2022 College Football Data Review: Notre Dame vs. California

All is well that ends well?

Or something like that is what I’m feeling looking back on Notre Dame football’s Week 3 victory against the California Golden Bears. The team went into its second home game of the season 0-2 and in desperate need (on several fronts) for a win. They ultimately got it in a not so pretty but effective, 24-17 win against Cal. While much of the game was unpleasant too watch, I’ve got to admit that it felt good to see the team get to sing the Alma Mater with their heads deservedly held high after the way things have been going this season.

So lets dig into what the data has to tell us about the Irish’ first win of the 2022 campaign as well as how things are trending through Week 3.

Summary

Whether you were just watching a stats ticker or following the plays on a big screen TV, that 1^st quarter was pretty abysmal. Both teams seem determined to make their punters earn their keep, logging a bunch of short, unsuccessful drives. For ND fans, though, it was particularly difficult because of the blunders and general sense of confusion on the offensive side of the ball.

Pass v. Rush

It was the general consensus that ND’s offensive play would be key during the game and just going by the 1^st quarter start, I was thoroughly surprised that things seemed to be getting worse. I’m not going to rehash the specifics here, Twitter is working overtime in that regard, but fortunately the offense started to get things together in the 2^nd quarter. It didn’t remain consistent or pretty throughout the rest of the game but I do believe we started to see glimpses of what a somewhat well rounded Irish offense can look like with this season’s team.

Passing Details

The passing side of the ND offense struggled a lot but still managed to put up two touchdowns, although Pyne’s mishaps could’ve been much worse than the 2^nd quarter fumble that set Cal up for its first fumble. It was an unfortunate turnover (the Irish’s first loss fumble of the season) but the silver lining is that the offense managed to reverse the interception trend (3 total last week against Marshall and 0 this week). Pyne ended the game with a completion percentage of 74% on 23 attempts, as well as two touchdown passes.

Rushing Details

Notre Dame’s rushing unit also finally started to develop a presence and identity after a very slow 2022 start. In terms of total yardage, they outplayed Cal’s rushing unit, tallying up 57% (147) of the game’s total rushing yards. Evaluating through a yards per carry lens produces a stalemate, with both teams averaging 3.6 yards per carry. Estime and Tyree had an almost even split of carries, 18-17, respectively. Estime came out on top in terms of average yards per carry as well as total yardage. He accounted for 52% (76) of the Irish’s total yards on the ground.

Offensive Movement

One of the biggest struggles for the Irish continues to be converting on third downs. Neither team did particularly well on this metric, with Cal converting 27% of their attempts and ND converting just 25% of theirs.

Drive Summaries

On the back side of the game, the Irish did a little bit better with putting together longer drives and were able to put points on the board at the end of those.

A comparison look at the Golden Bear’s drive summary tells a familiar story but also one much more heavily characterized by key stops by Notre Dame’s defense.

Trend – Total Yards

Drop – There was a bit of a drop in total yardage in Week 3, something that can largely be attributed to a really lackluster offensive outing in the 1^st quarter.

Trend – Passing Yards

Drop – The Irish, hit their season floor (so far) in passing yards, something that can largely be attributed to a really lackluster offensive outing in the 1^st quarter.

Trend – Rushing Yards

Up – The Irish, hit their season ceiling (so far) in rushing yards, something that can largely be attributed to a much more successful running game that got established later in the game.

Trend – Rushing Attempts

Up – The Irish, hit their season ceiling (so far) in rushing attempts, something that can largely be attributed to a much more successful running game that got established later in the game.

Trend – Rushing Average Yards

Up – The Irish, hit their season ceiling (so far) in rushing average yards per carry, something that can largely be attributed to a much more successful running game that got established later in the game.

Trend – First Downs

Drop – There was a bit of a drop in first down attainment in Week 3.

Trend – Third Down Conversion

Drop – There was a bit of a drop in third down conversion % in Week 3.

Trend – Fumbles

Drop – The Irish tallied their first lost fumble of the season in Week 3.

Trend – Interceptions

Up – In Week 3 ND came back down to 0 interceptions after throwing 3 in Week 2.

Trend – Defense (Tackles)

Drop – There was a bit of a drop in total tackles in Week 3, with the Irish posting their lowest total so far.

Trend – Defense (Solo Tackles)

Drop – There was a big drop in solo tackles in Week 3, with the Irish posting their lowest total so far.

Trend – Defense (Tackles for Loss)

Up – The Irish continued a general, upward trend in tackles for a loss through Week 3.

Trend – Defense (Sacks)

Up – The Irish continued a general, upward trend in sacks through Week 3, posting its highest total against California.

Trend – Defense (QB Hurries)

Up – The Irish continued a general, upward trend in QB hurries through Week 3, posting its highest total against California.

It definitely isn’t a game that I plan on watching a full replay of anytime soon but the numbers doe indicate that greener pastures may be on the horizon for Notre Dame football’s 2022 season. The ceiling is still probably a lot lower than any of us would like but all is not lost.

Cheers and Go Irish!