Notre Dame showed a lot of heart in this game. But in the end the Irish were good enough to win in two phases of the game (defense, special teams) but Georgia’s offense in the second half made enough plays to win the game and Notre Dame’s didn’t.
OFFENSE
*** Notre Dame came out aggressive offensively early in the game, and in the first half the Irish moved the ball well against the Georgia defense. If not for self-destructive mistakes (false starts, a muffed snap on 4th-down) the Irish could have had much more than a 10-7 lead at the half. And that’s exactly why Notre Dame got beat. You cannot make those kinds of mistakes and leave a team like Georgia in the game when you are on the road. The defense played well enough to win this game, the offense did not.
*** In the second half the offense came out tentatively, and its veteran players did not make plays. Notre Dame was able to attack Georgia on short routes early in the game with the Bulldogs playing its secondary to protect deep and its front seven to attack the run game. That opened up Cole Kmet for 7 catches in the first half. In the second half, UGA adjusted and took away all the short stuff, and Notre Dame was unable at times and unwilling at times to attack down the field like it did late in the first half.
*** Notre Dame never seemed to get a read on Georgia’s adjustments, and the offense could do nothing in the second half. On the only drive it could muster a poorly called/poorly timed flea-flicker resulted in an interception that essentially ended the game.
*** The Irish actually got a decent push at times when they did try to run the ball, but they rarely tried to do it. That’s partly what made the flea flicker call so unwise. Georgia was not afraid of Notre Dame running the ball and wasn’t going to bite on that play, and they were pressuring for the pass.
*** QB Ian Book battled hard in the first half and played well. He threw two excellent deep balls on the late 2nd quarter field goal drive, but the offense couldn’t punch it in for a touchdown. Book was aggressive for the most part and he read out the defense, played with poise and got the ball where it needed to go. He went 16-24 for 146 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
*** The second half was a completely different story. Book was locking in on Kmet and wasn’t reading out the defense. Like Long, he never adjusted to what Georgia was trying to do, and outside of one throw to Tremble his inability and unwillingness to throw the ball down the field proved costly. Georgia was daring him to throw the ball downfield and he simply wouldn’t do it until they were down 23-10. If he and Long would have done in the third quarter what they did when they were down 13 this game might have gone differently.
*** As bad as the offense played, Notre Dame got the ball with a chance to win it, but Book the offense couldn’t make enough plays. There were some very tight windows but Book couldn’t get the ball out where it needed to go.
*** I felt running back Tony Jones Jr. ran hard in the game, and he did a good job pushing his legs and maximizing yards. He had one run in the second half where he bounced instead of cutting upfield for an extra 3-4 yards, but overall he ran hard. The issue is he rarely got the ball, but his play was better than his numbers.
*** Georgia spent a lot of the game keying Chase Claypool, with a CB and safety eyeing him the whole game. The Bulldogs were not going to let Claypool beat them unless he was able to make contested plays, but he didn’t get any of those chances.
*** Sophomore WR Lawrence Keys III made an excellent contested catch in the 2ndquarter that set up Notre Dame’s go-ahead field goal.
*** WR Chris Finke was not good tonight. He wasn’t getting open, and in the third quarter he ran a 3rd-down route short of the sticks and then dropped the ball. He really struggled and didn’t help his team. He was the one skill player that I felt was not nearly good enough in this game tonight. On the interception the ball was obviously behind him and Book needed to put it on him much better, but if you want to beat a Top 10 team on the road you need your 5th-year senior captain to make that play.
*** TE Cole Kmet was a playmaker for the Irish in the first half, catching 7 passes for 68 yards, including a touchdown reception that gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. Georgia keyed him in the second half and Notre Dame couldn’t find ways to get him involved in the second half until it was too late, and when Book did target him it was with multiple defenders in coverage.
*** I felt the offensive line played well in this game, especially in pass protection. People will look at the rushing numbers, but you break this game down they played well. The pass protection was especially good. Book had plenty of time to get the ball downfield at many times in this game, and the Irish were able to handle the vast majority of the Georgia blitzes. They got a good push in short yardage situations as well.
*** The problem with the play of the offensive line was penalties, and that drags down the performance in a big way. Both tackles had a false start and LT Liam Eichenberg had a dumb personal foul penalty on the first drive that pushed Notre Dame back after picking up good yards. Eichenberg also had a 15-yard hands to the face penalty in the fourth quarter. Outside of one pressure I thought Eichenberg and RT Robert Hainsey both played very well from what I could tell outside of the penalties.
*** The early snap by C Jarrett Patterson on the early 4th down was a brutal play, because it looked like the Irish had some positive matchups on the play. Just can't make mistakes like that in a game like this.
OFFENSE
*** Notre Dame came out aggressive offensively early in the game, and in the first half the Irish moved the ball well against the Georgia defense. If not for self-destructive mistakes (false starts, a muffed snap on 4th-down) the Irish could have had much more than a 10-7 lead at the half. And that’s exactly why Notre Dame got beat. You cannot make those kinds of mistakes and leave a team like Georgia in the game when you are on the road. The defense played well enough to win this game, the offense did not.
*** In the second half the offense came out tentatively, and its veteran players did not make plays. Notre Dame was able to attack Georgia on short routes early in the game with the Bulldogs playing its secondary to protect deep and its front seven to attack the run game. That opened up Cole Kmet for 7 catches in the first half. In the second half, UGA adjusted and took away all the short stuff, and Notre Dame was unable at times and unwilling at times to attack down the field like it did late in the first half.
*** Notre Dame never seemed to get a read on Georgia’s adjustments, and the offense could do nothing in the second half. On the only drive it could muster a poorly called/poorly timed flea-flicker resulted in an interception that essentially ended the game.
*** The Irish actually got a decent push at times when they did try to run the ball, but they rarely tried to do it. That’s partly what made the flea flicker call so unwise. Georgia was not afraid of Notre Dame running the ball and wasn’t going to bite on that play, and they were pressuring for the pass.
*** QB Ian Book battled hard in the first half and played well. He threw two excellent deep balls on the late 2nd quarter field goal drive, but the offense couldn’t punch it in for a touchdown. Book was aggressive for the most part and he read out the defense, played with poise and got the ball where it needed to go. He went 16-24 for 146 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
*** The second half was a completely different story. Book was locking in on Kmet and wasn’t reading out the defense. Like Long, he never adjusted to what Georgia was trying to do, and outside of one throw to Tremble his inability and unwillingness to throw the ball down the field proved costly. Georgia was daring him to throw the ball downfield and he simply wouldn’t do it until they were down 23-10. If he and Long would have done in the third quarter what they did when they were down 13 this game might have gone differently.
*** As bad as the offense played, Notre Dame got the ball with a chance to win it, but Book the offense couldn’t make enough plays. There were some very tight windows but Book couldn’t get the ball out where it needed to go.
*** I felt running back Tony Jones Jr. ran hard in the game, and he did a good job pushing his legs and maximizing yards. He had one run in the second half where he bounced instead of cutting upfield for an extra 3-4 yards, but overall he ran hard. The issue is he rarely got the ball, but his play was better than his numbers.
*** Georgia spent a lot of the game keying Chase Claypool, with a CB and safety eyeing him the whole game. The Bulldogs were not going to let Claypool beat them unless he was able to make contested plays, but he didn’t get any of those chances.
*** Sophomore WR Lawrence Keys III made an excellent contested catch in the 2ndquarter that set up Notre Dame’s go-ahead field goal.
*** WR Chris Finke was not good tonight. He wasn’t getting open, and in the third quarter he ran a 3rd-down route short of the sticks and then dropped the ball. He really struggled and didn’t help his team. He was the one skill player that I felt was not nearly good enough in this game tonight. On the interception the ball was obviously behind him and Book needed to put it on him much better, but if you want to beat a Top 10 team on the road you need your 5th-year senior captain to make that play.
*** TE Cole Kmet was a playmaker for the Irish in the first half, catching 7 passes for 68 yards, including a touchdown reception that gave Notre Dame a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. Georgia keyed him in the second half and Notre Dame couldn’t find ways to get him involved in the second half until it was too late, and when Book did target him it was with multiple defenders in coverage.
*** I felt the offensive line played well in this game, especially in pass protection. People will look at the rushing numbers, but you break this game down they played well. The pass protection was especially good. Book had plenty of time to get the ball downfield at many times in this game, and the Irish were able to handle the vast majority of the Georgia blitzes. They got a good push in short yardage situations as well.
*** The problem with the play of the offensive line was penalties, and that drags down the performance in a big way. Both tackles had a false start and LT Liam Eichenberg had a dumb personal foul penalty on the first drive that pushed Notre Dame back after picking up good yards. Eichenberg also had a 15-yard hands to the face penalty in the fourth quarter. Outside of one pressure I thought Eichenberg and RT Robert Hainsey both played very well from what I could tell outside of the penalties.
*** The early snap by C Jarrett Patterson on the early 4th down was a brutal play, because it looked like the Irish had some positive matchups on the play. Just can't make mistakes like that in a game like this.
