Game Observations - Defense: Notre Dame Beats South Carolina 45-38

Analysis of the Notre Dame defense from its 45-38 Gator Bowl win over South Carolina

Noter Dame earned a big Gator Bowl win with a 45-38 win over South Carolina. The Irish were out-played early, battled back and thoroughly outplayed the Gamecocks in the second half.

Defensively the Irish struggled in the first half, giving up 154 yards in the first half alone, and then a total of 252 in the first half. The Notre Dame defense dominated in the second half, holding South Carolina to just 100 yards of total offense in the final two quarters.

FIRST HALF

*** Many of the issues that plagued Notre Dame all season were evident again in the first half against South Carolina. The Irish, for much of the season, have struggled to stop pass-oriented teams from running the football. South Carolina didn't tun it a ton, but when they did they had enough success to keep the Irish off balance.

*** Linebacker player has been an issue all season and that also continued in this game. Missed tackles, bad penalties, being out of position, getting no depth over the middle in the pass game and turning a tight end loose on a play-action pass from the wildcat alignment were the major first half mistakes by the Irish. We also saw JD Bertrand in a Cover 2 look work out to the No. 3 receiver and stop despite not getting threatened in his zone. A well-coached LB would have ridden No. 3 vertically. He didn't and it allowed an easy seam completion in front of the safety for a third-down conversion. These types of mistakes by the linebackers were constant in the first half.

*** Notre Dame's inability to fix its linebacker issues after a month off is very troubling. Not just for the second half of this game, but also for next season. This must be addressed by head coach Marcus Freeman during the offseason.

*** The linebackers and safeties both had issues getting out to the flats, which allowed South Carolina to get some each check down completions, negating good pressure at times, and in the second quarter negating good downfield coverage.

*** I'll need to watch film to see the specifics, but the defensive line as a whole got a good push against the run. Many of the mistakes that allowed good runs were the linebackers not getting into gaps and giving up too much ground. The front also started getting more consistent pressure on the quarterback in the second quarter, something that will need to continue in the second half.

*** Outside of the first touchdown, which was a poor angle by DJ Brown, the Irish handled the quick perimeter screens.

*** Safety Xavier Watts got beat on a 2nd-down slant on the first series, but later he had a crucial pass break up in the end zone. Watts had excellent underneath coverage on a seam route and stayed between the wideout and the quarterback the entire time.

*** A positive from the defense was how well it played the trick plays from South Carolina for much of the half (on defense, special teams is another story).

SECOND HALF

*** Second half adjustments have been an issue for Al Golden all season, but in this game he and the defensive staff found answers at halftime. Notre Dame's defense was more aggressive up front and it appeared they simplified things a bit. We didn't see quite as much movement before the snap from the defense and they got a better handle on South Carolina's tempo.

*** The Irish defensive line - led by Jordan Botelho - really took charge in the second half of the game. Notre Dame got more consistent pressure on the South Carolina quarterback in the second half, which kept Rattler from being as comfortable and accurate as he was in the first half. Notre Dame's front also got a good push against the South Carolina ground attack, which found very little running room in the final two quarters.

*** Cornerback Clarence Lewis got caught looking back to the football instead of playing the receiver on the long touchdown pass he allowed in the third quarter. The wideout had a step on him, so Lewis should have played through the receiver instead of looking back to find the ball. If he does that he has a chance to push the receiver out of bounds even if he makes the catch.

*** Safety Xavier Watts continued to be all over the field in the second half. The perimeter of the Irish defense did a great job against the quick perimeter runs and throws. South Carolina loves to attack with the perimeter screen game, but outside of the first half touchdown which was discussed above their ability to blow up the lead blocker and tackle in space was a key component to the second half success in this contest.

*** Notre Dame's tackling in the second half of the game was much, much better. The defense, as a whole, played a lot faster in the second half of the game. When the offense put it in some bad spots the offense still stepped up and made plays.

*** Notre Dame had some coverage mistakes in the first half as well, especially at linebacker, but in the second half the coverage rolls were mostly clean and the windows were much tighter.

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