It was not the prettiest season-opening performance for the Notre Dame offense, but the unit got the job done, scoring five touchdowns in the 35-17 road victory over Louisville.
I am going to kick off the breakdown of the win by handing out grades, beginning with the offense.
OFFENSE
Notre Dame relied mostly on chunk plays in the game, with the offense ripping off 18 plays of at least 10 yards. The split was 50/50 run-pass on the plays over ten yards, with six of the first seven 10+ yard plays coming in the run game.
The Irish offense averaged 6.3 yards on its non-sack running plays and 8.4 yards per pass play.
Overall there was a lack of efficiency on offense following the opening drive, and the offense went just 5-13 on third and fourth downs in the game. Notre Dame had just 18 first downs in the game. For context purposes, Notre Dame had fewer than 18 first downs just once last season, and it came during the team’s Cotton Bowl loss to Clemson.
It did turn all four of its red zone trips into touchdowns, which helped the offense pull away from Louisville in the second half. GRADE: B-
