The Notre Dame trip to Clemson ended up as a toss-up in the final numbers - SP+ gave the Irish a 43% expected win probability and an adjusted margin of -1.5 points. ND outgained the Tigers by nearly a yard per play, created more scoring chances, and were +1.22 in expected turnovers (only to finish [...]
The Irish defense dominated, special teams fueled an early lead and some late style points, and the Notre Dame offense righted the ship after a shaky start to demolish Pitt. For a second straight game Marcus Freeman's squad found some easy points outside the core phases of the game with 5 takeaways and special teams [...]
Using counting stats, it's tempting to construct the narrative that Notre Dame's massive win over USC was fluky. A 5-0 turnover margin, a special teams touchdown, more total yards for the Trojans and just 255 total yards for the Irish? But as we dive into the numbers, it's clear that Marcus Freeman's team - the [...]
Notre Dame's continued offensive struggles created a tight game for most of the visit to Louisville, but as the defense wore down and the Irish offense failed to created much efficiency or explosiveness the Cardinals pulled away late in the second half. The ND offense had an extremely poor performance - just 4.2 yards per [...]
The numbers aren't going to make you feel any better, or dissuade your from the idea Notre Dame outplayed Ohio State on a down-to-down basis and let them off the hook. The Irish firmly won the efficiency battle, and despite the 61-yard TreVeyon Henderson touchdown were dead-even in stats the account for explosiveness like yards [...]
Notre Dame routed Central Michigan after 60 minutes, dominating every meaningful category and flashing more of the deep throws that fans have been dying for since Sam Hartman arrived on campus. Somehow it was still easily Notre Dame's worst performance against the soft early G5s on the schedule - which speaks to just how dominant [...]
The combination of stormy weather plus an aggressive NC State defense created Notre Dame's first significant adversity of 2023, but a a strong defensive performance and explosive plays from the offense allowed the Irish to finally pull away in the 4th quarter. The Wolfpack's pressure forced Sam Hartman and the Irish offense into early punts [...]
Notre Dame dominated Tennessee State as expected, with a a huge second quarter propelling Notre Dame to a game that reached garbage time by halftime. The Irish continued the early trend started in Dublin - crisp execution, nothing too flashy, but methodical drives for touchdowns on offense and clamping down defensively at the first signs [...]
Professional. Efficient. Clean. The opening test of the season wasn't an especially tough one, but Notre Dame still studied and passed with flying colors in a dominant win over Navy in Dublin. Sam Hartman led an near-perfect offensive attack that operated with extreme efficiency and distributed touches fairly evenly among the veteran and new faces [...]
As we pass the hours and minutes until the 2023 season kicks off, it's time for a spin through the Notre Dame schedule of opponents for the upcoming year. Which opponents inspire the most fear for a loss this fall, what are the biggest question marks or swing factors, and what rationale has a chance [...]
The offseason deep dives continue with the Irish passing offense, a unit that also struggled with consistency with Drew Pyne starting ten games. The passing game sometimes feasted on overmatched defenses (UNC, BYU, USC), but more commonly struggled with defenses whether opponents were similarly talented or overmatched. Defensive coordinators often dared Pyne and the Irish [...]
The annual offseason breakdowns + previews return! As in past summers, I’ll be breaking down the performance of each unit – passing and rushing offense and defense – with a look ahead to 2023 and what this means for the Irish. First up is the Notre Dame run game, a unit that showed dominant potential [...]
Notre Dame demolished Boston College on a snowy senior day, notching a shutout in the final home game for the second straight year. My goal with every recap is to use advanced stats to shine some light on some less obvious results from each game that maybe fans didn't pick up watching. This is one of [...]
Notre Dame checked off almost every item on the Navy wish list in the first half. Use this opportunity for Drew Pyne and the passing game to get in rhythm? How about five touchdowns and 14.6 yards per dropback in the first 30 minutes! Converting passing downs? The Irish went 7 of 10, with wide [...]
The Irish physically dominated a talented Clemson team with playoff aspirations, running at will and shutting down the Tiger offense. There's already been some efforts to discount the resounding win - as if Clemson was never a real contender, or Notre Dame might not have dominated without a special teams and defensive score. But Dabo [...]
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