position—understandable since he moved there late in training camp.
Tyler Newsome. Notre Dame’s eccentric punter has a booming leg. But he had a case of the shanks on Sunday night—not the first time the young specialist has struggled on the big stage to flip the field.
Newsome’s first punt was a bomb. The rest? Not as much. And while his 24 yarder late in the game didn’t come back to bite the Irish, Newsome needs to sharpen up his mental approach to get past this tough outing.
Torii Hunter’s missed targeting call. At this point, it’s over. Notre Dame can expect acknowledgment of the mistake, but it’s not changing the game. Watching the hit again, the ball looked tucked into Hunter’s arm and possessed before he was hit in the head—a blow that we’ve seen called so often, especially with a newfound emphasis on the penalty.
Perhaps the refs just missed it. Perhaps the replay officials missed it too, with ESPN’s cameras so focused on Torii Hunter’s reaction in the stands to the critical timing of the penalty.
However it happened, it was a brutal no-call, especially with Notre Dame’s history of having these flags go against them.
The Offensive Line. I’m hesitant to fully call the offensive line play “bad,” but I’m going to do it. Notre Dame did run for 206 yards, but take away the 83 yards on two carries (Folston & Kizer) and it’s 2.8 yards per carry. That’s just not good enough—not against a Texas defensive front that was overwhelmed last season and lost its best interior players.
Mike McGlinchey and Quenton Nelson are expected to be All-American caliber players. But the right side of the offensive line struggled and Sam Mustipher got called for a snap infraction in a critical situation. Most importantly, when the Irish needed to move the point of attack and get the ground game going late in the game they couldn’t do it.
Sure, Texas brought a ton of heat. But I have a very high bar set for this group and they didn’t live up to it.
THE UGLY
The Aftermath. Nobody expected to be calling for the defensive coordinator’s head after week one. And while I certainly didn’t go easy on VanGorder, it’s worth pointing to the personnel the Irish have playing—a reminder that even Bob Diaco would struggle if you take away guys like Stephon Tuitt, Louis Nix, Kapron Lewis-Moore, Darius Fleming, Prince Shembo and Aaron Lynch.
Of course, that doesn’t excuse anything. But if you thought Kelly was going to scrap the plan for the season after one tough weekend, think again.
Here are his comments when essentially asked to evaluate his defensive coordinator:
“I mean it’s the first game, and you go into the first game and -- first time starters, and we have a lot of young guys that got their first start,” Kelly explained. “We’ll critically evaluate and I think everybody needs to tap the brakes and relax.
“This is a football team that showed great resolve, took the lead down 17 points in the fourth quarter up 35-31, and we needed to come up with one more stop or one more better offensive possession, you know, to win the football game and we didn’t do that.
“So this narrative about it’s all the defense’s fault is, you know, just Monday morning quarterbacking. If we get a better punt, if we flip field position, if we make a catch or a throw we’re talking about some different things.”
Getting some distance from the loss, Kelly’s confidence is understandable, especially considering he knows his personnel—and their limitations—better than anyone. But the margin for error this season is zero. And seeing the deficiencies in this defense against Texas, expect opponents to pounce.
