Notre Dame-North Carolina recap: Progress Made
Given the tumultuous nature of what early September has been for the 2022 Notre Dame football squad, a frustratingly low hurdle to clear was the task of the day in Chapel Hill Saturday afternoon.
Get better.
The Irish did just that in their 45-32 win over the previously undefeated Tar Heels. No, it wasn’t perfect, there is still plenty to improve on, but the key objective was met. Notre Dame looked much more like what most envisioned them looking like all year in this affair, with both sides of the ball dominating the day and dictating most of the play. This was what the Irish faithful have been begging to see and both my hairline and blood pressure appreciated this newfound level of Irish competency. Notre Dame can now enter the bye with some confidence and building blocks for success the rest of the year to build from.
The most notable jump in quality of play came from the offensive side of the ball, and it was most welcomed. I love the Irish’s balanced attack and how the offensive line dominated the day, featuring 287 yards on the ground and 289 through the air. While undoubtedly short on proven skill talent, Notre Dame did a much better job utilizing the playmakers they do have this week. Getting Estime, Tyree and Diggs all involved in the run-and-pass game is going to have to be a staple of this offense the rest of the year. Their differing skill sets and ability to catch and run keep defenses honest, combine that with Mayer’s soon-to-be NFL consistency and toughness, and you have Notre Dame’s best chance at a successful offense this year working around inexperience at QB and inexplicably low depth and WR output. I’m thrilled for Pyne, he did what he needed to, didn’t turn the ball over and led the Irish to victory. That is all anyone can ask of the Irish’s undersized and quite inexperienced backup signal caller.
NEXT: DEFENSIVE OBERSERVATIONS
Defensively, it was nice to see Notre Dame finally cause a turnover, short fields and extra possessions will be Pyne and the offenses’ best friend the rest of the year. North Carolina was only able to muster 67 rushing yards on the day averaging a meager 2.4 yards per carrying. We asked for improved play from the LB core and we got it with the 2 leading tacklers of the day coming from this group, Kiser with 9 and Liafau with 6. Solid progress from this group indeed. While the linebackers seem to have taken a step forward, it’d be fair to say the secondary took a bit of a step back allowing some head-scratching pass successes due to busted coverages, bad communication, lack of execution or all of the above. There are certainly some needed improvements defensively, but most including myself believe that this unit is much closer to being nationally competitive than the offense is and with some small tweaks in the bye we can shore things up on the back end.
Overall, this was the kind of output and result Notre Dame needed entering their bye. Confidence matters and is real in college football, given an 0-2 start, Notre Dame has about as much confidence as possible entering the bye, and that is quite encouraging as there is much work to do before Notre Dame’s next high-profile affair vs BYU in fabulous Las Vegas.
To see my full expanded video breakdown of the game feel free to visit Always Irish on YouTube and on Twitter @alwaysirishINC.
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