Notre Dame eked out a victory for the second week during a row with a 32-29 convert Toledo within the 2021 home-opener. However, the Irish struggled to run the ball again and gave up big plays that almost allowed a lesser talented team to tug off the upset. fortnight in, Irish are still checking out answers and are beginning to run out of your time before the schedule toughen up. When the Notre Dame offensive line struggled last week against Florida State, I attempted to not overreact since it had been the primary game with four new starters for Irish. But, unfortunately, the offensive line struggled, even more, today against Toledo, a MAC opponent.
Notre Dame gave up six sacks to Toledo and couldn’t get the bottom game going until they inserted freshman Tyler Buchner in at quarterback – more on him later. After the primary drive of the sport, Coan couldn’t get comfortable within the pocket because he was under siege. no matter what percentage of new starters there are or injuries, it’s never getting to be okay to be under siege against a MAC opponent.
The injuries compounded with what Brian Kelly mentioned as a sprained ankle. Sophomore Tosh Baker came during and struggled early but did eventually settle in a little. Still, it had been a touch of a rough debut for him. 5th year senior Josh Lugg didn’t fare an entire lot better on the proper side. Where Notre Dame goes from here, I don’t know. Kelly was asked about moving Jarrett Patterson to tackle following all of the injuries, but he quickly dismissed it. Week one struggles on the road against an ACC opponent with some talent on its defensive position are understandable. Week two struggles, at home, to a MAC opponent? Not such a lot .
With the Notre Dame offense struggling within the half, Brian Kelly inserted true freshman Tyler Buchner for a spark. He provided it. He led Irish on a 96-yard touchdown drive, thanks largely to his legs and therefore the threat of the run. With the offensive line struggling, inserting a mobile quarterback made a difference. it had been only one drive, though, and Buchner didn’t revisit the sector until the fourth quarter. every week after lighting up the Florida State defense and earning player of the week honors, Jack Coan struggled. He never got comfortable within the pocket, and as a result, he missed numerous opportunities and made some costly mistakes. His first-quarter fumble resulted from a breakdown in protection, but his pick-6 at the top of the primary half was all on him.
For all of Coan’s struggles, he came through within the clutch when it mattered most. A play after dislocating his finger and having it popped back in situ, he delivered the game-winning touchdown. Where Notre Dame goes from here? I even have no idea. Buchner clearly had a reduced package and provided a spark, but can the offense thrive with Buchner if a defense has time to organize for him? I don’t know. Can Coan survive behind the offensive line because it is now? I don’t know that either. Kelly and Tommy Rees have some big decisions to form at quarterback now. I will be able to be surprised if Coan doesn’t get a minimum of another chance against Purdue next weekend, but Coan could have a brief leash after seeing what Buchner could increase the combination.
The Notre Dame defense gave up a couple of players early, except for the foremost part, it had played pretty much for the primary three quarters. Toledo only scored nine points on Irish defense, with the opposite seven coming off of the pick-6 from Coan. on the other hand, the 4th quarter happened, and therefore the Irish allowed Toledo to attain 10 points, including a go-ahead touchdown within the final three minutes.
A week after abandoning 18 points to Florida State, letting up 10 to Toledo, and wanting to be bailed out by the offense, wasn’t ideal. There are still clearly some growing pains with the defense, and for the maximum amount, as Brian Kelly wants to mention it’s simply because Irish are learning to play a special sort of defense, there’s more thereto than that.
Marcus Freeman tried to use his “dollar package” featuring the three-man front again in the week, and again it wasn’t effective. With the injuries at linebacker and a few questions within the secondary, the strength of this defense remains the road. Notre Dame and Freeman will need to rest on that strength more. JD Bertrand led Notre Dame in tackles with 11, including three for loss and a sack. He was a menace for Toledo all game culminating with the fumble recovery on Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa’s game-sealing strip-sack.
The Notre Dame linebacking corps has been ravaged by injuries over the primary fortnight and has not had the assembly it expected from another starter, but Bertrand had an excellent afternoon. We knew that Notre Dame would hand over more big plays in Marcus Freeman’s offense given its aggressive nature versus Clark Lea’s bend, don’t break approach. But, two games in, we are seeing that come to fruition quite we imagined.
Again, they’re still learning and mastering Freeman’s defense, but the sheer volume of massive plays allowed is concerning. far better offenses are arising on the schedule, including next weekend. We became won’t to Clark Lea’s defenses keeping points down, therefore the shift is jarring. The tradeoff is meant to be more negative plays, and while Notre Dame did register 5.0 sacks, they forced only one turnover. Granted, one turnover was stolen, and Cam Hart did have an INT hit him within the hands only to fall to the bottom, but only one turnover was registered. Hopefully, we’re witnessing the reverse of Brian Vangorder, who started off with some stifling defensive performances only to be exposed halfway through the season. If the large plays continue at the present rate, though, there’ll be more reason to worry.
