The Notre Dame offense put up their second lowest total number of points last Saturday against Boise State in their 28-7 win. That being said, they had set the bar pretty high scoring over 40 points in three of their five games. Today, we grade each offensive position group’s performance in that win against the Broncos.
Quarterback
Saturday’s game was the first time this season that redshirt freshman CJ Carr did not eclipse 200 passing yards in a game, but he still got pretty close. His final statline was 15/23 for 189 yards and two touchdowns. The one glaring mistake he made was overthrowing to a wide-open Will Pauling on fourth-and-8 for what would have been a sure touchdown. The deep ball also wasn’t there from his game as the longest pass he made was only 24 yards.
But while his play wasn’t exactly exceptional, it’s important to note that Carr didn’t turn the ball over once. In fact, he hasn’t thrown an interception since the game against Texas A&M. He also isn’t going to receive much credit for the fact that he led his team down to the 1-yard line on the opening drive of the game. He continued to make incredibly smart decisions with the football, and on a day where he didn’t have his best stuff, he still played a very solid game of football and put the Irish in spots where they could win.
Weekly grade: “B." season grade: “A-.”
Running backs
It is not a stretch to say that the Irish have the best running back duo in the country. Against Boise State, both juniors Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price were excellent once again. Love rushed the ball 16 times for 103 yards and a touchdown while also catching a pass for 11 yards, shining especially on the team’s two touchdown drives in the first half. As a team, the Irish combined for 144 yards on those two drives. Love accounts for 86 of the 144 total yards on those drives, and he picked up the touchdown on that final scoring drive of the first half that gave the Irish back the lead and momentum. The Irish went into that drive needing points desperately, and Love delivered once again. It’s no coincidence that the drives where the Irish found the most success in the first half were the ones where Love was the anchor.
Price put together a statline of eight rushes for 83 yards and a touchdown. While the spotlight in the first half belonged to Love, Price was the best out of the two in the second half. Price has had many impressive runs this season, and the one he had for the team’s fourth touchdown on Saturday is among the best of them. He broke four tackles on his way to the end zone for a 49-yard touchdown. His ability to break tackles and use his strength to create big plays is what makes him so good, and that run was a great example of that. Price continues to do the most he can with the opportunities he gets, and this two-headed monster in the backfield combined for 197 total yards and propelled this team to another victory.
Weekly grade: “A-." season grade: “A.”
Wide receivers
Junior Jordan Faison continued his stellar play with a great game against Boise State, picking up six receptions for 83 yards, leading the team in both stats. He has been Carr’s main go-to guy this season, and while senior Malachi Fields caught the touchdown pass on the team’s lone possession in the third quarter, Faison had four catches and accounted for 31 yards on the team’s methodical 10-play, 79-yard drive to make it a two-possession lead.
The man who caught the touchdown on that drive, Fields, also continued his excellent play, putting together four catches for 44 yards and that touchdown. He has continued to be an excellent receiver in one-on-one situations, and his touchdown in that game was an example of that. Some would argue he scored on the play before, but he was still able to pick up yards on that play by drawing a pass interference call, and then obviously scored on the play after.
Additionally, even though he only had two catches, senior Will Pauling put together a solid game as well, picking up 43 yards, including a 24-yard touchdown catch to open the scoring for the Irish. He also caught the pass on the two-point conversion attempt at the end of the first half. After quiet games to begin the season, he seems to have come into his own and established a rapport with Carr.
The main difference between this game and others was that those were the only three to get on the statsheet out of the wide receivers. Though junior Jaden Greathouse was inactive, freshman Micah Gilbert and sophomore KK Smith were very limited in this game, and the Irish truly excel when they are able to get many different guys involved. It wasn’t the Irish’s best game of the year receiving wise, but they still put together a very solid effort.
Weekly grade: “B." season grade: “B+.”
Tight ends
Senior Eli Raridon only mustered two catches for eight yards against Boise State. His big gain of the day was wiped away by an offensive pass interference call on him. He started the year with two excellent games in the losses against Miami and Texas A&M, but since then, it’s been hard for him and any other tight end to get much going. Junior Cooper Flanagan has returned to practice this week, though, after tearing his Achilles against Georgia in the playoffs last season, so this group could take a step up in future weeks. Their performance against Boise State was a bit of a disappointment, however.
Weekly grade: “C-." season grade: “B.”
Offensive line
This was the first game of the season where Carr did not get sacked once. Additionally, the run blocking has been very impressive since that Miami game, and it continued here. Additionally, they only accounted for three of the 11 penalties called against the Irish this week. Only one of those was a holding call. Though the competition has been weaker these past few weeks, the line just looks more comfortable as a unit. They have only gotten better as the year has gone on, and this game was their best of the year.
Weekly grade: “A-." season grade: “B-.”
