Notre Dame Football: 5 overreactions to Georgia loss

2. The rushing game won’t hold up

After a week one game that saw three Irish players rush for over 100 yards (Josh Adams, Dexter Williams, Wimbush), the Irish witnessed a much less exciting outing against a stout Georgia front seven. To put it in perspective, the entire Irish team had far less than 100 yards combined in last night’s loss.

Adams, Notre Dame’s most polished rusher, managed only 53 yards on 19 carries. What makes this rushing performance even more astounding was the fact that Notre Dame’s second leading rusher was their backup quarterback Ian Book. Book managed two yards on a scramble after coming in for relief of Wimbush after a contact lens malfunction.

As mentioned before, the overall poor offensive outing came full circle due to a phenomenal defensive showcase from the Bulldogs. The Irish did not have much of a passing threat and Georgia knew it. They stacked the box, brought pressure on every play, and it worked to perfection.

In turn, Adams could not get much going, leaving Wimbush to make the big plays in only his second game as a starter. When Wimbush failed to make those plays, Georgia knew they could continue to focus on stopping Adams. It seems simple, and that’s because it is.

But one poor game against one of the nation’s stronger defenses doesn’t spell doom for the Irish rushing attack. In fact, it should only prepare them for what is to come when the Irish take the fight to more capable teams. There will need to be more creativity from offensive coordinator Chip Long as the majority of Notre Dame’s basic options were snuffed out easily by Georgia.

Look for Long to do just that in the coming weeks before the rubber really meets the road against USC.