Grades: Notre Dame Offense, Wide Receivers and Tight Ends

Grades and analysis for the Notre Dame offense, wide receivers and tight ends from the victory over Bowling Green

Matt Cashore, USA TODAY Sports

OFFENSE

The numbers from the game were outstanding. Notre Dame scored over 50 points for the ninth time during Brian Kelly’s tenure in South Bend, and the 9.39 yards per game was the best mark of Kelly’s tenure.

Offensive coordinator Chip Long had his unit pushing the tempo early in the game, and after opening with a three-and-out the offense went to the ground to get things going. Much of the game was built around getting the pass game going and attacking down the field - areas where Notre Dame needs continued work - but Long used the run game to keep Bowling Green on its heels.

The Irish offense churned out 233 rushing yards and 340 passing yards, the fourth time it has happened since Long arrived (31 games). Interestingly, from 2010 to 2016 the Irish topped those numbers four times in the same game, but that was over a 90-game stretch.

Notre Dame’s ground game was diverse, finding success with the inside zone run, its G scheme, its counter and its outside zone concepts. The pass game attacked with pure drops and RPO’s, but Long also effectively moved the pocket and got the action passes going.

Long attacked Bowling Green with the pass on all three levels, and his quarterback executed those calls at a higher level than we’ve seen all season.

This was my favorite call of the game. Long used his wide receivers to run the Bowling Green defense off, which allowed him to use the jet action and the wheel route to isolate the lone underneath defender. The defender took the jet, which opened up Brock Wright on the wheel route.

There were plenty of big plays like this in the game, but unlike the New Mexico game, the Irish offense was explosive and efficient against Bowling Green.

Offense Grade: A

WIDE RECEIVERS

#83 Chase Claypool (24 snaps)

Stats: 3 catches, 61 yards, 2 TD’s

Claypool was clearly not fully healthy after injuring his anke against Virginia, but he was still productive and effective in the game. At times he was a bit too aggressive in the run game and allowed a defender to get to his outside, but his effort and overall production was there.

In the pass game, Claypool got open twice on crossing routes where he showed good speed across the field. They were two of several plays in which an Irish receiver was able to pick up yards after the catch.

This was Claypool’s big play of the game, and he made a strong catch on a ball that was thrown slightly short. While he did a good job of getting over the top against the Bowling Green defender, against better corners this route won’t be as effective. I still want to see Claypool be sharper at the top of his routes. You can see it in this clip, he runs vertical and then just goes to the post without any kind of move to allow himself to get an extra step or two of separation. Claypool Grade: B

#88 Javon McKinley (31 snaps)

Stats: 5 catches, 104 yards, 1 TD

McKinley’s resurgence continued on Saturday, with the senior hauling in career bests with five catches for 104 yards. It’s not just the production that is so impressive about what McKinley showed on Saturday, it’s the confidence, effort and focus he showed. McKinley made two strong back shoulder grabs, including his first catch that moved the chains on third-and-1.

His touchdown came on a broken play where McKinley was initially covered up by an end that dropped underneath his route, but when he saw Book still had the ball he broke free to the outside, slipped past the defense and showed good field awareness to get his feet down in bounds.

McKinley showed the ability to make one-on-one plays down the field and also the ability to use his size to pick up yards after contact, which you see in this clip. The senior also used his size to effectively handle the run game.

My one critique of his game is the same as it was in past games, he must do a better job with his release against tight coverage. It worked against Bowling Green but it’s part of the reason we haven’t seen him be as effective against the better teams on the schedule. If he can clean that up we’ll start to see him put up numbers against everyone. McKinley Grade: A

#10 Chris Finke (24 snaps)

Stats: 1 catch, 24 yards

Finke only had one catch, but there were positive steps for him in this game as well. His one catch was a tight Cover 2 hole throw, and what I liked about the play is that he caught the ball away from his body. Finke battled in the run game better than he has, and you’ll see in the clip below of Cole Kmet that he had a good block on the tight end screen that helped spring Kmet free for a third-and-4 conversion.

There wasn’t much separation for Finke on vertical routes in the game, which is something that drags his grade down a bit. He should have had a long third-down conversion in the second quarter but Book didn’t see him coming open against the zone. Grade: B-

#87 Michael Young (15 snaps)

Stats: 1 catch, -2 yards

Young only had one catch for minus two yards and wasn’t a factor beyond that. Right now the offense isn’t doing anything to get him involved. Young was solid in the run game, but he’s still shaking off the rust a bit. Moving forward it would be good for Long to find ways to get Young more involved in the game, which will help the offense have another speed weapon to counter the size of Claypool and Kmet. Grade: C+

#25 Braden Lenzy (29 snaps)

Stats: 1 catch, 5 yards / 1 rush 3 yards

Notre Dame did try to get Lenzy the ball, but the Irish were out-numbered outside on his jet sweep that went for three yards in the first quarter. While he didn’t make an impact with the ball, Lenzy did show me something in this game that should earn him more playing time, and that’s his willingness and effectiveness as a blocker.

The speed and playmaking are there, but being an all-around player is something Lenzy had to show. He competed in the run game and had two really nice downfield blocks in the game. He’s a breakout waiting to happen. Grade: B

TIGHT ENDS

There has never been a question about the talent at the tight end position, and at different times we’ve seen each player make his presence felt. Against Bowling Green the unit took the game over. Irish tight ends caught the first two touchdowns and combined for seven catches, 109 yards and two touchdowns.

What was impressive was that none of the tight ends dominated in the game, but as a unit the group thrived in all parts of the game.

#84 Cole Kmet (30 snaps)

Stats: 2 catches, 31 yards, 1 TD

Kmet’s performance didn’t start off well, with the junior missing a block on the second play of the game that resulted in a two-yard loss on a screen pass. He was also knocked back on an early block, but on that snap Kmet kept working his feet, stayed engaged and ultimately got the job done.

After that his blocking was solid throughout the game. Kmet didn’t dominate in the run game, but he played with good angles, stayed engaged and got the job done. He was really good in pass protection in this game.

In the pass game, Kmet wasn’t targeted as much as he had been in the previous two games, which allowed others to make an impact in the game. Part of that was Bowling Green showing a lot of attention to Kmet when he released vertically. That became even more of a focus for the Falcons after Kmet hauled in a 21-yard touchdown over the middle in the first quarter.

This is the under screen to the tight end that Notre Dame struggled with so much in 2017 and 2018. Seeing it work for a third-and-4 conversion was great to see. Kmet’s ability to make the catch and quickly get up field was a key part of the success. Kmet Grade: B

#24 Tommy Tremble (23 snaps)

Stats: 4 catches, 38 yards, 1 TD

With the Falcons focused on keeping Kmet in check they left themselves exposed to Tremble, who got the Irish on the board with a backside seam touchdown. It was obvious early on that Long wanted to get Tremble going, and the sophomore responded with a strong performance. Tremble hauled in four passes for 38 yards and thrived in the run game.

Tremble has to do a better job making the proper run reads on the backside of inside zone runs, which was an issue for him on Saturday. On one particular snap he actually clogged up the cut back lane.

He was much better on the perimeter, where Tremble used his size advantage to get a strong push on downfield blocks. Tremble Grade: B

#85 George Takacs (10 snaps)

Takacs still needs to get stronger and clean up his technique, but I liked his competitiveness in the game on Saturday. 

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