Defensive Grades: Jones Thrives In New Role, Gilman Misses Tackles

The Notre Dame defense had a dominating performance against Bowling Green, holding the Falcons scoreless and achieving the first Irish shut out since 2014.

While this is a fun narrative, the overall play was often sloppy and the Irish made too many mistakes and simply overmatched the Falcons to achieve the shut out.

The sloppy play was particularly evident in the second quarter. On Bowling Green’s last three possessions of the half, Notre Dame allowed 76 rushing yards on 13 carries, good for 5.8 yards per attempt. They also gave up a 24-yard reception to tight end Quintin Morris.

By looking at the PFF grade for each regular defensive rotation player and the number of snaps they played, the defense averaged a 67 rating.

Offense Overal PFF Grade: 67 - "Average"

Standout of the Game

Jamir Jones — Unlike last week, Jones knew he was going to be a featured part of the defensive end rotation against Bowling Green and he produced four total tackles, a sack, two tackles for a loss and a quarterback hurry.

Get a FREE 60-day trial and four FREE copies of the BGI digital magazine using promo code Irish60

Per PFF, he played 32 defensive snaps, almost double what he was on the field for against Virginia. His two primary assignments were backing up Julian Okwara at the drop end position and on nickel in third and long situations.

What’s interesting is how they used him on these obvious passing down situations. Before Daelin Hayes got hurt, the typical move was to slide defensive end Khalid Kareem inside and have Hayes rush the passer or drop into coverage from the edge.