Friday, October 04, 2019

25 Questions that Wake Up the Echoes

Did you know Notre Dame had a dog mascot before
the leprechaun?  He's an Irish Terrier (natch)
named Clashmore Mike.  More here.
 What is their body of work?

It's Notre Dame.  They are not what they were in the 1970s...which was often the best team, hands down, in college football.  But they are a great program.  Kelly has finally stopped the coaching merry-go-round, they were in the playoff last year, and they battled Georgia very tough.  This is among the top 10 programs in football.

How many seniors and juniors on the two-deep?

They have 28...which is an experienced team.

Who are their statistical leaders? (Top 20 Nationally)

Kyle Hamilton is #15 in interceptions
Drew White is #13 in TFL

What is their turnover ratio?

They are +9, which is ridiculous for four games.  They've recovered 8 fumbles.

Offense:

How is their QB play?

Ian Book is a strong QB.  He's 41st in the nation in passing efficiency.  He completes 64% and has an 8 over 2 ratio and 13.2 per completion. Like most QBs today, he can also take off and run.

What is their scoring and yards per play?

They are scoring 38 per game on 6.7 yards per play.  You will see below that they don't have anything shocking for any part of the game...but that +9 turnover plays into the 38 per game.

Can they run the ball?

Nationally, they have an average run game at 4.7 yards per carry.

Do they pass the ball?

As noted, they are in the top 25% of passing offenses.  They don't have any receivers with eye-popping numbers.

How is their run/pass balance?
Mike having none of it from
the Army Mule.


They run on 51% of their plays.

Do they convert on 3rd Down?

At 32% they are actually below average.

Do they score in the red zone?

Yes, they do.  In 14 trips, they have 12 TDs and no misses.  That's 6.4 per trip.

Do they protect the quarterback?

They are good.  They allow sacks on 4.7% of passing attempts.  (NCAA average is 6.4%).

Defense:
For a while, the dog and
the leprechaun co-existed

Topline: Scoring and yards per play.

They allow 18.5 and 5.1.  FBS average yards per play is 5.8.

Do they defend the run effectively?

They are allowing 4 yards per carry, which well above average, but not among the national leaders.

Can they be passed on?

They are #21 in pass defense.  They allow only 57% completions, 3 TDs and 5 INT and 11 yards per completion, all very good numbers.

Do they get off the field on 3rd down?


Yes they do, 31%.

Do they defend in the red zone?

They are average at 5.1 points per trip.

Do they pressure the QB?

Yes they do.  They have sacks on 8.6% of their opponent's passing attempts.

Special Teams:
Those are both ridiculous leprechauns.
But who's a good boy?

Punting?

They are 37th in net punting.  The distance is OK, but longest return against was only 9 yards.  No blocks, no touchbacks.

Punt Return?

Nothing much going on here to date.

Placekicking?

This year...they don't do it much.  He's 2 of 3 with a long of 36.  Missed at 47.  Those are also his career bests...he was a kickoff specialist prior to this season.

Kickoff?

Very, very good.  Teams start at the 22.  BG would be wise to fair catch every kickoff.

Kickoff Return?

They start at the 27, which is pretty good.  No touchdowns.

Miscellaneous: Overall atmospherics and intangibles.

Look, we know what's going on here, right?  We're facing the biggest point spread in our program's history.  ESPN says we have a .4% chance of winning.  If BG wins this game, it would be the biggest upset in our program's history and one of the biggest upsets in college football history.  For example, ESPN listed the top upsets over the last 25 years and there was only one bigger than this one would be, based on the point spread.  Remember, we just lost by 42 to Kent.

I'll be there.  First, it's Notre Dame.  Never been there, want to be there.

Second, we need to stick with our guys.  This is a mess created by people who are now elsewhere.  I hope and believe (in that order) that we're going to turn it around, but it's going to take time and Saturday is going to be the price we pay.  Ay Ziggy Zoomba.

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