Notre Dame cornerback Cole Luke (36) breaks up a pass intended for Louisville wide receiver DeVante Parker (9) in the second quarter. Credit: USA Today
Before I delve into the performance of the Fighting Irish defense versus Louisville, let me make one thing clear. I support this team win or lose. And I love this team with all of my being. But that being said, there is something that is just not right with this team. Part of it is coaching. Part of it is team performance. Part of it is chemistry. It is not one thing that needs to be fixed and it is not something that can be fixed overnight or in one week’s time. All of that being said, lets take a look at how the Notre Dame defense performed against the Louisville Cardinals last Saturday.
The Notre Dame defense allowed Louisville’s offense to gain 409 yards of total offense; 180 in passing and 229 in rushing. The Fighting Irish allowed Louisville’s offense 23 first downs. Louisville’s offense was able to complete 6 of 14 third downs, and 0 of 0 fourth downs, and in the red zone they scored 4 out of 5 attempts.
With the addition of defensive linesman Jay Hayes, nine different true freshmen have played on defense for the Irish so far in 2014. A year ago, the team had 11 true freshmen play anywhere on the field (defense, offense and special teams).
The Irish have had at least one interception in each of their last 14 games, which is the longest active streak in the country.
On Saturday, linebacker Greer Martini became the 11th different Notre Dame player to record a sack, the most since 2003 when 14 players recorded sacks.
For the first time this year, the Irish yielded an 80-yard scoring drive when Louisville marched 93 yards down the field for a touchdown late in the first quarter.
Notre Dame linebackers Jaylon Smith and Nyles Morgan both had double digit tackles today (Smith had 11 and Morgan had 10). This is the second week in a row that the two of them have recorded double digits. Morgan’s 10 tackles tied a career high for the freshman linebacker. Morgan’s ejection for targeting in the fourth quarter means that he is ineligible for the first half of next week’s game at USC.
Safety Drue Tranquill made his first career interception just before the halftime break.
Defnsive lineman Jacob Matuska picked up his first career sack in the second quarter.
Linebacker Greer Martini recorded his first career sack in the fourth quarter.
Defensive lineman Jay Hayes made his debut today. He is the ninth true freshman to play on defense for the Irish in 2014.
Today with the defense it seemed like they had spurts of really good play, spurts where they were kind of on their heels. Could you talk about that and what was happening there?
COACH KELLY: Yeah, we played the whole game pretty much without Jarron Jones and Sheldon Day and Joe Schmidt. I mean, we played a lot of freshmen in there and a lot of young guys. They battled as best they could. We’re getting everything out of them. I mean, they played with great effort, just made some mistakes.
Zone read, we’re great coverage and we’ve got two guys playing the wrong coverage, just we made mistakes. When we were lined up properly and in our right fits and doing the right things, we did a pretty good job. I think we battled. We played with effort and great attitude, and we had a chance with the ball with the ball in our own hands with a minute to go and a chance to win and we’ve got to cash that in and score. That’s how I see it.
Nyles Morgan, penalty there, what did you see on that play?
COACH KELLY: “It was a penalty that did not need to occur. I mean, he had a free shot at him. He did not need to go high. It was a careless, careless mistake.”
That’s three personal fouls on him in two weeks. Do you see that from him in practice or does he just get a little over the top in games?
COACH KELLY: “No we see it? No. Yeah, we let him do whatever he wants during practice. No, I mean, he’s a young player that has got to understand he’s got to play within himself. He’s extremely athletic, and he’s got to understand that he’s got to play within himself and meaning that when he gets a shot, and he gets a clear shot, finish it off the right way. He’s taught the right way to do it, and he’s a little bit out of control at times. We’ve got to obviously get him to mature in that area.”
Pretty small sample size from Greer going in after that. What did you see from him, for that matter, Jay Hayes?
COACH KELLY: “Jay Hayes played well. Yeah, he gave us what we thought we’d give him, about 30, 35 snaps. Plays hard, plays physical, and Greer made a great play tracking down the quarterback with the sack. Smart player, did a nice job, played both Mike and Will for us today.”
When you look at next year’s team, and I know you probably haven’t done it. But a lot of people coming back and a lot of promise and a lot of healthy bodies coming back, what can you expect out of this year that will help you not only finish this year off good, but set the tone for off-season and that 2015 year?
COACH KELLY: “Well, we’ve lost back to back games because we couldn’t put down a ball and kick it 32 yards, so, and we lost the game by four points at Florida State. So three of our four losses are easily games that we could win with a lot of freshmen playing a lot of football. I think at one time I looked out there, and I think we had Collinsworth. I think it was just Collinsworth. Everybody else was freshmen and sophomores on defense, so great experience. The ability to carry over will obviously be something that we believe that we can grow from. So, close losses, difficult losses that we hope that our team will grow from.”
Coach, with the defense, a lot of injuries, lot of young players, like you said. Do you worry about their confidence going forward if they don’t start seeing some wins here or a win?
COACH KELLY: “No, they’re too young. I mean, they’re going to play. They’re going to do what we ask them to do. No, they’re just going to keep playing. I mean, again, you look at the two games, right, we’ve got a chance to win that football game at the end. Worst case scenario we make a kick and we go into overtime and win the game. Same thing against Northwestern.
So if we’re getting blown out, right, and embarrassed, yeah, maybe you’ve got a bit of a problem where you’ve got to blow your guys up a little bit. They know that they easily could win any of the games they’ve played in. A mistake here or there and not executing at the time necessary has been the difference between a win and loss with this team, razor thin.”
Isaac Rochell • On the defense’s ups and downs…
“I think a lot of it had to do with just mental errors. When we got to the point where we were playing pretty well, it was just the little mistakes adding up to big plays was the thing that were killing us.”
Cole Luke • On maintaining confidence…
“We really have to finish and we have to play hard all four quarters. I feel like we had an outstanding fourth quarter as a defense, but we struggled during the first two or three. We have to play a full, contained game and go in. We know we are a good team, which is the crazy part about it. We have to play to our ability really–eliminate mistakes, eliminate big plays and play like we did at the beginning of the season. I know it’s not that hard and I know we have two more games coming up, so I hope we rise to the occasion.”
Jaylon Smith • On wearing Joe Schmidt’s number…
“How much Joe has meant not only to the team, but to me. He’s been the heart and soul of our defense. I felt it was appropriate on senior day and acknowledging the fact that it’s not about me. It wasn’t about anyone else but the seniors this week. We didn’t get the job done, but it was an honor to wear Joe’s number.”
On the play of the defense…
“Great effort. The effort was there. It’s about having that physical and mental mentality to the point where we’re not going to be denied. That’s where age plays a picture. We had two rookies playing in their first game up front with Jarron going out. I’m very proud of them. They gave it their all. We just have to find a way to keep improving.”
On improvements to be made…
“It’s experience. The whole atmosphere. Even losing, in this case, is something we’re all learning. I’m young myself. I’m a sophomore. I’m 19 years old. We’re all just continuing to learn. Obviously, it’s not acceptable to lose at any cost. There’s no moral victory, so you can’t look at it like that. We’re not even focused on next year right now. Right now, it’s all about our rivalry next week and finding a way to get a victory.”
At this point in the season I have a very heavy heart. This team had so much talent, so much potential but suspensions, injuries and inexperience just got the better of them. I’d love to see them rally against SC and end the season on the winning note. I think there is a lot of work to be done in the off-season, but this team is young and can bring a great deal of learning and experience back to the table for next season. Hopefully they can hold on to the pain of these losses and turn it into passion, drive and motivation during the off-season.
GO IRISH!! BEAT TROJANS!!
Her Loyal ... Daughter
Lisa Kelly is a multidimensional marketing professional. She has over two decades of marketing experience and earned a bachelor of business administration and marketing from the University of Notre Dame (Class of 1993 ... Siegfried Hall!). She is a Digital Publishing Manager by day and by night is writing her third book, a continuation of "Echoes From the End Zone: The Men We Became" and its sequel "The Men We Became: MORE Echoes From the End Zone." In 2012, Lisa was crowned the "Biggest Fan of the Big East" in a blogging and social media contest, representing Notre Dame.
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