The data story coming out of another “interesting” victory for Notre Dame football.
Notre Dame football pulled out a 28-3 win over Miami (OH) in Week 4. It is the team’s 3rd win of the 2024 season and they are now 3-1 overall and 1-1 at home.
The game played out in another weird way so let’s just get straight to the data.
Scoring Summary
It was a pretty disappointing offensive day for both teams. Neither Notre Dame or Miami (OH) was able to put up points in the 1st quarter. The Irish found something resembling an offensive groove in the 2nd quarter and managed to tally up 14 points. The RedHawks also found some success in the 2nd and notched a successful field goal but that would be all they could really string together for the day. Notre Dame eked out two more touchdowns in the second half to put some additional distance between themselves and Miami (OH) but it wasn’t pretty.
Scoring Details
The Irish’s strategy of running the ball is what won the game. Again. It’s honestly not the worst strategy given the personnel the program has to work with this season but the uncoordinated nature of the rushing strategy is what I think is the most frustrating. It’s successful but so much of it seems by accident.
They recorded 3 touchdowns on the ground and supplemented that with one passing touchdown, Riley Leonard’s first of the season.
Drive Summary
The Week 4 drive summary presents a slightly rosier picture of the Irish’s offense. Notre Dame capped off its long drives with touchdowns and were generally successful but man it was frustrating to watch at times.
Offensive Benchmarks
The stats came back down to earth this week after the Purdue blowout. Notre Dame had 428 yards of total offense against Miami (OH) and that is right around the 2023 average per game.
The passing stats still are what they are.
Rushing production dropped off slightly from Week 3 but with 270 yards on the ground, it’s delivering in a way that is required to offset the passing game’s woes.
Receiving Details
Beaux Collins once again led the Irish’s receiving group. He had four receptions for a total of 60 yards and was responsible for the team’s only touchdown through the air. The ball got spread around between the team’s other wide receivers, tight ends and running backs but there wasn’t a real standout in terms of production.
Rushing Details
Riley Leonard once again led the team’s rushing group. He recorded twelve carries for a total of 143 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Jeremiyah Love had eleven carries for a total of 60 rushing yards and one touchdown. Jadarian Price, Devyn Ford and Aneyas Williams all made rushing contributions but I imagine that their quant impact will continue to be limited given how the workload is being distributed.
Defensive Details
I’ll write it again: I want so much more for the defense.
The offense chipped in a little more this game and the time of possession for Miami (OH) was around 29 minutes, compared with 30 minutes for Notre Dame. If you scroll up, the drive summary is probably the best demonstration of the Irish’s defensive success in Week 4.
Senior linebacker Jack Kiser and freshman defensive lineman Boubacar Traore led the team in total tackles, with five apiece. Traore tallied up four solo tackles while senior safeties Xavier Watts and Rod Heard II each had three solo tackles.
The defense had five total sacks against Miami (OH) and Boubacar Traore was responsible for two of them. The unit recorded five tackles for loss and Traore was also responsible for three. Miami (OH) utilized the rushing attack more than they had in the season’s 1st two games but they prioritized passing the ball in a way that ensured the Irish secondary stayed busy. They rose to the occasion and Notre Dame’s defense tallied up eight pass deflections along with two interceptions. The pass deflections were spread across six players but Xavier Watts and Adon Shuler finished the day with two apiece. Christian Gray and Junior Tuihalamaka pulled in the two interceptions. I get a lot of joy watching the Irish secondary play but the anxiety of having to watch them defend the pass at such an high rate was terrible for my blood pressure.
Final Thoughts
Notre Dame is finding ways to win games in 2024. It looks like we’re going to be dealing with an offensive test kitchen (and apparently the same is true for special teams) each week to keep the streak rolling, though.
But it’s only Week 4 and I imagine that unfortunate characteristic of this year’s team may change. It keeps me on my toes from an analytics perspective but it’s just not ideal for the big picture. The Irish will be facing off against Louisville next week and then catch their first bye before the Stanford matchup.
Let’s hope for the best.
Cheers and Go Irish!!