Reading too much into the absence of an “or” from the depth chart is a fool’s errand, Brian Kelly says.
Freshman Clarence Lewis may be listed as the starting field cornerback over junior TaRiq Bracy without those two letters separating them for the first time this year, but that is not indicative of a final verdict at a position that has gone back and forth between the two. So Kelly offers.
“I don’t think that it has been No. 1 and 2 as much as it has been 1A and 1B,” Kelly said. “Clarence has done a really nice job when he has been out there, and we continue to go in that direction.”
What’s clear is this: in the month where Notre Dame has faced the most explosive pass offenses on its schedule, Lewis has earned most of the snaps. He took all but the first eight and 70 total Nov. 7 against Clemson. He started and out-snapped Bracy 37 to 29 Nov. 14 at Boston College. Now, Lewis is in line to get the first chance and perhaps more on Friday when Notre Dame meets a North Carolina offense that averages more 10-plus yard plays per game than any other Football Bowl Subdivision team.
Tar Heels quarterback Sam Howell, like Clemson’s D.J. Uiagalelei and perhaps even more than Boston College’s Phil Jurkovec, is capable of stressing a defense on most any field-side throw. This isn’t an ideal stretch for the field cornerback position to be the most unsettled area of an otherwise established, consistent Notre Dame defense.
“Clemson comes to mind as an equally talented football team,” Kelly said of North Carolina. “Certainly, they are really deserving of all the accolades for what they’ve accomplished. They don’t go away. They have come back in fourth quarters and won football games.”
The Irish can’t be under the delusion they’ll entirely shut down North Carolina, which has topped 40 points in four straight games and scored at least four touchdowns all but once this year. This is a damage-control situation, like it was against Clemson.
Lewis has fared OK in the last two games, allowing completions on five of the nine passes thrown his way, albeit for 98 yards. He has one pass broken up and seven tackles in that span.
All told, Lewis has four passes broken up this year and has allowed nine catches (zero touchdowns) on 18 targets. Opposing quarterbacks have a 79.4 passer rating (NFL version) against him. That production has mostly come in four games, since he has played fewer than 10 snaps in half of Notre Dame’s eight games.
“I trust Clarence every time he steps on the field. I know he’s going out there to compete at the highest level,” said sixth-year senior safety Shaun Crawford, a former field corner. “Whenever he’s out there, we expect him to make plays. We expect him to do his job and hold his own.”
That’s about all Notre Dame needs in trying to slow down North Carolina’s offense just enough to win. The Tar Heels use a heavy dose of play action and run-pass options (RPOs), where Howell is reading a safety and makes the decision to hand off or pull the ball and throw after observing the safety’s first step. The success hinges on defenders taking bait, being indecisive and having their instincts used against them.
“The challenges we’ll face at safety are just being patient, not being in a hurry to get down in the run game, not in a hurry to get in our backpedal,” Crawford said. “Get our reads … make sure we’re seeing the right things.”
In that sense, the solidified safety duo of Crawford and Kyle Hamilton may play a bigger role in Notre Dame’s pass defense success than the cornerbacks themselves. But Notre Dame still needs the corners to run with North Carolina’s two hiccup-quick receivers, Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome, who are averaging a combined 16.3 yards per catch.
“The corners just have to play tight coverage, play top-down,” Crawford said. “We know they will take shots and will do double-moves. Our corners just have to play it true and play confident throughout the game. We have talented corners who can match up.”
Lewis, Bracy and boundary corner Nick McCloud will see their share of one-on-ones. They’ll be tested deep — a Howell favorite. His 67.8 percent on-target rate on passes that travel at least 15 yards downfield is seventh nationally among quarterbacks with 30 such attempts. Ten of those have gone for touchdowns, while only two have been intercepted.
“That’s really the difference with Sam,” Kelly said. “I don’t want to take away the other things, because he does those quite well. He throws a great deep ball. He’s able to locate. He doesn’t — I use the phrase ‘Ice the puck’ — throw it out of bounds. He gives his receivers a chance to catch them.”
If searching for areas for Lewis and the Irish to improve, circle chunk passing plays. Lewis has allowed four completions of at least 20 yards (not necessarily 20 yards downfield), while Notre Dame as a whole has surrendered 27, or about 3.5 per game.
At the same time, Lewis’ 14.4 coverage snaps per reception leads the team — just ahead of Bracy’s 14.1 — and ranks 65th out of 230 FBS corners with at least 130 coverage snaps. Even if he has allowed some longer ones, they’ve been infrequent enough to not cause catastrophic damage.
“He’s talented enough to where we can put him on an island and he can play man for an entire game,” Crawford said. “We need more from him. Each and every week he’s getting better at it. He’s starting to understand our defensive scheme and how we’re trying to attack and defend the offense.”
Demonstrating that progress this week would bode well for Notre Dame’s chances to win and for that spot’s effectiveness going forward, when more top-flight aerial attacks await if the Irish keep on their current unbeaten path.
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