notre dame football conference playoff schedule

Notre Dame being eliminated from this year’s College Football Playoff on Oct. That figure needs to be closer to 90 percent.ġ2. When it’s third or fourth down and the Irish need just one yard, Notre Dame’s ground game has converted 8 of 14.

Notre Dame is 13 of 24 running on third/fourth downs when it needs three yards or fewer. The Irish simply don’t have an identity in short yardage situations right now. The Gi’Bran Payne and Audric Estime stuffs in the second half were brutally blocked by Notre Dame to the point Louisville could have split those tackles for loss three ways among defenders. The counter to Chris Tyree that led to Hartman’s lost fumble is not the kind of play that should be trotted out for the first time on the road. Notre Dame’s short-yardage run game was too cute in the first half and too poorly prepared in the second. In the last three, he’s 2 of 14 for 64 yards and one score, the connection with Faison at Louisville.ġ1. In the season’s first four games, Hartman was 9 of 12 for 374 yards and six touchdowns on pass attempts that covered more than 20 air yards. What has become of Notre Dame’s deep ball? It was a moment when Notre Dame needed Gerad Parker to find a new lever to pull. The Irish went 1 of 8 on third and fourth down during this calamitous stretch, the only conversion a 24-yard completion to Evans on third-and-13. For how much the Irish offense has sputtered the past two weeks, this was hard to reconcile. On Notre Dame’s first six drives of the second half, a span during which a tie game turned into a blowout, Hartman went 5 of 11 for 42 yards, one interception and one lost fumble while taking two sacks. But Saturday night was a tough opening act in his comeback story.ĩ. Raridon could prove to be a great tight end by Notre Dame standards, which means a potential NFL prospect. That Audric Estime run went for a five-yard loss. He didn’t seem to know who to block on Notre Dame’s first play of the third quarter, blocking a safety already handled by Cooper Flanagan and turning a linebacker loose. He missed a key block on Jadarian Price’s only carry, which turned a potential home run into a two-yard gain. Did Notre Dame’s coaching staff put Eli Raridon in a position to have success against Louisville? He played 10 snaps. Special teams may be leaking too many yards in too many situations, but Shrader was part of the solution on Saturday night.ħ. Nice night for Shrader in a moment when Notre Dame needed it.

That’s the kicker we saw during training camp. All hail the right leg of Spencer Shrader. What was Freeman thinking by using a timeout after Hartman was sacked in the final minute of the first half, bringing up a third-and-13? The decision, followed by an incomplete pass on third down, set up a Louisville with a chance at an end-of-half field goal, which missed from 42 yards.Ħ. It’s hard to imagine an offensive line coach of Joe Rudolph’s caliber would voluntarily unsettle the group like that.Īnd if Notre Dame goes into a game unsure of its best lineup at guard and center, what is it getting in practice?ĥ. It’s a position that talks about “seeing everything through one set of eyes” and “five guys working as one.” Freeman’s decision to rotate made that impossible. It’s another to rotate on the offensive line by design. It’s one thing to pull a player for poor performance. By the end of the game, Blake Fisher had been benched after getting beat repeatedly, leaving quarterback Sam Hartman to fend for himself. Kristofic rotated at center with Zeke Correll. Schrauth played both guard spots in the first half. What has become of the “offensive line-driven program” Freeman set out to maintain? Against Louisville, the Irish essentially staged a game-day tryout for Billy Schrauth and Andrew Kristofic. The problem is that it’s hard to apply those lessons with USC coming to town for the Irish’s eighth game in eight weeks and fourth consecutive night game, all on top of midterm exams this week.Ģ. And the lessons from the meltdown at Louisville must be massive. But losing like that with this quarterback? The key to Freeman’s success at Notre Dame was his ability to learn on the job. Simply losing a football game doesn’t call into question the entire operation from the top down.

Notre dame football conference playoff schedule