There will be no playoff for Notre Dame. Brian Kelly’s football team may well be less than six combined points away from being ranked No. 1 in the country, but they’ll watch four other teams play for a national title.
That’s not to say all is lost. Eleven win seasons don’t grow on trees, and Notre Dame is now the belle of the ball as New Years Bowl games look to court a fanbase that has sold out every game it played in this season.
We’re a little late getting the good, bad and ugly up. So without further ado, let’s rip off this band-aid and get right to it.
THE GOOD
Josh Adams. Notre Dame’s freshman running back was dominant on Saturday night, out-performing Heisman candidate Christian McCaffrey as he ran for 168 yards on just 18 carries, including a 62-yard touchdown.
He held up in pass protection, and also threw TWO great blocks on a long DeShone Kizer run. Adams did everything you could ask for from your running back—doing so as a true freshman who looked destined for a redshirt as the Irish left spring practice.
Adams has made him mark on the Irish program early. He broke Jerome Heavens rookie record for most yards in a game by a freshman. He notched his fourth 100-yard effort of the season. And his 757 rushing yards put him in position where he’d likely have been Notre Dame’s leading rusher in six of the last eight seasons.
DeShone Kizer. We’re running out of good things to say about Kizer (I said a whole bunch of them in the Five Things). But as a runner, passer and clutch performer, the young quarterback did everything you could ask for from a leader—especially when you remember he (like Adams) is a freshman.
Accuracy wise, Kizer’s numbers may have been a tick lower than usual. But you can credit that to coaching—understanding that a throw away is far better than a forced pass. And while some early struggles in the red zone and the fumble before halftime stick out as negatives, nothing was more impressive than Kizer’s final 15-play, 88-yard touchdown drive.
“The moment is never too big for him,” Kelly said postgame.
Will Fuller. After laying an egg against Boston College, Fuller turned on the jets and caught another home run deep ball, this time a beautiful 73-yarder that turned into Fuller’s ninth touchdown catch of 30 yards or more this season.
Fuller’s six catches for 136 yards led all receivers on Saturday, and essentially matched the rest of the Irish receiving corps. It was his sixth 100-yard game of the season and tenth of his career.
Jaylon Smith. Notre Dame’s All-American linebacker played like one on Saturday, notching 15 total tackles and one TFL. He was especially stout against the run, playing exceptionally at the point of attack as the Irish shut down Christian McCaffrey.
After a season where we saw Smith flash plays of brilliance in 2014, Brian Kelly talked postgame about Smith’s consistency this season.
“Normal day. That’s Jaylon’s normal effort,” Kelly said. “He’s all over the field and he has been every single week that he’s played. I don’t think he’s had an off week. He may have had a play that he didn’t make once or twice, but each and every week he has had that kind of impact to our defense.”
Stopping Christian McCaffrey. The Irish defense—and Brian VanGorder—definitely deserves credit for designing a game plan that didn’t allow McCaffrey to beat them. Stanford’s Option A (and B and C) got his 30+ touches for the game, but only managed one 11 yard run and a 14 yard catch. Return-wise, he was held to a long of 26 yards.
After the game, I asked Joe Schmidt if there was a “risk-reward” type of scenario when it came to defending a player like McCaffrey, especially considering that McCaffrey’s struggles went hand-in-hand with the success of Devon Cajuste and the passing game.
“With every play call, there are pros and cons to every defense you call,” Schmidt said. “And it was a little different with some of the calls we made. We obviously mixed it up and there were some different calls all night. It wasn’t something that throughout the game we were going to do [solely man coverage]... but you’re right about the pros and cons of each defense.”
QUICK HITS:
* How clutch was CJ Sanders kickoff return touchdown? The freshman notched Notre Dame’s first since George Atkinson in 2011, and now has both a punt and kickoff return for a touchdown this season, joining Vontez Duff (2002) and Allen Rossum (1996) in the club.
* It was a big day for the offensive line, dominating at the point of attack in the run game and also only giving up two TFLs to a Stanford scheme that may be down, but certainly still capable.
* In addition to Sanders’ return, Notre Dame’s special teams were excellent. Two long punts for Tyler Newsome. Justin Yoon cashing in on each of his chip shots. But most importantly, the kickoff coverage kept Christian McCaffrey in check, even as they kicked deep in the final minute.
* The running Game dominance was pretty insane. The Irish averaged a ridiculous 8.5 yards per carry with 299 yards on 35 attempts. They only had five yards lost in the ground game, a stat that usually is double-digits for ND.
* All those probability experts that were second-guessing Brian Kelly’s decision to go for two probably ignored that converting that play would’ve had Stanford kicking a game-tying field goal and not a winner. You still have to convert it, but credit Kelly for not coaching scared and understanding—before anybody else did—that those points could matter.
THE BAD
Stopping Kevin Hogan. A year after ruining his final appearance in Notre Dame Stadium, Kevin Hogan sliced and diced the Irish’s secondary. He completed 17 of 21 throws, none more critical than the 27-yarder up the seam to Devon Cajuste.
Without KeiVarae Russell, the Irish cornerbacks were limited. Devin Butler played 46 snaps with Matthias Farley playing 30 and Nick Watkins taking five. Looking for numbers to back up what we all saw? ProFootballFocus grading had Devin Butler, Cole Luke, Max Redfield, Elijah Shumate and Matthias Farley all with negative scores.
Red Zone Struggles. It’s hard to talk about Notre Dame’s incredible offensive output without digging into the inability to cash in touchdowns in their early red zone appearances. Justin Yoon kicked three field goals under 30 yards. Those aren’t victories.
On the other side of the ball, Stanford was the exact opposite. Five times inside Notre Dame’s 20-yard line? Five touchdowns. In a game this close, Notre Dame getting blown away in such a critical part of the football game explains just how well the Irish did other things (offensively) to even have had a chance to win this game with 30 seconds left.
Offensively, it was a mixed bag. Certainly play selection can be questioned, though a deeper dig into this part of the game usually makes those gripes sound more like fanboy complaints (hindsight always being 20-20) than viable question marks.
The run game got nine yards on three plays when it needed ten, and then came off the field after Nick Martin’s “snap infraction.” Stanford got away with what looked like an offsides on another, and Kizer missed his shot on second down to follow his blockers for what could’ve been a big gainer. Credit the Cardinal for a sellout blitz that forced a throwaway. And then there’s the missed opportunity—Amir Carlisle couldn’t hold on to a pass that looked like a sure first down and likely a touchdown.
Defensively, Stanford’s David Shaw didn’t choose to go with the battering ram attack. Four of the Cardinal’s five scores came via the pass. The first series, a playaction to McCaffrey allowed Remound Wright to slip out of the backfield for an easy score. Cajuste posted up Cole Luke for the second score. Devin Butler’s worst play of the game cost the Irish a score when Michael Rector slipped out of an easy tackle and waltzed into the end zone. And a nice design had Austin Hooper sliding out late, only to see Max Redfield trip up Jaylon Smith and the Cardinal get another easy score.
The wrong side of the stripes. Just about everybody in the press box expected offensive pass interference to be called when Cajuste stiff-armed Devin Butler as they chased down a long pass. Instead, Butler got called for 15 yards and there was a gigantic swing to the game.
Notre Dame got the tough end of the officiating on Saturday night, called for six penalties and 65 yards while Stanford was only flagged once for five yards. From way above the play I saw multiple times where a Cardinal offensive linemen kicked off the line a split-second early. The refs somehow didn’t. I also thought Sheldon Day drew his share of holds that stayed in the pocket.
It’s crying over spilt milk. And there certainly wasn’t any shadowy conspiracy theory. But that’s a tough break—especially if refs are flagging snap infractions early and missing basic procedural calls later.
Third Down defense. Stanford’s ability to convert its first five third downs and eight of 12 killed Notre Dame’s defense. It’s also the reason why the Cardinal were able to put together scoring drives of 75, 78, 75, 76 and 74 yards.
Big plays still happened to the defense, mostly in the passing game. But while Notre Dame minimized them, they just couldn’t do anything to get off the field on third down.
THE UGLY
The Final 30 seconds. Where to begin? Perhaps with the replay officials decision to allow Kizer’s touchdown run to stand? What seemed like a break for the Irish actually turned out to give Stanford more time to come back and kick a field goal.
From there, it all happened rather quickly. First the bad luck—another incidental facemask by the Irish as Isaac Rochell chased after Kevin Hogan. That provided just enough room for the game’s clinching play—a seam route that looked way too open.
Here’s what Shaw said postgame when asked about the play.
“Well we always look at what they do in the two minute,” Shaw said. “They were a couple different options. We tried some shots early on, they did a really good job defending it. But we thought there were some lanes inside. So we weren’t trying to score a touchdown, we were just trying to get into field goal range...Kevin did a great job, looking off the safety coming back and then he through a bullet. Devon caught it, got positive yards after the catch.”
Kelly audibly groaned when asked to give his evaluation of what happened.
“We’ve got to close down inside out on that seam route,” Kelly said. “I thought we probably played it a little bit too much, too much outside in, worried about backing up. We’ve got to be more aggressive to the seam route.”
In reality, Notre Dame’s defensive personnel deficiencies couldn’t have been exposed more on that play. Devin Butler was out of the game with a concussion, bringing in Nick Watkins to play outside cornerback. Lined up three across underneath the four-deep shell were Jaylon Smith, Joe Schmidt and Matthias Farley.
Romeo Okwara, Notre Dame’s best pass rusher, was relegated to making sure Hogan didn’t scramble. That left Andrew Trumbetti to chase Hogan opposite Day, with Isaac Rochell on the nose. Trumbetti’s outside route to the quarterback was never a factor.
Hogan put a very good throw in a hole between Schmidt and Farley, with the linebacker drawn inside by a curl and Farley surrendering the middle of the field too easily.
But more frustrating? The depth safeties Max Redfield and Elijah Shumate got. Neither had a clue that Stanford was just one big play from being in field goal range. There was more than 10 yards between the underneath coverage and the safeties over the top. Redfield was still in his backpedal at the 25, Shumate not much better as he finally broke on the ball at the 30. Bad Football IQ play by two guys who haven’t showed a ton of it.
There were so many great things that this football team did. But from day one, safety play has been a struggle. Game 12 that deficiency ended up breaking the team’s back.