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8:48 pm
March 9, 2016
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I’ll say it up front. This isn’t going to be a pretty article, dear readers. I will disclaim the following: I am sick of Notre Dame. The sea of red reared it’s ugly head in South Bend and I have plenty of opinions on that. The media was crappy to the head coach. I have even more opinions on that. I will keep them to myself for the sake of this article, but don’t expect anything super optimistic or cheery from here on.
Aaaaaaaanyway….
We’re back again to take a look at that stat sheet following a rough one in South Bend on Saturday night. The Georgia Bulldogs went all out in South Bend, overrunning the city, university, stadium, and even Chicago in the process.
Here’s what I noticed in reviewing the statistics from Saturday night.
First downs. Notre Dame had 18 first downs in the game, compared to Georgia’s 16. But that did not equate to a productive day for the Irish offense; they managed a piddly little fart of 266 total yards, only 55 of which came on the ground. Most of their first downs came as a result of Georgia penalties, and Notre Dame was only 3 of 17 when it came to converting on third down. That’s the truly telling statistic right there.
I expected more for a Chip Long offense, if that’s fair to say.
In the name of being fair, Georgia does have a very good defense. However it’s pretty frustrating to hear all about the vaunted Notre Dame offensive line and rushing attack only to be stonewalled by the visitors.
Then there is Brandon Wimbush’s stat line. 211 yards through the air doesn’t sound too bad, right? Unfortunately if you go 19 of 39 with a 5.4 yard average, you’re only going to end up with a QBR of 19.3. Yuck. Restart. Unsubscribe.
55 yards on the ground. That’s it. 1.5 yards per attempt. Not a single Dexter Williams carry. This is indicative of poor play calling and questionable coaching, and certainly doesn’t reflect well on an offensive line that is supposed to be home to one or maybe even two All Americans.
I’ve been soft on Brian Kelly in the past, but I think a well-coached Notre Dame team wins this game, particularly in regards to the offense. That’s all I’ll say on that matter.
On the other hand, the Notre Dame defense came to play. Mike Elko’s unit gave up 185 yards on the ground, but many thought both Sony Michel and Nick Chubb would go over 100 yards. That was not the case, they had 73 and 63 yards respectively. If you would have told me that that’s what the defense would do heading up to the game, I would have taken it. I still think it was good enough.
But the offense let the Irish down, much like many fans did in selling their tickets. You want a real stat that doesn’t lie? Take a look at the attendance numbers for Georgia fans. Well done, Notre Dame faithful.
On to Boston College, I guess.
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