Five Observations From Rewatching 2019 Notre Dame Vs. Georgia

In wanting to be as prepared as possible for my first season covering Notre Dame football this fall, I’m going back and watching notable games from the 2019 season with a finer comb than when I watched them live. In a few cases, I watched all the game while at home or out and about. In others, I caught parts of games. And with some games, I didn’t see a minute of them.

Whatever category a game falls into, I’m using the rewatch (or first viewing) to find some themes from it that I think will play a part in how Notre Dame’s 2020 season goes.

Next up is Notre Dame’s 23-17 loss at Georgia Sept. 21. I watched most of it when it actually happened and remembered the swings and standout players. Here are five observations from a second sampling.

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Right from the start, Notre Dame resorted to short, quick passes to try and negate Georgia’s pressure and athletic front seven. If viewed from the risk prevention lens, it worked. Book was not sacked once and threw for more yards against Georgia’s defense than anyone except Heisman winner Joe Burrow.

From the overall effectiveness lens, though, it’s hard to say Georgia didn’t dictate and affect Notre Dame’s offense.

Book averaged 5.9 yards on 49 passes, and only nine traveled more than 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. (On the season, 35 percent of his targeted throws went 10+ yards downfield). By unofficial count, one was a throwaway and five were on Notre Dame’s last possession of a half.

Georgia sent 17 blitzes at Book, per Pro Football Focus, more than all but two Notre Dame opponents in 2019. Book was under pressure only 10 times, per PFF, but Georgia still made the Irish passing offense a low-efficiency one.

The high-blitz, low-pressure outcome says more about Notre Dame’s plan than it does the pass protection. A Notre Dame wide receiver was targeted twice in the first quarter. One was a shot play for Chase Claypool that looked like somewhat of a throwaway and the other was at the line of scrimmage for Claypool, who was left open after a coverage bust and picked up a first down.

Meanwhile, tight end Cole Kmet caught seven passes for 68 yards in the first half, including three receptions on the opening drive. Notre Dame too often threw short of the line to gain on third down, a safe play to gain some yards but a low-upside one for all of them.

I wonder if one task for first-year offensive coordinator Tommy Rees will be coaxing more aggressiveness out of Book, even if it means Book throws eight or nine interceptions this year instead of his six from 2019. One way to look for it will be in his playcalling and if it tries to challenge good defenses instead of circumventing them.

Picking apart Book’s pocket presence and declaring him the owner of “happy feet” is so prevalent among Notre Dame fans that it sometimes feels like bloodsport. This game, though, was one instance where it was frequent. In some foreshadowing, Brian Kelly even told the CBS television interview in a pregame interview that Book would need to be “consistent in the pocket.”

Here’s one example of Book not stepping into a throw to Claypool when he had no impediment from doing so.

Georgia quarterback Jake Fromm fell to the fifth round in the NFL Draft, but I was impressed with his calmness in the face of pressure. In this throw, he sees a blitz, stays in the pocket to go through his progressions and delivers a clean ball. Book wasn’t able to do that often enough here.

Neither Notre Dame nor Georgia averaged more than 10 yards per completion or took many downfield shots. Fromm threw for only 187 yards. Yet Georgia sustained drives and averaged a half-yard more per play because of an effective running game.

Georgia’s longest run was 16 yards, but it had seven runs of at least 10 yards. This was by no means a bad game for Notre Dame’s run defense. It was a worse outing for Notre Dame’s rushing attack, which generated 46 yards on 14 carries. Tony Jones Jr. had 21 yards on nine attempts.

Notre Dame might have had a shot with its dink-and-dunk offense if it could run the ball. Georgia’s plan, after all, was not too different. But the Irish ran 14 plays in their first four drives of the second half because they just could not run move Georgia’s defense and open running lanes. This is where an experienced offensive line needs to grow to live up to all the preseason accolades and attention.

Georgia didn’t need 200 rushing yards to win. Notre Dame wouldn’t have in this game, but it needs to have something in every game.

The Notre Dame linebacker’s explosiveness showed out here, with 2.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble. In multiple instances, Owusu-Koramoah sniffed out a play right from the start and beat a blocker to the spot. In others, he disengaged from a blocker in space with little effort.

His mix of strength and athleticism makes him tough for tight ends to block anywhere, especially when they have to meet him in space or clear the way for a ball carrier or a receiver after the catch.

Notre Dame’s defense didn’t have the five-star recruits Georgia’s did, but Owusu-Koramoah is the kind of player who makes any differences in team athleticism and speed harder to spot.

Interestingly enough, PFF gave him a 57.2 overall grade, which is below average on its scale. PFF credited him with two missed tackles, and there were a few instances where he was undisciplined as an edge defender. He had a forced fumble two plays after getting sucked in on a screen and a TFL with Jack Lamb on the same drive where he lost contain on the edge. Still, it was hard not to be impressed with his traits.

Bracy came to Notre Dame as a three-star “athlete” with lower Pac-12 and Mountain West offers. It didn’t prevent him from settling in at corner as a true freshman in 2018 and playing in 11 games. He was Notre Dame’s third corner in 2019 and is likely to take on a starting job this season. He showed up, earn his way onto the field and has produced, a bit out nowhere.

Bracy’s fluidity, size and athleticism won’t stand out, but I came away impressed with his effort and competitiveness. He broke up two passes in the end zone against Georgia, part of his team-high seven deflections last season.

On the first, wide receiver Tyler Simmons had beat him for a touchdown in a scramble situation, but Bracy stuck his hand between Simmons’ to knock the ball out. On the second, he broke up a throw intended for dynamic downfield threat George Pickens. (He briefly had a grasp of Pickens’ jersey, but it did not get flagged). Each time, he was in one-on-one situations on the field side with no help.

At 5-10, Bracy is best suited for the field role, but this game sure suggests he’s not going to back away from handling boundary duties if asked and wouldn’t crumble when he finds himself on a bigger receiver.

Louisville

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