Notre Dame rolled off another big win in its now 5-game winning streak. This week’s victim was Georgia Tech and the final score was 31-13 in favor of the Irish. I don’t really have an extended intro, so let’s get right to it.
Scoring Summary
The point differential for the Georgia Tech game was +18 and the team is averaging a differential of +22.7 per game through Week 8 of the 2024 season. If you’re measuring things by the margin of victory, this was the third largest win up to this point.
Notre Dame didn’t put up any points in the 1st quarter but the Yellow Jackets claimed seven. Like usual, the Irish found their rhythm later and put up 14 in the 2nd quarter, 7 in the 3rd quarter and 10 to close things out in the 4th quarter. Tech didn’t find the scoreboard again until they scored 6 late in the game.
Scoring Detail
The passing game regressed back to its early season form and that’s most apparent if you look at the scoring details. Notre Dame recorded three touchdowns on the ground, one pick-six and a field goal. It was an end to a strengthening streak of games with passing touchdowns.
Are passing touchdowns and passing success more generally great?
Of course.
But stat variety doesn’t win games and ND got the job done.
Drive Summary
If you just look at the drive summaries, you can see some more of that offensive regression. The second quarter was the only extended period that the Irish’s offense found consistent success. The team came out of the locker from for half time heading in the same positive direction but that momentum didn’t stick. Notre Dame’s final four substantive drives ended with a punt (7 plays, 32 yards), a turnover on downs (6 plays, 41 yards), a field goal (11 plays, 32 yards) and a final missed field goal (11 plays, 16 yards).
Offensive Benchmarking
I really don’t want to beat a dead horse here because Notre Dame did win the game, and pretty decisively. But the offensive numbers from this game just aren’t very forgiving. Notre Dame’s offense was behind the 2023 per game benchmarks in all the major categories except passing accuracy.
ND recorded 385 yards of total offense against Tech. They had 217 passing yards which is the second highest total through Week 8 but that production didn’t really transfer to the big picture. The team only had 168 yards of rushing offense but that’s where they found their points and ultimately, victory.
Despite an early interception, Riley Leonard finished the games with 20 and 29 passing attempts completed. Rushing efficiency for the team was 4.3 yards, well below the 2023 benchmark as well as what we’ve seen from the team this season. But the numbers can’t take away from the fact that the team’s rushing attack is still the offenses only consistent means of winning football games.
Receiving
Once again, the group of receivers that contributed to the Irish’s offensive production looked a lot different from what we saw in the prior week. Beaux Collins pulled In five receptions for 51 yards while Mitchell Evans reminded us that the team’s tight end room is still available for use. Evans had four receptions for 26 yards and fellow tight end Eli Raridon pulled in one catch for nine yards.
Sophomore running back Jeremiyah Love demonstrated his receiving strengths again and led Notre Dame’s receiving group in production against Georgia Teach. Love had three catches for 57 yards. Sophomore wide receiver Jaden Greathouse also made a sizeable contribution by pulling in three catches for 43 yards.
Rushing
We also got to see a pretty different stat distribution for Notre Dame’s rushing group in Week 8. Like usual, Jeremiyah Love saw the highest utilization. He recorded 14 carries for 36 yards and one touchdown. Quarterback, but also honorary running back, Riley Leonard had 10 rushing attempts for 51 yards and two touchdowns. Junior running back Jadarian Price had the standout day, though, with eight carries for 69 yards. He didn’t find the end zone this week but was #1 in terms of base production.
Defensive Summary
Notre Dame’s defense teed off against yet another opponent. For a ton of factors (Notre Dame bias, poor offensive play hogging the spotlight, etc.) this season’s Irish defense isn’t getting the big time coverage it deserves. But oh well, they’ll definitely get their flowers in this corner of the CFB world.
From a drive perspective, they forced Georgia Tech into four punts, two turnovers on downs, one interception and another interception that turned into a pick-six. Anything worse than that and someone should’ve probably called the authorities. I know that the Stanford and Georgia Tech offenses weren’t in the best shape, particularly at the QB position, but the Irish brutalized both in a way that you’ve still got to applaud.
Defensive Details
The young guys continue to step up on the defensive side of things. Sophomore linebacker Drayk Bowen and freshman cornerback Leonard Moore led the team in solo tackles against Georgia Tech. Freshman linebacker Jaiden Ausberry had five solo tackles. Veteran defensive players also made major contributions in ways that we’ve probably taken for granted. Seniors Rod Heard II, Jack Kiser, Xavier Watts and Riley Mills showed out the most for the veteran camp.
Final Thoughts
We’re deep into the season and it’s hard to make sense of what this Georgia Tech win means for the Notre Dame program or the big picture. The biggest takewaay is probably that the Irish offense is still a wild card, from game-to-game and rive-to-drive. No matter how much we want that to not be the case.
And the implications for that will vary a ton through this final stretch given the mixed bag of competition left on the calendar. Things could land really well for Notre Dame or potentially go catastrophically wrong. Let’s hope for the former but I’d recommend that you all prepare your mentals and livers for the latter.
Cheers and Go Irish!!
