A defensive showcase
Your Notre Dame Fighting Irish love overcoming slow starts, and yesterday’s game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets was no exception. After a three-and-out, a Riley Leonard interception, and a Tech touchdown, the Irish got into gear and unleashed three quarters of dominant football in Atlanta. While the Irish offense was smooth and efficient for much of this this game it was the defense that set the tone and established Notre Dame’s dominance, and we’re going to highlight three ways they did that here.
Drayk Bowen, Menace to Society
#34 has been coming on for the Irish in the last few weeks as his hustle and hard hitting have made him impossible to keep off the field, and on Saturday he was given free rein to torment ball carriers in white all over the field. Bowen led the Irish in tackles with nine, and it seemed like every single one was meant to punish his opponent for having the temerity to take the ball. Effective against both the run and the pass, Bowen recorded a PBU, multiple pressures on Zack Pyron and a key tackle to deny Eric Singleton a first down, forcing a punt with the game still tied 7-7.
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From that point on, Bowen set a nasty physical tone that was picked up by the rest of the Irish defense (frequently noted by ESPN’s broadcast crew as well). Combining the size and downhill hitting of an old-school middle linebacker with the athleticism expected at the position in the modern era, Bowen brings a unique skillset to the Irish linebacking corps. If he can continue to fly around and hit the way he did Saturday, he may well become the alpha amid Notre Dame’s strongest position group.
Moore Showes His Mettle
Forced to step into possibly the biggest set of shoes on Notre Dame’s football team, true Freshman Leonard Moore performed admirably at corner on Saturday. Brent Key and co. almost certainly saw Moore as a matchup they could exploit and he denied them all afternoon, recording two pass breakups on third down among overall three coverage wins. Moore also was not afraid to get contact, recording seven tackles including a TFL.
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Moore’s profiency on the edge also helped keep the Yellow Jackets from being able to rely on their receivers on third down, resulting in 0 third-and-long conversions on the day and helping the Irish defense stay off the field. Moore may not be able to replace Benjamin Morrison, but he is playing at a high enough level that the rest of Notre Dame’s talented pass defense can continue to do its thing without having to compensate for him.
Very Dangerous Safeties
In part because of how effective Moore was in coverage, Notre Dame’s safeties were free to do what they do best – prowl around the secondary looking for opportunities to wreak havoc. The result? A pair of back-breaking second-half interceptions by Xavier Watts and Adon Shuler, the latter of which Shuler took to the house to put a bow on the entire game. Always near the ball and always ready to create havoc, Notre Dame’s back-end pairing haunted Georgia Tech’s play-callers like ghosts throughout the game.
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The physicality up front, the solid coverage on the perimeter, and game-wrecking threats in the middle; put it all together and you have a Notre Dame defense that plays with a nasty attitude and makes its opponents earn every yard. Even with how inconsistent things have been on the offensive side of the ball at times, this should give Irish fans a lot of confidence as they move into the home stretch of their schedule.