It was business as usual for Notre Dame when “hosting” Army in San Antonio for the annual Shamrock Series game. From the opening possession, a C.J. Sanders 97-yard kickoff return brought back for a touchdown, Notre Dame did not leave any question on which the better team on the day was. From there, Notre Dame put in a dominant performance against Army, blowing them out 44-6. Notre Dame went on to score touchdowns on 3 of their next 4 offensive possessions and put the game away before halftime. It was clearly evident on the day that this was a team playing with confidence.
The Irish on Offense
Notre Dame came ready to play on Saturday. On their first offensive possession following the kick return, Josh Adams broke open a 14 yard run and C.J. Sanders who scored previously slipped past the Army secondary and drew a big pass interference penalty on 2nd and 15. Deshone Kizer would later find Kevin Stepherson on a 37 yard pass to put an end to the drive. The rest of the first half followed the same script.
On the day, there wasn’t much to complain about. Kizer played well enough considering the opposition. He passed for 209 yards and 3 touchdowns and added an additional 72 yards on the ground. What was most impressive was that when he didn’t see the play materialize down the field, he did not hesitate to tuck the ball and run for the first down to keep the drive alive. This is the kind of decisiveness that has been missing from his play over the past few weeks.
Kizer’s contribution on the ground complimented Tarean Folston and Josh Adams who added 84 and 70 yards respectively, with a touchdown each. The Notre Dame ground game totaled a season high of 261 yards which was reminiscent of their output from a year ago. Even the tight ends had a notable game with Durham Smythe reeling in a pair of touchdowns and Nic Weisher recording a grab. They combined for 59 yards and 2 touchdowns on 3 catches, which has some asking where this type of production has been all year.
The Irish on Defense
As complete of an offensive performance as Notre Dame has put, they were equally impressive on defense. The defense played well to contain Army’s triple option offense. Coming into the game, Army was averaging 320 rushing yards per game. Notre Dame managed to hold them to nearly 100 yards below their average at 229 and kept a team that was second in the FBS in time of possession to just over 25 minutes with the ball. The best part of the defensive performance was that even when the defense allowed several big plays, they tightened up in and close to their red zone to prevent Army from scoring. That kind of resilient defensive play has been lacking from the team all year round.
Still Room to Improve
This was far from a perfect performance for the team. There were several mistakes that were made that need to be addressed by the coaching staff. For one, there was a slew of false start penalties that took place throughout the game. This has been an infectious disease that has been spread by the entire offensive line that has yet to be cured. Senior left tackle Mike McGlinchey led the way again which has been an issue for the veteran captain this year.
There were also a couple of illegal formation penalties given away later in the game in which the tight ends were not lined up properly on the offensive line. It is alarming to see these kind of penalties coming from veteran upperclassmen who should be leading the rest of the team. Some of the responsibility should also be shouldered by Kizer who should have spotted the errors and gotten his teammates to line up properly. Kizer also committed an error of his own when he threw a pass in the redzone across his body into coverage which was picked off on what was a 16 play 76 yard drive. These types of mistakes need to be addressed by the coaches as they can make the difference between winning and losing in close games, which Notre Dame has been 1-6 in games decided by one possession.
What was encouraging about all the mistakes the team made on Saturday was that they did not let it affect their play. Often this season, we have seen this team make catastrophic mistakes and allow the negative momentum to build and create an avalanche of negative plays, costing them the game. Instead, when faced with a situation of 2nd or 3rd and long, they managed to find a way to convert, ending the day 10 of 13 on third down conversions. Even after Kizer’s interception, the defense forced a three and out and got the ball back on the Army 37 yard line. Folston then became the focal point as Notre Dame pounded the ball repeatedly for the game-sealing touchdown.
Notre Dame played like a team with confidence on the day. They knew what they wanted to do, went out, and executed. They lined up and showed that they were the better team, which hasn’t always been the case this year. Instead of looking like a 3-6 ball club that was struggling to find their identity, they came out and imposed their will. Notre Dame needs to have more of these games in order to develop their young team to the elite program that they expect to be.
For so long, one of the issues with Brian Kelly has been that he always says that his team should “celebrate the win” and that “wins on this level are hard to come by.” While it is important that a team should always celebrate their victories and accomplishments, it should not be the case that they believe that wins are hard to come by or that winning should even be a struggle. The top programs in the country such as Alabama, Ohio State, Clemson, Florida State, Oregon previously, Michigan and Louisville recently have shown that there is a certain type of psychology that elite programs have and an edge that they play with. For them, it is a foregone conclusion that they will win most of their games, and not just win, but obliterate their opposition. Some would call this playing with “swagger.”
Coaches such as Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Jim Harbaugh had shifted the mindset of their programs instantly upon arrival. While Brian Kelly introduced a culture change upon his arrival at Notre Dame, he has yet to take this team to a level of play where they are playing with supreme confidence and certainty. We saw glimpses of this in 2012 when Notre Dame finished the regular season unbeaten, but they have failed to build on it since. If Notre Dame is to win a national title under Kelly and develop to a sustainable elite program, this is the next step that Kelly and the Irish need to take. They need to continue to play with a high level of confidence and swagger.
Thanks to Irish Sports Daily for use of image.