Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from rout of New Mexico in Week 3

2. The Notre Dame defensive backfield played big

Starting the game with Sheriron Jones under center, New Mexico cycled through both of their quarterbacks as they struggled to find an effective passing game on their visit to Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish secondary made life difficult all day for Jones and backup Tevaka Tuioti as the Lobos were rendered ineffective through the air.

Jones was yanked from the game after the first drive of the third quarter after going 4-of-15 for only 19 yards. In the end, Jones finished with nearly as many interceptions — three — as he did completions to his own teammates. His first pick resulted in a 34-yard Kyle Hamilton touchdown return in the other direction, and Jalen Elliott and Shaun Crawford also got in on the turnover action.

Tuioti was able to get into a little better rhythm against the Notre Dame defense, but it was mostly for nought. Though he finished with 132 yards on 6-of-13 passing, Tuioti floated several balls over his receivers’ heads on critical downs and was unable to make a substantive difference toward flipping New Mexico’s fortunes.

Give major credit to the Fighting Irish defensive backfield for neutering the New Mexico passing game. After chasing Jones from the contest, there was little that Tuioti could do to turn things around against a secondary already fired up for a stunning first-half performance.