My thoughts after the game:
OFFENSE
* Have to be pleased with the poise that Ian Book showed in the game today. He was put in a tough spot, and he answered the bell. Started 8 of 11 for 89 yards in the first quarter. Went just 8 of 20 the rest of the way and his two picks were really bad, especially the second one that took points off the board, but he bounced back and never seemed to get rattled. It wasn't a great performance statistically and the turnovers were troublesome, but it's hard not to like his poise in the game. He made mistakes of a first-time starter, but he didn't show the jitters of a first-time starter.
* Adams patience on the 73-yard TD run was just brilliant. It was a stretch play and he was really patient working outside, which let the blocks set up and it allowed UNC's over-aggressive defense to overpursue. As soon as the blocks gained their leverage he planted and broke forward for a 73-yard TD run. He was a bit tentative early in the game, but he was really starting to find his groove before going out.
* The receivers did not play well in this game for the most part. Book missed a few open deep receivers, something Wimbush has also had issues with, but the receivers weren't getting openly on a consistent basis either. Their off-the-line releases were below average and I was incredibly disappointed with the lack of effort and fight from Equanimeous St. Brown. He didn't fight for the ball at all and he quit on a number of routes. He needs to get his head on straight, soon. Chase Claypool was ND's best receiver today.
* The offensive line had some issues coming off the ball early in the game, and it was easy to see why. It was Ian Book. I'm not saying Book didn't anything wrong, he didn't, it was what you see a lot when you have a new guy starting in-season. The line just wasn't used to his cadence, so they weren't coming off the ball with the timing we've seen in recent weeks. Sometimes this can last an entire game, but the line and Book got on the same page in the second quarter and after that they really started to roll on the ground game.
* I get why Chip Long went to the pass game as much as he did in the second quarter, and it's similar to what we saw last week with Wimbush vs. Miami. He was trying to get the young QB going. He has to be frustrated with his pass game's inability to get going. He finally settled back on the run and ND ran UNC off the field in the second half.
* Loved what I saw from Deon McIntosh today. The kid just ran incredibly hard, and he showed a little make-you-miss today, which I hadn't seen from him. UNC is terrible, but I don't care, the kid played really well. He's really small, I mean, really small, but he runs very physical. I love the kid. Just love that kid.
DEFENSE
* The defensive players said after the game that Elko challenged them during the week, and they certainly responded. The front four was super aggressive and incredibly disruptive. ND finished the game with 11 QB hurries. Their previous high was 5, which they had done 3 times this season. They were disruptive inside and outside.
* Elko is a great chess player. His ability to make the right calls at the right time is really impressive. The perfect example came in the 1st quarter after Notre Dame was stopped on 4th-and-almost 2 (I hated that QB sneak call). On the very first play of the defensive series that followed Elko called a cornerback blitz that worked like a charm. Crawford made the sack and the series was basically over, as UNC really struggles playing behind schedule. He had another stunt he threw several times at the tackles and they just couldn't stop it.
* Having a front four that can provide pressure without blitzes is really impressive. They dominated UNC all game long. The safety was just about ND's players wanting it, and just destroying UNC off the ball.
* Daelin Hayes and Julian Okwara are super disruptive players, and they abused the UNC OT's. I expected them to beat Charlie Heck, but Bentley Spain - an All-ACC caliber player - also couldn't block them.
* Jerry Tillery was a huge disappointment against BC, who was playing a true freshman center. Since then he has played just great football. That continued in this game. He's playing aggressively, his effort and motor are impressive (he chases down a lot of plays) and he's disruptive.
* I though the linebackers played a much better game this week. Their numbers weren't great, but they played really well. Even doing the little things, like Greer Martini flying outside of a blocker on a sweep to force the run back inside where all the help was.
* The cornerbacks didn't have a great game for the second week in a row. If Julian Love can keep things in front of him he's good, but he is going to have problems with speed players down the field, and we saw him struggle with Anthony Ratliff Williams today. His tackling was good and he's such a smart player, but pure speed gives him issues. I was surprised Notre Dame didn't press a bit more today, but I get it, they were protecting against the deep ball.
* The safeties did some good things in the run game but they were constantly late getting the ball in the pass game. They struggled defending the corner route and they were letting too many balls get caught in front of them after being slow to react. They made a few plays in the third quarter, and Jalen Elliott had a few disruptive plays, but in the final 6 games they will have to play better in coverage than they did today. UNC had some open receivers, but the pressure kept Surratt from being able to get the ball out.
SPECIAL TEAMS
* Tyler Newsome was really good early in the game at helping ND have good field position. Yoon did the same in the second half with all the touchbacks.
* I've been saying all year that long returns happen because of poor kicks or deep line drives, and we saw that today.
My thoughts.
Read and discuss.
OFFENSE
* Have to be pleased with the poise that Ian Book showed in the game today. He was put in a tough spot, and he answered the bell. Started 8 of 11 for 89 yards in the first quarter. Went just 8 of 20 the rest of the way and his two picks were really bad, especially the second one that took points off the board, but he bounced back and never seemed to get rattled. It wasn't a great performance statistically and the turnovers were troublesome, but it's hard not to like his poise in the game. He made mistakes of a first-time starter, but he didn't show the jitters of a first-time starter.
* Adams patience on the 73-yard TD run was just brilliant. It was a stretch play and he was really patient working outside, which let the blocks set up and it allowed UNC's over-aggressive defense to overpursue. As soon as the blocks gained their leverage he planted and broke forward for a 73-yard TD run. He was a bit tentative early in the game, but he was really starting to find his groove before going out.
* The receivers did not play well in this game for the most part. Book missed a few open deep receivers, something Wimbush has also had issues with, but the receivers weren't getting openly on a consistent basis either. Their off-the-line releases were below average and I was incredibly disappointed with the lack of effort and fight from Equanimeous St. Brown. He didn't fight for the ball at all and he quit on a number of routes. He needs to get his head on straight, soon. Chase Claypool was ND's best receiver today.
* The offensive line had some issues coming off the ball early in the game, and it was easy to see why. It was Ian Book. I'm not saying Book didn't anything wrong, he didn't, it was what you see a lot when you have a new guy starting in-season. The line just wasn't used to his cadence, so they weren't coming off the ball with the timing we've seen in recent weeks. Sometimes this can last an entire game, but the line and Book got on the same page in the second quarter and after that they really started to roll on the ground game.
* I get why Chip Long went to the pass game as much as he did in the second quarter, and it's similar to what we saw last week with Wimbush vs. Miami. He was trying to get the young QB going. He has to be frustrated with his pass game's inability to get going. He finally settled back on the run and ND ran UNC off the field in the second half.
* Loved what I saw from Deon McIntosh today. The kid just ran incredibly hard, and he showed a little make-you-miss today, which I hadn't seen from him. UNC is terrible, but I don't care, the kid played really well. He's really small, I mean, really small, but he runs very physical. I love the kid. Just love that kid.
DEFENSE
* The defensive players said after the game that Elko challenged them during the week, and they certainly responded. The front four was super aggressive and incredibly disruptive. ND finished the game with 11 QB hurries. Their previous high was 5, which they had done 3 times this season. They were disruptive inside and outside.
* Elko is a great chess player. His ability to make the right calls at the right time is really impressive. The perfect example came in the 1st quarter after Notre Dame was stopped on 4th-and-almost 2 (I hated that QB sneak call). On the very first play of the defensive series that followed Elko called a cornerback blitz that worked like a charm. Crawford made the sack and the series was basically over, as UNC really struggles playing behind schedule. He had another stunt he threw several times at the tackles and they just couldn't stop it.
* Having a front four that can provide pressure without blitzes is really impressive. They dominated UNC all game long. The safety was just about ND's players wanting it, and just destroying UNC off the ball.
* Daelin Hayes and Julian Okwara are super disruptive players, and they abused the UNC OT's. I expected them to beat Charlie Heck, but Bentley Spain - an All-ACC caliber player - also couldn't block them.
* Jerry Tillery was a huge disappointment against BC, who was playing a true freshman center. Since then he has played just great football. That continued in this game. He's playing aggressively, his effort and motor are impressive (he chases down a lot of plays) and he's disruptive.
* I though the linebackers played a much better game this week. Their numbers weren't great, but they played really well. Even doing the little things, like Greer Martini flying outside of a blocker on a sweep to force the run back inside where all the help was.
* The cornerbacks didn't have a great game for the second week in a row. If Julian Love can keep things in front of him he's good, but he is going to have problems with speed players down the field, and we saw him struggle with Anthony Ratliff Williams today. His tackling was good and he's such a smart player, but pure speed gives him issues. I was surprised Notre Dame didn't press a bit more today, but I get it, they were protecting against the deep ball.
* The safeties did some good things in the run game but they were constantly late getting the ball in the pass game. They struggled defending the corner route and they were letting too many balls get caught in front of them after being slow to react. They made a few plays in the third quarter, and Jalen Elliott had a few disruptive plays, but in the final 6 games they will have to play better in coverage than they did today. UNC had some open receivers, but the pressure kept Surratt from being able to get the ball out.
SPECIAL TEAMS
* Tyler Newsome was really good early in the game at helping ND have good field position. Yoon did the same in the second half with all the touchbacks.
* I've been saying all year that long returns happen because of poor kicks or deep line drives, and we saw that today.
My thoughts.
Read and discuss.
