Clemson Postgame

[Irish#1]

A couple of thoughts:

D made Shipley disappear. Was pretty much a non-factor.

USC is in for a rude awakening. There are very few teams in the country as physical as ND and none of them play in the Pac12.

 

[ulukinatme]

A couple of thoughts:

D made Shipley disappear. Was pretty much a non-factor.

USC is in for a rude awakening. There are very few teams in the country as physical as ND and none of them play in the Pac12.

I've felt good about USC all season, so we probably lose by 40. Really though, I think Riley rights the ship and makes USC really good again, but for now they shouldn't have the guys in the trenches to compete with us. If the OL shows up we should run silly on them. If our D shows up like against Clemson we'll kick their ass.

 

[IrishLion]

 

[IrishLion]

The reports of Jordan Botelho's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

(The light is finally coming on for the ultra-aggressive DE/Hybrid... and that he's playing like a DE when on the line now, and not just a bowling ball of fury, is huge.)

 

[Pops Freshenmeyer]

That middle video! I hadn't noticed it before but holy shit, the entire defense had quit before the ball was snapped.

 

[T-Boone]

If Liufou properly works out what he is doing he is going to be fun to watch.

 

[DONTH8]

If Liufou properly works out what he is doing he is going to be fun to watch.

This comment reminded me that another issue I had with the team was blitzing by the LBs. All season it seems that our LBs run into blocks rather than avoiding in situations where I feel it would be correct. The obvious example is the play in the 4th where our safety timed up his blitz extremely well and JD came behind him. The RB dove at our safties knees leaving Bertrand alone with a path to the QB. But instead, he runs straight into the RB who had just dove. I couldn't believe it. He could have gone around or over. But nope, runs into bodies on the ground.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Here's Brian Fremeau's article on Week 10:

NCAA Week 10 - Notre Dame dominated Clemson on Saturday night in a 35-14 victory spearheaded by big defensive and special teams plays, likely slamming the door shut on a potential berth for the Tigers (or anyone else in the ACC) in the College Football Playoff in the process. The previously undefeated Tigers had ranked fourth in the initial committee rankings release last week, but fell to 10th last night following the defeat, behind three other one-loss teams and two-loss Alabama. The 6-3 Irish entered the CFP rankings at No. 20 this week, outside of the national championship conversation and at the fringes of contention for a New Year's Six bowl game. But they have asserted themselves as a team with confidence and a defense-first identity for the stretch run.

The Notre Dame defense allowed Clemson to cross midfield only once in the first half of the game, a drive that stalled out at the Irish 38-yard line with a turnover on downs. The Tigers didn't have a drive reach the red zone until early in the fourth quarter, already trailing by 21 points, and that drive ended with an interception returned 96 yards for a touchdown by freshman cornerback Benjamin Morrison to seal a 28-0 Irish win in non-garbage time. Morrison's interception on the previous series deep in Clemson territory set up a short field touchdown drive for Notre Dame. That four-possession sequence (interception-touchdown-interception-return touchdown) put the game away with 14 points on the scoreboard, 10.9 of which were attributable to the defensive stops and returns generating the field position and scoring value.

Non-offensive value was the story of the game for the Irish. They blocked a punt after forcing Clemson's first offensive drive to lose yards and returned it for a score and a 7-0 lead. It was the sixth punt block of the season for Notre Dame, and the first touchdown for a unit that now ranks No. 1 in my punt return efficiency special teams metric. Punt return efficiency is calculated by measuring the resulting field position following a punt exchange with the expected field position based on where the punt is kicked. On average, the Irish have generated an extra 0.27 points of scoring value per opponent punt, the equivalent of 8 to 10 yards of field position per drive and a couple of points per game.

The Irish also rank No. 1 in net starting field position coming out of the Clemson game, starting their non-garbage drives on average from their own 34-yard line and forcing their opponents to start drives on average from their own 25-yard line. An average game features approximately 12 offensive possessions for each team, so a per-drive advantage of 9 yards is equivalent to having to move the ball on offense 108 fewer yards per game to the end zone. That's particularly useful for an offense that runs the ball well but has limited big-play potential. The Irish offense ranks No. 49 overall in this week's opponent-adjusted OFEI ratings and averages only 5.6 yards per play (79th nationally). Only 9% of Notre Dame's non-garbage drives this season have averaged at least 10 yards per play, 100th in FBS. They gashed Clemson on the ground with an 11-play, 78-yard scoring drive in the first half, but also had many other drives move effectively before stalling out just beyond or just short of midfield. Punts pinned the Tigers deep, and the Irish controlled the game script throughout, but only 0.6 points of Notre Dame's 28-point lead at the end of non-garbage time was ultimately credited to the offense.

It has been a bit of a perplexing season in South Bend. First-year head coach Marcus Freeman had one of the toughest opening assignments possible in a Week 1 road trip to Columbus, Ohio, against national championship contender Ohio State, a game in which the Irish threatened the Buckeyes deep into the second half before falling 21-10. They then laid an egg against Marshall (currently FEI No. 73) at home, but ripped off wins against North Carolina (No. 50) and BYU (No. 59) before tripping up inexplicably again against Stanford (No. 82). Preseason expectations had already been adjusted, but a 3-3 record with those clunkers presented the possibility of a disastrous finish. FEI regular-season win projections for Notre Dame bottomed out at 6.8 mean wins after the Stanford game, but have vaulted back up to 8.2 mean wins following the victories over UNLV (No. 101), Syracuse (No. 34), and Clemson (No. 21).

Irish fans are primed to carry the momentum from a big night and wild celebration forward, and might be lamenting what-if scenarios if they hadn't played so poorly against their worst opponents to date. But though the sequence of victories and defeats has been unusual, the Irish are pretty much exactly where a team with their offense and defensive efficiency metrics should be. A 6-3 record with losses to Syracuse and Clemson instead of Marshall and Stanford might have made more sense given the statistical profiles of those teams, but teams rarely show up in the same way week-in and week-out. And a team that has found its footing late in the year is well-positioned for the relatively modest tests that await. With a regular season finale against USC (FEI No. 13) after games against below-average Navy (No. 76) and Boston College (No. 102), my numbers project a 35% likelihood that Notre Dame will finish 9-3, and a 90% likelihood they'll be no worse than 8-4.

The USC game may present the opportunity for Notre Dame to kick another potential College Football Playoff contender out of the picture as well. Even if the Irish aren't in the title conversation themselves, their defense may have something to say about which teams are.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Was out of the country and couldn't watch but watched replay last night. Wow! I would trade 2 slip ups like Stanford and Marshall for a big game coming out party all day.

1) Benjamin Morrison was awesome. Best performance I can remember by an ND CB. Singlehandedly kept Clemson from getting back into the game.
2) Offensive line and running game were incredible. Love the 3 headed monster at RB
3) Defensive line dominated Clemsons OL for the most part.
4) it's nice to actually have a dynamic special teams, game changing plays
5) QB play is still very poor - incredibly poor. Shocking this is still the best we can do at the position with all the recent success.

I like our chances of winning out despite the QB.

 

[InKellyWeTrust]

Another thing - we beat the shit out of them so badly I forgot how terrible the refs were - poor PI calls and missed roughing the passer among others.