Notre Dame opened its 2019 home schedule with a 66-14 pasting of New Mexico, with the offense scoring its most points of the Brian Kelly era. It was just the second time since 1996 that the Irish have scored over 60 points in a game.

On paper this looked like a brilliant offensive performance, with the Irish offense racking up 59 points and 591 yards of offense. Notre Dame averaged 9.1 yards per play, and its 434 passing yards were the team’s most since it racked up 471 in a 50-33 win over Syracuse in 2016. It was just the second time the Irish topped the 400-yard mark through the air in Kelly’s tenure.

But when you dive into the film it becomes quickly apparent that Notre Dame simply out-talented New Mexico. It was often a sloppy performance, and Notre Dame did not dominate in some of the areas it should have, mainly in the trenches.

Notre Dame benefited from a good scheme and having way better players. The technique that was employed at all positions was problematic. The timing in the run game was off, the route running was inconsistent, the quarterback reads were spotty at best, the tight end blocking technique was below average and simply put the offensive line didn’t look like it was prepared for what New Mexico was going to throw at it.

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

This is a lot of criticism for a game in which the team scored 66 points and had 591 yards, and in a lot of ways the fact Notre Dame could play this sloppy and still win 66-14 is a major positive. It shows the talent this team possesses is quite good. But the fact is Notre Dame isn’t recruiting to beat New Mexico, it’s recruiting to beat Georgia, USC, Michigan and Stanford. The level of play from Saturday isn’t good enough to beat all of those teams … especially the first three.

Moving forward Notre Dame must not only be about talent and scheme, but it has to be about playing the game the right way from a fundamentals standpoint. That is what I see when I pop on film of Clemson, Alabama and Georgia, and it’s an area that must be shored up at Notre Dame in a hurry.

GRADE: B-