Notre Dame defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder on the sideline during the Notre Dame-Michigan State game. (Photo: SBT Robert Franklin)
The Fighting Irish’s seesaw September continues with a 36-28 loss to Michigan State following the win over Nevada last week. This 2016 Notre Dame team is far from being a bust, with definite glimpses of brilliance shining through, and yet they are not quite living up to their potential. The defense has got to solidify their tackling fundamentals and find a way to eliminate the unforced errors. How did the Fighting Irish defense perform against the Spartans of Michigan State? Let’s take a look!
The Notre Dame defense allowed the Michigan State offense 22 first downs, and in comparison, the Michigan State defense allowed the Notre Dame offense 19 first downs. The Notre Dame defense allowed Michigan State’s offense 260 net rushing yards, and 241 net passing yards, for a total of 501 yards; compared to the Michigan State defense which allowed the Notre Dame offense 57 net rushing yards, 344 net passing yards, for a total of 401 yards. (One more comparison, last week the Notre Dame offense had 444 yards.)
While the Fighting Irish defensive fundamentals and tackling looked somewhat improved last week against Nevada, they looked a little rough around the edges this week against Sparty. Notre Dame allowed Michigan state to convert on third down 9-of-18 times, and on fourth down 1-of-1 times. In the red zone, Sparty was able to convert 3-of-3 times for three touchdowns. The Notre Dame defense didn’t have any sacks, while Michigan State’s defense had two sacks for a loss of 11 yards. And a very telling stat of the night, the Notre Dame defense had no points resulting from turnovers, while the Michigan State defense had 15 points resulting from turnovers. And finally, Michigan State’s time of possession was 37:57 and Notre Dame’s time of possession was 22:03.
MSU ND FIRST DOWNS................... 22 19 Rushing..................... 9 3 Passing..................... 12 14 Penalty..................... 1 2 NET YARDS RUSHING............. 260 57 Rushing Attempts............ 52 25 Average Per Rush............ 5.0 2.3 Rushing Touchdowns.......... 3 2 Yards Gained Rushing........ 277 74 Yards Lost Rushing.......... 17 17 NET YARDS PASSING............. 241 344 Completions-Attempts-Int.... 19-26-1 20-37-1 Average Per Attempt......... 9.3 9.3 Average Per Completion...... 12.7 17.2 Passing Touchdowns.......... 2 2 TOTAL OFFENSE YARDS........... 501 401 Total offense plays......... 78 62 Average Gain Per Play....... 6.4 6.5 Fumbles: Number-Lost.......... 0-0 2-2 Penalties: Number-Yards....... 3-45 4-51 Interceptions: Number-Yds-TD.. 1-0-0 1-30-0 Fumble Returns: Number-Yds-TD. 0-0-0 0-0-0 Miscellaneous Yards........... 0 0 Possession Time............... 37:57 22:03 1st Quarter................. 8:46 6:14 2nd Quarter................. 9:15 5:45 3rd Quarter................. 9:52 5:08 4th Quarter................. 10:04 4:56 Third-Down Conversions........ 9 of 18 4 of 11 Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 1 of 1 Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-3 4-4 Touchdowns.................. 3-3 4-4 Field goals................. 0-3 0-4 Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 2-11 0-0 PAT Kicks..................... 4-4 4-4 Field Goals................... 0-0 0-0 Points off turnovers.......... 15 0 How did the Notre Dame defense perform on an individual basis?
Nyles Morgan had eight solo tackles and two assists for 10 tackles, Coney had five solo tackles and four assists for nine total tackles, Martini had six solo tackles and one assist for seven total tackles, Tranquill had five solo tackles and one assist for six tackles, Luke had five solo tackles and no assists for five tackles, and both Tillery and Coleman had four solo tackles and one assist for five tackles. Devin Studstill made his first career interception on a tipped pass by Daelin Hayes in the second quarter. Jerry Tillery logged his first two official tackles for loss in 2016 with a pair of stops behind the line of scrimmage in the first half.
Notre Dame ## Player Solo Ast Tot TFL/Yds FF FR-Yd Intc BrUp Blkd Sack/Yds ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5 Morgan, Nyles 8 2 10 . . . . 1 . . 4 CONEY 5 4 9 . . . . . . . 48 MARTINI 6 1 7 . . . . . . . 23 TRANQUILL 5 1 6 . . . . . . . 36 LUKE 5 . 5 . . . . . . . 99 TILLERY 4 1 5 2.0/3 . . . . . . 24 COLEMAN 4 1 5 1.0/1 . . . . . . 17 ONWUALU 3 2 5 1.0/2 . . . 1 . . 8 SEBASTIAN 4 . 4 . . . . . . . 94 JONES, J. 3 1 4 . . . . . . . 1B STUDSTILL 2 . 2 . . . 1-30 . . . 98 TRUMBETTI 2 . 2 . . . . . . . 90 ROCHELL 1 1 2 1.0/9 . . . . . . 28 FERTITTA 1 1 2 . . . . . . . 75 CAGE . 2 2 . . . . . . . 27 LOVE 1 . 1 . . . . 1 . . 9A Hayes, Daelin . 1 1 . . . . 1 . . 93 Hayes, Jay . 1 1 . . . . . . . 83 CLAYPOOL . 1 1 . . . . . . .
Post game quotes from UND.com:
James Onwualu Sr. Linebacker
…On frustration from playing a game with missed opportunities
It’s frustrating, especially when you get a game there that’s so close in the end and a couple
of plays could’ve changed things.
…On how to move forward as a captain
We take the 24 hours and then we get back to work like we always do. We have high
character guys in our locker room.
…On responsibility between the team and the coaches
We’re all a team, and that’s what it shows. He knows that he’s got to do better, but
obviously, as players, we know that we’re the ones out there performing. No matter what,
it’s making plays at the end of the day.
…On Coach Kelly’s reaction
He understands and we understand that we’re in this together. We all have stuff that we
want to get better at, and that includes the coaches
***
I know there are quite a few people who are extremely frustrated with this Notre Dame defense, and are calling for people to be fired; but two things keep coming to mind for me personally. One, it is only the third game of the season. And two, this defense is young and inexperienced. Four of our seven veteran secondary players are either injured or ineligible to play (Max Redfield, Devin Butler, Nick Watkins, Shawn Crawford). That’s not to say that all of the mistakes they are making are excusable, but it is still early in the season and they are still learning/developing.
N. Morgan – Junior
Coney – Sophomore
Martini – Junior
Tranquill – Junior
Luke – SENIOR
Tillery – Sophomore
Coleman – Sophomore
Onwualu – SENIOR
Sebastian – GRAD STUDENT
J. Jones – GRAD STUDENT
Studstill – Freshman
Trumbetti – Junior
Rochell – SENIOR
Fertitta – Sophomore
Cage – Junior
Love – Freshman
D. Hayes – Freshman
J. Hayes – Junior
Claypool – Freshman
With that being said, this young defense is going to have to step up their game in order to be able to compete with the teams they are going to face in upcoming weeks. They are going to have to use Duke, Syracuse and NC State to figure out what’s wrong and fix it before they face an already impressive looking Stanford team.
So what say you? Is the season already over, or does this team have to potential to rise to the occasion and play competitive for the rest of the season?
Cheers & GO IRISH!
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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