Notre Dame Football: Post Game Thoughts After A 22-17 Win Over Vanderbilt

Post Game Thoughts Notre Dame Fighting Irish 22 - Vanderbilt Commodores 17

Again, a bit of a disappointing game by the Irish. A key theme that has shown up in every game so far is our the offenses’ inability to finish in the second half. I haven’t crunched the numbers, but at first glance it seems that we get content and play it totally safe. This second half lack luster play forces the defense into significantly more snaps as momentum shifts. This type of play is killing their ability to pull away, particularly against teams they are clearly more talented than.

On a positive note, it is clear that Tony Jones Jr. has started to find his stride both as an every down back and a receiver out of the backfield. It was great to see him get over the century mark for the first time in his career. This was in part due to his ability to get through the holes quickly, but also due to an improved game overall effort by the offensive line. They looked awful last week, but opened up holes and gave up 0 sacks on the day.

Personal observation: It looks like Brandon Wimbush is a bit banged up. He was avoiding contact at all costs and was hesitant when he got in the open field. This could explain last week’s game plan as well as Ian Book getting snaps more consistently through the game. If this is the case, I can finally start seeing the arguments for Book to start getting more reps.

Last note-Julian Love stepped up big this week and has shown why he is one of the top cornerbacks in all of College Football. He had 4 breakups this week and made a huge play to get on the ball after Alohi Gilman stripped the Vandy WR at the goal line. He passed Harrison Smith and now has to second most pass breakups in Notre Dame football history.

A messy performance, but a win is a win. 3-0.