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Roundtable Sports
Key Takeaways From Notre Dame's Offense vs Purdue
- Story byRoundtable Sports
- Key Takeaways From Notre Dame's Offense vs Purdue
(Mark Lebryk, USA TODAY Sports)
Coming into this matchup, there were some questions that the Notre Dame offense needed to answer. After their resounding 49-10 victory over their in-state rival, the Purdue Boilermakers, the questions haven't been completely resolved, but it's a massive step in the right direction. Notre Dame's offense put up 444 total yards of offense, 267 through the air and 177 on the ground, their season high in rushing yards as a team.
This was a big step in the right direction for Mike Denbrock's unit. Now, they'll have to build on this performance with games against North Carolina, Stanford and BYU coming down the pipe. But this afternoon, they showcased a balanced attack enroute to a 49-10 victory in the battle for the Shillelagh Trophy. Here are my key takeaways from Notre Dame's offense.
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RUN GAME HAS LIFE
Are we at the point in the season where we sit back and say 'alright, we're all good here'? No, but yesterday was a strong step in the right direction. After failing to average more than 3.7 yards per carry and 161 total yards in their first three outings, Notre Dame's offense rushed for 177 yards and averaged 5.5 yards per carry as a team yesterday afternoon. For context, Purdue's rush defense ranked No. 125 in the country heading into this matchup, but we needed to see the Fighting Irish ground game take advantage and they did.
Junior Aneyas Williams led the team in rush yards with 80 yards on 14 carries and ripped off multiple chunk plays. Freshman Jonaz Walton carried the ball seven times for 67 yards and had a team long rush of 44 yards. It was a relatively quiet afternoon from sophomore Nolan James Jr., but the New Jersey native accounted for his second receiving touchdown of the season. This is a massive step in the right direction for the Notre Dame rushing attack. Now, it's time to build on the momentum generated the last two weeks.
MICAH GILBERT COULD BE "THAT GUY"
Throughout the offseason, we questioned who would be 'the guy' that steps up alongside senior Jordan Faison in the wide receiver corps. There was a lot of talk around senior Jaden Greathouse and Ohio State transfers Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter . Graham and Greathouse will still have their opportunities to make a splash, but one player we needed to see it from was from junior receiver Micah Gilbert who's shown a lot of promise during his time in South Bend but has yet to turn it into production.
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Now, we can have a conversation about his production. Over the last two weeks, Gilbert has recorded 10 receptions for 253 yards and one touchdown. Saturday, he hauled in a 56-yard catch and run that put the Irish in scoring position and also caught a post route for a touchdown from the slot receiver position. Quarterback CJ Carr had a plethora of potential to throw to coming into this season. The 6-2, 205-pound North Carolina native is putting together a tremendous breakout season through September.
EXPLOSIVE PLAYS MAKE A RESOUNDING RETURN
The explosive plays through the first three games of the season left a lot to be desired. Through three games, Notre Dame recorded 15 plays from scrimmage of 20 yards or longer which ranked No. 59 in the country. Shades of what it was from a season ago. In their first true road test of the season, the Irish ripped off eight plays of 20 yards or more on their way to posting 444 total yards of offense, and that was with having a possession taken away on a defensive scoop and score touchdown.
Coming into this matchup with Purdue, we needed to see a balanced and explosive operation from Denbrock's unit and they passed that test. Moving forward, it's going to be about building on yesterday's performance and if they're able to maintain that for the remainder of the season. If they're able to do that, we'll be looking at another Top 10 offense by the end of the season.
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