The Notre Dame Fighting Irish hosted the Boise State Broncos for the first time in program history and walked away with a 28-7 victory. The offense showed, for the first time since week one, that they are still human. After posting back to back games scoring over at least 49 offensive points, the Broncos defense held the high-powered Fighting Irish offense to 28 total points. Quarterback CJ Carr had some errant throws but still finished the afternoon 15 of 23 for 189 yards and two touchdowns. Running backs Jeremiyah Love and Jadarian Price both found the end zone against making it four games in a row that both backs have put points on the board. Like we do each week, we've broken down our key takeaways from Notre Dame's offense.
Pass Protection Took Another Step
This week, the Notre Dame offensive line faced a different challenge than what they had faced in previous weeks. The Boise State didn't have the size of the Arkansas, Purdue, Texas A&M or Miami defensive front, but they had quick and twitchy athletes. Joe Rudolph's unit handled themselves extremely well in pass protection and only allowed three total pressures. The offensive line didn't give up a single hit or sack on the quarterback and every starting offensive lineman graded out with a PFF grade of 69.0 or higher.
This was a Boise State defense that liked to bring a lot of pressure and the Fighting Irish offensive line more than held their own. Throughout the season, left tackle Anthonie Knapp and right tackle Aamil Wagner were heavily scrutinized for their performances in pass protection. Yesterday, they finished as the two top graded offensive linemen in pass protection for Notre Dame.
Offense Showed They Still Have Things To Work On
The past few weeks have been extremely impressive for Mike Denbrock's unit, but yesterday they showed that they still have key areas of improvement. The Irish had two turnovers on downs on the opponent's side of the 50 yard line in the first half. Carr, who has been electric to start the season, missed a few easy throws including a wide open touchdown to Will Pauling on their fourth drive of the game that resulted in a turnover on downs. They still have yet to get a second tight end involved in the passing game and haven't been overly effective in attacking the middle of the field. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait another week to see if Jaden Greathouse will be a bigger focal point in the offense, but if Pauling's five targets from the slot are any indication for Greathouse's usage when he returns, the Texas native will be in for a production second half of the year.
Fields And Faison Are A Premier Duo
Even without Greathouse, it's safe to say Notre Dame has found their premier and go-to duo at the wide receiver position. Boundary receiver Malachi Fields and field receiver Jordan Faison combined for 10 receptions, 127 receiving yards and one touchdown. This is the third game in a row Fields and Faison have combined for over 125 receiving yards and have not dropped a pass in 34 combined targets. In key moments throughout all three matchups, Carr has been more than willing to hit Faison on a deep comeback or Fields in a one-on-one situation. Yes, this offense has to be willing to get other pieces involved, but this dynamic duo of Fields and Faison has been fun to watch and tough to stop this season.
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