Notre Dame Football: Position report card for Irish in week 3

The receiving corps receives the worst grade this week. There was absolutely no separation and their best of receivers couldn’t make the big catches. Notre Dame’s offense was completely one-dimensional and struggled greatly when it came to completing passes.

The Irish thought they had found their number one target last year in wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown, but he has faded against tough competition in the last couple of weeks. He did just fine against Temple (as did almost the entire team) but struggled greatly against Georgia, catching only two passes for 16 yards.

St. Brown had 961 yards and nine touchdowns in what was seen as a fluke year for the offense, yet finds himself struggling now despite the solid start to his college career. One would think that the boost in the run game brought about by Wimbush’s rushing threat would keep defenders honest, in turn giving St. Brown plenty of opportunities to make big plays. However, that is not how this year has gone.

Now, Wimbush certainly does have a difficulty in getting the ball to his receivers on an accurate and consistent basis, but if St. Brown is going to be the number one receiver on this team he is going to have to make those big plays sooner than later.

Chase Claypool, who started alongside St. Brown in Saturday’s contest, was a non-factor as he recorded only two catches for eight yards. Keep in mind that these poor receiving stats were recorded in a game that saw the Irish put up 49 points.

Being utterly one-dimensional may work against Boston College, but it didn’t work against Georgia and it won’t work against some of the tougher teams on Notre Dame’s schedule this year. This is an urgent matter for the Irish and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.