Notre Dame Football: Report card for win over USC in Week 8

Defense

It was quite the evening for the Irish defense as they were tasked with containing one of the most talented wide receiver trios in the nation. Contain them they did, but at the expense of a few other areas. Most complaints could be addressed towards the play calling rather than the play itself, but there were a few areas that could use some cleaning up as well.

Here are the grades for the defense.

Defensive Line: A-

It’s hard to give the defensive line an accurate grade representative of their performance, mostly because they were asked to play pretty far outside of their comfort zone. In an effort to keep everything in front of the secondary, defensive coordinator Clark Lea deployed a defense that required the defensive line to operate out of a three-man front much more often than they typically would.

That required Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem to not only be effective in putting pressure on true freshman Kedon Slovis, but to also be prepared to set the edge when the Trojans did decide to run the ball. With a three-man front and a deep secondary, the defensive line’s performance against the run was of great importance.

Thankfully for the Irish, both Okwara and Kareem did a great job of keeping the running game in check while also applying pressure when Slovis dropped back. The interior defensive line also held up nicely with Kurt Hinish and Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa combining for one sack and two quarterback hurries.

While the defensive line didn’t blow up the box score, they managed to get the job done considering the task at hand. It takes a great deal of trust in the guys up front to run so many snaps out of this formation, and it was clear that Lea’s trust in his line paid off against a high-powered Trojan offense.

Linebackers: A

The defense did an excellent job in the first half, limiting the Trojans offense to a mere three points. USC made it a point to throw the ball early and often, much in line with what Lea expected and planned for on defense.

Pretty much playing an adaptation of prevent defense for a decent portion of the night, Notre Dame ran out five defensive backs and two linebackers for most of the evening. If the Trojans were going to beat the Irish that night, it wouldn’t be on the deep ball. As a result, Asmar Bilal and Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah were tasked with holding down the fort with Drew White mixing in on occasion.

Both Bilal and Owusu-Koramoah were effective in pass-coverage, with the latter having more of an up and down night. All things considered, the coverage from these two was solid outside of of a play here and there.

The second half stats aren’t necessarily an accurate representation of the defensive front’s performance on the night as Lea was content with letting USC pick up yards on the ground in hopes that damage through the air would be limited. Overall, the linebacker unit did all the Irish could ask for and more, especially on Bilal’s part. Kudos to him for rebounding from a tough start at Louisville.

Defensive Backs: B+

The entire defensive scheme detailed above was put in place to make life easier on the Irish secondary. With the versatile Shaun Crawford out for an extended period of time dating back to an injury suffered against Virginia, the Irish secondary would be forced to roll out a combination of TaRiq Bracy and Donte Vaughn against USC’s explosive receiving corps.

While there was a significant amount of help (usually three safeties) over the top for No. 1 corner Troy Pride Jr. and either Bracy or Vaughn, their performance was impressive nonetheless. Outside of a late fourth quarter drive in which the entire defense looked out of it, the cornerback unit was a pleasant surprise given the level of competition.

The same can be said for a safety group that remained fairly stout up until the fourth quarter. Alohi Gilman missed a few tackles when trying to make a big play, but was otherwise solid in coverage outside of Slovis’s 38-yard strike to Amon-Ra St. Brown late in the third quarter. Jalen Elliott stood his ground as well while freshman Kyle Hamilton’s impressive range served the Irish particularly well.

All things considered, the Irish gameplan was put in place to beat the Trojans, but wasn’t a good formula for a team looking to hang a 20 point differential over their opponent’s head. The secondary did its job, successfully executing a bend but don’t break style of play that may have been just a little frustrating for the fans watching from home.

Special Teams: A

It feels like quite a while since Notre Dame fans have had the opportunity to brag on their special teams, but today is the day. No, Jay Bramblett’s punts weren’t anything to write home about and yes, Michael Young just might have seen a ghost when he fumbled in the open field on what could’ve been a kick return touchdown, but boy did kicker Jonathan Doerer look impressive.

After struggling greatly last season and carrying some of those issues over to the 2019 season, Doerer had the game of his life Saturday, going 3/3 on field goals while converting all three extra point tries. Doerer’s 52-yard make early in the third quarter marked a career long for the junior.

While it may not have seemed so at the time, Doerer’s 52-yard kick that put the Irish up 20-3 would end up being the difference in a 30-27 victory. Saturday’s performance should serve as a source of confidence for both Doerer himself and Irish fans alike, a big reason why the special teams unit earns an A grade for the first time in a while.