In a series of games that have seen close wins by both Michigan State and Notre Dame, the Irish finally were able to pull off an impressive victory -- something that’s been few and far between these past 15 years. After dominating the Spartans in every phase of the game, it’s finally time to find the good, bad and ugly of a football game that still ultimately ends up in the good column.
With the Irish dominating the run game, relentlessly chasing Kirk Cousins in the pocket and creating a big play on special teams, Notre Dame found the winning recipe on Saturday, even while struggling to shrug off some of the mistakes that have plagued the team in these first three games.
As the season passes the quarter turn, let’s take a look at the good, bad, and ugly of Notre Dame’s 31-13 victory over the No. 15 Michigan State Spartans.
THE GOOD:
The Irish rush defense. After trying to play assignment perfect defense for the first two weeks of the season, the Irish went back to just trying to dominate a segment of the opposition, turning the Spartans one-dimensional with an aggressive attacking scheme at the line of scrimmage. The result was a Michigan State running game stuck in neutral and Cousins forced to chuck the ball 53 times, a recipe for disaster with an offensive line like the Spartans.
After looking at the game tape, Brian Kelly continues to see the impressive work he’s getting from newcomer Louis Nix, who has elevated his game with Sean Cwynar limited with a hand injury that forces him to cast resembling a club on his hand.
The play of Nix and defense ends Ethan Johnson and Kapron Lewis-Moore, gives the Irish a nearly 1,000 pound three-man front that has the ability to wreak havoc. Kelly talked about what stood out on film after watching the tape of the defense’s work.
“We got really good play at the nose. I think when you talk about Nix and getting Cwynar back, that position was really strong for us on Saturday,” Kelly said. “I think we always talk about it, but both of our defensive ends were able to take on some big tackles at Michigan State. Ethan and Kap played very well against the run. Troy Niklas who came in as a true freshman kept the ball inside of them.”
The Irish gave up some plays in the passing game, but after two straight games of reading and reacting, it seemed like Bob Diaco and the Irish coaching staff wanted to dictate terms to the offense, and the results were encouraging.
THE BAD:
The Irish punt teams might be historically bad. With a nice day punting, Ben Turk moved up to 104th in the country in punting average. His rugby punts in particular might be something to build off when getting Turk’s confidence back in order. Still, Turk’s punts have consistently put the Irish on the wrong side of the field far too often.
On the other side of the ball, the Irish are the 111th ranked punt return team, and that doesn’t take into account the damage Theo Riddick and John Goodman‘s muffed punts did with potentially game-changing turnovers. Notre Dame is averaging less than one yard a return (0.70 to be exact), and it’s been a comedy of errors just getting Irish returners to master simple concepts like catching the ball or calling for a fair catch.
The sure-handed Goodman is allowed to have brain farts like he did against Michigan -- not fair-catching a punt he should have, calling for one when he had 20 yards of grass in front of him on another, and running backwards and laterally on a third, if he at least catches the ball. With a crucial fourth quarter punt going through his wickets on Saturday, he’s not proving that he can’t be trusted to do that. Kelly has already turned to freshman George Atkinson on kickoff returns. It’s only a matter of time before he gives Cam McDaniel his shot on punts.
Turk’s short punts have also been low, helping to push the Irish into the 112th ranked team in covering punt returns, with Notre Dame yielding an astronomical 27.5 yards a return. Mike Elston‘s troops were a top 25 unit last year, so this is bound to get better, but the combination of shoddy coverage and mediocre kicking points out two units in dire need of improvement.
THE UGLY:
With amateurism under attack in places like Auburn, Columbus, Eugene, Los Angeles and Miami, the NCAA has taken great pains to up enforcement and compliance as schools work to keep illicit money out of the pockets of student athletes. Yet at the same time, the presidents and athletic directors making sure scholarship athletes aren’t taking advantage of the system are hellbent on doing the exact same thing, throwing tradition and affiliations to the wind and blowing up conferences at the first glimpse of a new television contract.
On a Saturday filled with intriguing match-ups, there’s something terribly wrong with the leadership in collegiate athletics when the wheeling-and-dealing off the field is stealing headlines from the players on it. When a top-five match-up between Oklahoma and Florida State is page two news behind Syracuse and Pittsburgh leaving the Big East for the ACC and its television riches, there’s something very wrong with a system that’s buckling down on players’ indiscretions while the grownups are imploding the history of the game for a quick buck.
As Brian Kelly commented about his team’s long awaited first victory, he also needed to field questions about the Irish’s cherished independent status, now thrown back into flux as pieces begin to shift that could change collegiate athletics’ landscape forever. Those changes could potentially push Notre Dame into a conference in football, with four super-conferences possibly on the horizon.
Being tasked with winning football games, keeping track of 85 players, and running a clean program should be enough for college football coaches. They shouldn’t have to keep an eye on their bosses as they blow up the status quo in search of more money.