While Notre Dame football suffered its first loss of the season, the Irish left with some positives. Let’s completely overreact.
If you’re a Notre Dame fan, you have to come away from the Georgia loss with a clear mind. The Irish were more competitive than they were a year ago in the College Football Playoff against Clemson.
But there were still reasons to overreact in a negative way as fans were worried that the Irish may never win a big game on the road. They’ll get more chances this season, but there are still questions to be answered.
It’s time to overreact.
3. It’s time to ditch the run game
What is going on with Notre Dame’s run game? Through three games, the Irish are averaging 144 yards per game on the ground and the leading rusher is Tony Jones Jr. with 30 carries for 148 yards and a score. He’s averaging just 4.9 yards per carry which is unlike the recent Brian Kelly-coached offenses.
Notre Dame is no stranger to 1,000-yard backs but this season has a different feel to it. The Irish put up just 46 yards on 14 carries against the Bulldogs as the only two touchdowns came through the air.
Maybe it’s time to just ditch the run and go pass-heavy, right? Wrong. Georgia has one of the best run defenses in the country and Kelly noticed early on that it wasn’t working. He played the strengths of his team, at least against Georgia, and still almost came away with a road win.
The Irish will figure out the run game soon enough, but no, they shouldn’t ditch it. They have too much talent in the backfield.