This past weekend, Notre Dame faced off against Boise State. The game finished with a relatively low 28-7 score, something that neither the fans nor I were expecting.
I made the score prediction of 56-14 for the Boise State game, but it is clear that I was way off. Despite the win, the Irish only managed a modest 28 points, a step back from their past three performances, where they put up 56 in two dominant wins and 41 against a formidable Texas A&M defense.
So what happened? What went wrong compared to the display against Arkansas only a week prior? It was mostly disappointing from the offense last Saturday, but it was more than enough. While I have criticized the Irish defense in the past, they excelled this past weekend to keep the Notre Dame team ahead throughout the game. What I found to be most interesting through many of the games this season was seeing almost two different teams on the field between the offense and defense.
Offense: What happened?
Normally, when it comes to Notre Dame football, most have turned to the performance of a defense that has stumbled out of the gate, but in a shocking turn of events, was the strong side of the ball this past weekend. For the first time all season, the offense could not say the same.
In the first quarter, as the Irish found themselves at the one-yard line, extremely close to scoring a touchdown, junior running back Jeremiyah Love was swallowed up by the Boise State defense. The junior finished with 103 rushing yards and only one touchdown, a drop-off from his prolific four-touchdown game against the Razorbacks.
CJ Carr also seemed off his game. In his most successful showing against Arkansas, the freshman quarterback finished the game with 354 passing yards, four passing touchdowns and 22 complete passes. Against the Broncos, he only had 189 passing yards and 15 completed passes without a touchdown.
If offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock’s unit goes back to playing how they did in earlier games and Carr continues to command the offense and find the holes in the NC State defense, the Irish should have no problem moving the ball downfield on Saturday.
Head coach Marcus Freeman commented on the response from his offensive line, saying, “They’re competitive. They’re pissed. Sorry to say that. They’re upset because they’re competitors. And they want to be perfect. That’s the type of competitors we have in that locker room. That’s how I expect them to respond, because when you get upset, you understand their answers.”
Defense: A successful game
The start of the season did not look too strong for the Notre Dame defense. In fact, they received a lot of pushback, most aimed at new defensive coordinator Chris Ash. That all seemed to change with Boise State.
One of the biggest improvements was welcoming back sophomore cornerback Leonard Moore after he was sidelined with an ankle injury. After missing two games due to the injury, Moore came ready to play against the Broncos, securing two interceptions that changed the game for the Irish. The first was an interception in the third quarter with 1:45 left to play, stopping a desperate Boise State offense. The second was the exclamation point at the end of the game, keeping the Boise State offense out of the end zone for the game and cementing the Irish win.
Moore contributed to one of the keys for this Notre Dame defense, which was creating turnovers against Boise State. This was extremely important, especially in a lower-scoring game. In addition to this, the turnovers gave more room for the offense to work and get the ball in improved field position.
Should the defense continue to stand strong and keep the NC State offense at bay, Notre Dame should have no problem taking over the game this weekend. The offense and the defense need to work together to stay on top of the ball and take the win. Notre Dame prepares to take on the 4-2 Wolfpack this Saturday, Oct. 11, with kickoff set for 3:30 p.m.
