He (Everett
Golson) was meeting with a professor (education should be the main reason
he is in South Bend), lost track of time and needs to communicate better with is
about it so you suspend him for the first series as a slap on the wrist
punishment, and in the process, put fans into a confused stupor as the game
began. I have officially given up on
trying to figure out how Brian Kelly is managing Golson’s development. Kelly keeps talking about “the process,” and
for the life of me I cannot figure out how that process translates to players. Yes, I know it’s about the team, but the whole
is made up of its parts. I keep trying
to figure out the plan of how Golson, Eifert and the Three-Headed Monster at
running back will be used. With that
being said, they keep winning and that goes a long way in having overall
confidence with Kelly in the head coach position.
In addition to the stat of 5-0, the game produced a lot of
numbers for fans to be happy about, from both team and individual perspective. Starting with the running game, having 376
net yards running with two players having over 100 yards and four different
players rushing for scores, it not only speaks to the talent in the backfield,
but it also showcased the offensive
line.
Although the passing game statistically looked mediocre, it
definitely passed the eye test. Passes
were caught by nine different receivers and although none of them had more than
48 total yards, the longest reception was for 24 yards and no one caught a
touchdown. I loved the spreading of the
ball to the left and to the right for 6 yards, 8 yards, and 10 yards, always
moving the ball and chewing up clock (Notre Dame lead in time of possession 39:08 to
20:52), thus keeping Morris and the Hurricanes offense off of the field.
Although on the stat sheet shows a run dominated offensive game
plan with 51 rushes and 26 pass attempts, I felt overall the offensive game
plan was a delight to watch, with solid drives and a good mix of run and pass
plays; 10 plays, 88 yards, 3:54, 13 plays, 70 yards, 6:22, 14 plays, 65
yards, 7:17, 3 plays, 2 yards, 0:24, 6 plays, 53 yards, 1:02, 6 plays, 81
yards, 3:03, 12 plays, 86 yards, 6:47, 3 plays, 66 yards, 1:34, 13 plays, 93
yards, 8:45. With no real “big chunk” pass plays (11.1 yards per pass completion
with a long of 24 yards on a Daniels reception), the running game was a bit
more than above average with 7.4 yards per rush and a long of 55 yards by George Atkinson III; the offense did have five drives of 10
plays or more…not bad.
Don’t expect the Irish special teams to win many games but
they seem solid enough to no lose any either.
Brindza went two for three on field goal attempts, hitting from 22 and
32 yards while missing one from 34 yards as the first half came to an end. It wasn’t so much about the lack of getting
three points, but it would have sent a dagger into the hearts of the Miami
players heading into the locker room.
Sometimes the mental points are as important, if not more important,
than the ones on the scoreboard during a game.
From a statistical standpoint, the defense looked solid but
not great with no sacks, no interceptions and only one tackle for a loss (by Kapron
Lewis-Moore) of one yard unless you
take in to consideration they held a Miami offense that was averaging over 43 points
a game until Saturday night to only three points a have extended the number of
games to five in which they have not yielded a rushing touchdown. Of course, Manti
Te’o had his standard game of 10
tackles (eight solos) and one pass break up.
Talking Irish suggests that Brian
Kelly gives the game ball to the Miami Hurricane receivers for dropping passes.
Special recognition to #33 running back Cam McDaniel who
came in for mop up detail but ran like a starter with the game on the line,
racking up 55 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown.
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