Trying to catch up on Notre Dame before playing in Alabama at the Rose Bowl on Friday?
We are protecting you.
Here is a summary of what you need to know about Fighting Irish, courtesy of four members of the college football team – three coaches and a team official – whose teams faced Notre Dame this season.
Never in the seven-year history of College Football Playoff has a team been so unlucky.
The current point is 20 in favor of Alabama.
That said, Notre Dame had 10-0 before their 34-10 loss to Clemson in the ACC title game and was the only Power Five team in the country besides Crimson Tide to end the regular season with 10 wins and zero losses. . The Irish – in their 11th season under Brian Kelly – are second in the ACC in defense scores (18.6 points per game) and fourth in attack (35.2 points per game).
“Extremely well trained,” said an offensive coordinator to AL.com. “Disciplined. Don’t make mistakes. They very rarely get hurt.”
“From top to bottom, probably the best team Brian had,” added the team official.
The comparison that a defense technician made for the attack on Notre Dame? Old school Alabama.
While the Irish are only 56th nationally in passing attacks (237.5 yards per game), they are 20th in the country in runs (217.7 yards per game) and tied for seventh in running touchdowns (31).
“The O-line is the best we play against,” said a defensive coach. “One of the best tight ends groups in college football with guys like 87 (Michael Mayer) and 24 (Tommy Tremble). It must contain the QB (Book Ian). When he can improvise, be careful. Your personal groups are your strength – 11 (one running back, one tight end), 12 (one running back, two tight end) and 13 (one running back, three tight end). Narrow ends create problems because 12 people can be 11 people (with one narrow end aligned to the receiver). 13 people can be 12 or 11 people. You have to decide as a defense which groups of personnel to use to defend. They have to establish the race, however. Fun action shots come out of that. “
Although Book only launched 15 touchdowns, the senior QB has only two interceptions and ran 430 yards and eight touchdowns.
“I don’t think he has enough credit,” said another defensive coach. “I think he’s one of those sneaky, athletic guys. He wins ball games. And, in my personal opinion, the best thing he does is to protect football. Either he will make the correct throw or he will fight or he will throw away. He doesn’t put his team in too many negative positions. Two interceptions in 11 games against decent competition is what impresses me the most. He is also athletic enough, as the first time they played Clemson, he did a few runs that kept the drives alive and made the first runs. I think he is a very smart player and I was very impressed with him in that first Clemson game. I would be curious to know where he ends up being summoned. I could see him as a reserve defender in the NFL for a long time. “
The team official and both defensive coaches mentioned the same area as Notre Dame’s biggest weakness in the attack, however – the lack of speed and explosiveness in the wide receiver.
“Wide receivers are big and physical, but not burners,” said one of the defensive coaches.
The defensive coach also mentioned another area that he sees as a weakness of the Irish attack: “Book reading defenses and playing out of pocket”.
“It’s a different kind of Notre Dame attack because – in the past – they had the Claypools and all these explosive alarms,” said the other defensive coach. “But this year’s team is big, with big physical receivers. But they still have a good tight end game. They have a good offensive line. They can run the ball. They can play the action pass. They can throw it in the apartment and take the quarterback out of their pocket. If it doesn’t work, it can take off. This is the offensive version of Alabama when Coach Saban was there. “
Led by Clark Lea, who was recently hired as Vanderbilt’s new head coach, the Irish have limited six of their nine non-Clemson opponents to 17 points or less.
Defense has its vulnerabilities, however.
While Notre Dame is the 15th nationally in defense of running, it is ranked only 57th in defense of the pass. The team official specifically mentioned the cornerback group as a potential problem area for the Irishman who is going to fight Alabama.
Clemson shot for a total of 761 yards in his two games against Notre Dame.
“Solid, but it can be exposed,” said that team official about the cornerback group.
In addition to the passing success, Clemson also ran 219 yards and an average of 8.1 yards per pass against Notre Dame in the ACC title game. It is important to note, however, that it was only the second time this season that the Irish allowed more than 70 yards to run for the best running back of the opposing team.
Notre Dame limited Clemson’s star, running back Travis Etienne, to 28 yards in 18 runs in the first round of Notre Dame-Clemson.
“Its weak point is the back end coverage and its strength is the front seven,” said the offensive coordinator. “Good and robust against the race. The hardest thing was for them to double, but not break. They try to force you to work slowly in the field. You have to hit explosives on them. “
Linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah and safety Kyle Hamilton, who are tied at the head of the team with 56 tackles, are the two best defensive players on the team. Butusus winner Owusu-Koramoah leads the Irish with 11 tackles for a loss and produced three forced fumbles for the team, with 1.5 sacks, an interception and three pass separations.
“6 and 14 (Owusu-Koramoah and Hamilton) are two of the best defensive players in the entire college,” said the team official. “Creators of pieces. Both are instinctive as hell and are always around the ball. Always involved in turnovers, third and fourth down stops, TFLs (tackles for a loss), etc. All others are solid. They force him to make plays outside for wide receivers. Difficult to face. “
Matt Zenitz is a senior football reporter for the SEC at Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @mzenitz.