Trending Upward: Let's end the Offensive Rush to Judgement
Entering a college football season with high expectations can be nerve-wracking and exciting. The smallest misstep is analyzed and criticized. The biggest ones become end-of-the-world fodder.
Photo by Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images
This is what the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team has had to endure. Despite outscoring opponents 109-23 and allowing under 200 yards of offense per game, questions remain about an offense that has yet to fully find its footing. Even though CJ Carr has passed for 242 yards per game with six touchdowns and no turnovers, and Micah Gilbert had 170 receiving yards against Michigan State, unlocking a big-play threat, people still nitpicked that the offense was stale.
Enter the cure-all for an alleged struggling offense: playing the Purdue Boilermakers and their bargain-bin defense that gives out yards and touchdowns like they are Black Friday deals.
On this day, Notre Dame unlocked its big play potential. They had eight plays over 20 yards (including their first run for over 20 yards this season, a touchdown run by Anyeas Williams), and despite Carr throwing his first interception of the season, he finished with 237 yards on 14 of 22 passing. The offense found consistency throughout this game.
The one player that has been maligned in regard to the running game struggles has been Williams. After opening the season with 90 rushing yards and a touchdown against Wisconsin, he has been the focus of the running game concerns. This past week showed us that those concerns should have been tempered.
On his 22-yard touchdown run. He went off the tackle and exploded downhill to get free. In his early season struggles, Williams has been indecisive. Often seen trying to stretch out runs or jump cut, instead of taking the run where it is designed to go. This past weekend, he did that. For the first time this season, we saw the straight-ahead explosiveness that made the loss of Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love to the NFL a touch palpable.
Then Jonaz Walton entered, adding his own big play with a 44-yard rumble that happened when he just went outside on a counter. Exactly where he was supposed to go and what he was supposed to do. Walton finished second on the team with 66 yards rushing.
An argument can be made that this was expected against Purdue. However, sometimes the story isn’t the final score (49-10 Irish victory); it’s what you saw. Notre Dame finished with 177 rushing yards with a 5.5 yards-per-carry average. This is after 161 Yards last week against the Spartans.
There are still eight chapters of this season left to be written, and none of us truly know how the story ends. If it becomes the special story we all expect, the running game will need to continue to improve. What we saw today is enough to show that the situation is not as dire as some have painted. As a matter of fact, they could be becoming something special.
Want the latest intel on Notre Dame football? Subscribe to Tribune+ and get access to recruiting and team intel from The Irish Tribune team, as well as access to our intel community, exclusive app, and more Notre Dame content: Subscribe here to support our independent journalism.
Follow The Irish Tribune on social media:
Liked this story? Subscribe to our mailing list and get every story in your inbox.
Check out our Irish partners:
TMPR Sports - Use code "IrishTribune20" to get $20 off your officially-licensed Notre Dame pickleball paddle here!
Comments