Notre Dame Football: Book nearly perfect in 2018 starting debut

2. The Irish special teams unit has made a turnaround

It was no secret early in the season that special teams coordinator Brian Polian’s unit was not living up to expectations. While special teams were certainly strong in some aspects throughout the 2017 season, much thanks to Justin Yoon and Tyler Newsome, it was fairly benign in areas such as the kick and punt return game.

However, Notre Dame’s Week 1 matchup against Michigan brought out an abysmal performance from the special teams unit. Kickoff specialist Jonathan Doerer struggled mightily, leaving some kicks short while sending another out of bounds. Additionally, Yoon missed a 43-yard field goal attempt and Finke nearly fumbled in a game where poor special teams play was contagious.

Notre Dame also uncharacteristically let up a kickoff return for a touchdown against Michigan, so there were hopes that the Irish got everything out of their system heading into their Week 2 matchup with Ball State. Some progress was made, but it wasn’t until this week that the Irish special team unit’s confidence was finally put on display.

Doerer has certainly improved, but he was brought here to drive kicks through the endzone, something he struggled with even today. But most importantly, the Irish were able to limit the dangerous Greg Dortch on punt and kickoff returns. Finke also contributed, putting together one of the nicest returns of his career in a game that should be encouraging for Polian and his unit.