Notre Dame’s 2016 season is finished, the Irish coming up woefully short of their lofty preseason goals. And as fast as the team bus could leave the Coliseum on Saturday evening, Brian Kelly needs to turn his program around.
But before we get into that heavy offseason remodel, let’s get through the good, bad and ugly.
THE GOOD
Josh Adams. It wasn’t a great season for Josh Adams, who couldn’t get out of training camp without getting dinged up. But he certainly finished the season strong—a career-best 180 yards on the ground against a USC defense that had held six of its previous seven opponents to season-low point totals.
Adams burst out of the gates, stopped just short of the goal line on a 74-yard scamper to open the game. But even without that big number buoying his stat line, Adams still ran for nearly six yards a carry, a very nice outing.
Adams will be a key piece of next season’s offense. Finishing on a good note was a good start.
Jarron Jones. Total respect to Jones, who certainly played like a senior leader on Saturday, another monster effort in the trenches with seven tackles and 1.5 TFL. Any worry that he’d be checked out after bowl eligibility disappeared was eliminated immediately, and Jones led the Irish defense with a PFF-best +3.9 rating—a dominant effort by any measurement.
Postgame, Jones was proud of the defense’s effort, emotional about this being it for him at Notre Dame, and also emboldened about the status of head coach Brian Kelly.
“I think it’s garbage. If anything, Coach Kelly deserves another chance, if people are talking about him being fired,” Jones said. “The fact that it’s one bad season. He took us to the national championship and the Fiesta Bowl last season. He’s a great coach and just because we have one trip up doesn’t mean he should be fired.”
Equanimeous St. Brown & Kevin Stepherson. We wanted to see Notre Dame’s young receivers hold their own against USC’s talented cornerbacks. Well St. Brown led the game with 94 receiving yards and a touchdown and Stepherson torched Adoree Jackson for a 29-yard touchdown on a double move.
While Torii Hunter wasn’t able to give much to the Irish offense in his limited action, the two sophomores looked like starting outside receivers—with Stepherson finally getting action after Corey Holmes was targeted 10 times and came away with just four catches for 29 yards.
Notre Dame’s athleticism on the edge wasn’t great. But it was a nice building block for next season, St. Brown and Stepherson key pieces to the 2017 puzzle.
Julian Love. Notre Dame’s freshman cornerback held his own against USC’s talented receiving corps, giving up seven catches, but limiting those receptions to just 51 yards.
Love looks like a building block. With Troy Pride playing 25 snaps and Donte Vaughn 17, those three freshman will have every chance to take over next season, with Shaun Crawford hopefully ready to return from his achilles injury.
Love is an interesting freshman. He’s played very solid football, well beyond expectations. But to take the next step, he’ll need to continue to play with the high football IQ that he displays, because his physical traits aren’t going to jump out.
Still, this is was an incredibly positive debut season. And Love’s finale against USC, where he played nearly every snap, was another great game for the rookie.
The Offensive Line. It was a really strong final game for the guys up front, who may have given up six sacks to USC’s pass rush, but seemed to win the battle at the point of attack while doing a better job than the stats indicated, even in the passing game.
Surprisingly, redshirt senior Mark Harrell graded out as PFF’s top blocker, with Quenton Nelson playing another solid game. Mike McGlinchey didn’t allow a sack at left tackle, though did false start again—something he’ll need to get under control this offseason.
The Irish need to find stability with this starting five, a group that should welcome all but Harrell back, and could also see competition at center and right guard again, even with Sam Mustipher returning. But it was a nice competitive effort that Kelly applauded postgame.
“I liked the way our offensive line was able to at times exert their will in tough third-down-and-short and tough fourth-down situations,” Kelly said.
THE BAD
Jerry Tillery. A season after being one of the featured members of the Irish football team on Showtime, Tillery showcased all the wrong things in an embarrassing afternoon.
ND's Jerry Tillery pushes head of a USC player with possible head injury, then steps on another USC player's foot https://t.co/OvESTUbEum
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) November 27, 2016
Two very bad looks for Tillery, who after being flagged for his personal foul, heard quite a bit from his head coach. And while the internet’s reaction to the two cheap shots was probably just as dumb as Tillery’s decision (no, he shouldn’t be expelled), Kelly made it quite clear that after they review the incidents (he didn’t see either live), that Tillery will be held accountable.
“Jerry has to be accountable of this actions every day. Jerry is a good kid. If he made a mistake we’ll hold him accountable for that mistake,” Kelly said. “Again, I don’t know the scenario, we’ll take a look at it. Jerry is a very smart kid and if there is something there we have to handle internally we certainly will and we’ll hold our players accountable internally.”
Worse than any on-field decision is the fact that Tillery desperately needs to grow up. He’ll be the defensive line’s most experienced player in 2017. By most reports he’s a great student-athlete, and a fully incorporated part of the student body. But he also now has a second black mark on his football resume, a Fiesta Bowl suspension when he was one of the rare healthy linemen available.
Tillery’s leadership is important and he plays a critical position of need for next season. So maybe this incident will turn him around.
Nicco Fertitta’s ejection. The sophomore safety delivered the hit of the season on Saturday, separating Aca’Cedric Ware from the football on a nasty hit that ended with Ware down for an extended time and leaving the game with a suspected concussion. But after the third replay review found Fertitta guilty of targeting and ultimately ejected, it gave the football back to USC and gave the Irish another loss this season on helmet-to-helmet hits.
Whether people Fertitta deserved to be ejected mostly falls upon partisan lines. But one thing that’s undeniable is the subjectiveness of the penalty and the inconsistent enforcement, a rule that desperately needs changing when it’s the rare judgment call that carries with it an automatic ejection.
I still don't understand what targeting is. Nicco Fertitta destroyed this guy. pic.twitter.com/C8UQCEfDl7
— Mike Monaco (@MikeMonaco_) November 26, 2016
THE UGLY
The Special Teams. It was a fitting end to one of the most disappointing special teams seasons I can ever remember, with Scott Booker’s unit turning Adoree Jackson into Superman on Saturday. The two return scores make five on the season, and they were essentially eliminating factors in the Irish’s upset bid on Saturday.
At this point, Brian Kelly needs to look for outside help on special teams. A phase of the game that’s almost always only been paid lip service by the Irish head coach, it’s not going to get fixed because Kelly brings on a special teams analyst like Marty Biagi, who may have helped bring new ideas to the conversation, though they certainly didn’t help.
At every step the special teams were brutal. A rugby punt decision led to a blocked kick and loss in a hurricane against NC State. A hold on the opening kickoff took away a touchdown against Michigan State. Kickoff and punt returns were a hold-your-breath consideration, maddening when you consider the general competence of placekicker Justin Yoon and punter Tyler Newsome.
The list of breakdowns is long. The fixes are necessary. And a failure in the finale felt like par for the course.
4-8. No explanation necessary.