Turnover Treats
Maybe the most remarkable stat from the Boston College game was despite Notre Dame’s 5-0 advantage in the turnover department, the Eagles had the ball at the Irish 27 with less than two minutes left in the game and a chance to win.
The only time I could recall a Notre Dame game where one team had a minus-5 deficit in turnovers but still emerged victorious was the 1994 game at Michigan State. The Irish finished with five turnovers to the Spartans’ one, but rallied from a 20-7 deficit to win 21-20. Linebacker Brian Smith’s interception raised the advantage to 5-0 against Boston College and clinched the game.
In Charlie Weis’ four and a half seasons at Notre Dame, the Irish are tied with Florida for most games without a turnover (18) over that span. West Virginia is No. 1 with 20.
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Is Crist ready to take over if Clausen leaves early for the NFL?
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What’s particularly remarkable is that of the last nine times Notre Dame has played at home, in seven of them it had no turnover. Plus, in an eighth game (versus Michigan State this year) the Irish had only one turnover when backup quarterback Dayne Crist’s “Hail Mary” heave on the last play of the first half was picked off.
With only five turnovers this year, the Irish are tied with Air Force and Oregon State for second fewest in the country. Cincinnati is No. 1 with four.
Notre Dame holds the national record for fewest turnovers in an 11-game season, with Bob Davie’s 2000 team committing only eight en route to a 9-2 finish and a bid to the Fiesta Bowl.
Speaking Of Turnovers …
First-year running backs coach Tony Alford arrived at Notre Dame this spring with a reputation for superb ball security by his backs. In eight seasons at Iowa State, his running backs lost only 13 fumbles, or less than two per year.
Through seven games this year, Irish running backs have lost one fumble (Jonas Gray in the third quarter at Michigan) on 192 attempts. The only other “fumble” came on quarterback Jimmy Clausen’s lateral pass versus Washington that was returned for a touchdown. Notre Dame running backs had lost 12 fumbles over the past two years.
Somewhere in a team’s schedule, a three- or four-turnover game always is lurking, no matter how good ball protection has been. The best time would be against Washington State. Against the 30-point underdog Cougars, a litany of errors can be overcome, as long as WSU has a few itself.
He’s The Man(ti)
Notre Dame’s run defense effort against Boston College was the best in any game of the Charlie Weis era when you consider 1) caliber of back (Montel Harris), 2) offensive line and 3) emphasis on the run by the opponent. To limit Harris to 38 yards on 22 attempts — 15 of his carries were two yards or less, and five lost yardage — was a sterling effort.
The Irish also were plenty respectable while limiting USC to 121 yards on the ground. Now, the emphasis on stopping the run likely aided Notre Dame getting scorched through the air, with USC’s Matt Barkley averaging 20 yards per his 19 completions and BC completing 10 passes that picked up at least 20 yards.
However, it’s no coincidence that since the insertion of freshman Manti Te'o as the starting Will linebacker against Washington, the Irish run defense has become quite stout, although it excelled the previous week at Purdue as well. Te’o’s speed, anticipation, aggression and instincts cannot be taught. There is a fluidity in his motion that makes you understand why he arrived so heralded.
Similar to a premier point guard who elevates the scoring output of everyone else on the team with his ball distribution, the presence of Te’o appears to have enhanced the effectiveness of the defensive line as far as making plays. Maybe the most overlooked stat of the BC game was the top four Irish tacklers were linemen and linebackers, not the typical safety tandem.
Te’o has averaged nine tackles per game in his three starts and already is fourth on the team in stops (33) and third in tackles for loss (4.5). At this pace and including the bowl, he will break the single-season Notre Dame freshman record for tackles in a season set by Bob Golic (82) in 1975.
Last year at this time, one could sense that by 2009 the Notre Dame passing game with Jimmy Clausen, Golden Tate, Kyle Rudolph and Michael Floyd could become special. Likewise, the 2010 defensive front seven with the likes of Te’o, Darius Fleming, Ethan Johnson and Brian Smith, among many others, could be equally as daunting to future opposition.
Defense Never Rests
What generally separates a BCS team from the next level of bowls? The answer usually is defense.
Not one of this week’s AP Top 10 is ranked outside the top 32 in total defense, with Cincinnati (32) and LSU (22) the lowest. No. 1 Florida also is No. 1 in total defense, while No. 2 Alabama (4), No. 3 Texas (2) and No. 8 TCU (5) are all in the top 5.
Conversely, AP Top 10 teams such as Oregon, Iowa and LSU are 66th, 87th and 106th in total offense, respectively. If they had such rankings on defense, there’s likely no way they’d be at the same spot.
The 2009 Notre Dame team (15th in total offense and 97th in total defense) appears to be the antithesis of the 2002 Irish edition that started the year 8-0 and moved up to No. 4 in the country while 108th in total offense and 13th in total defense.
QB Or Not QB?
With popular opinion ostensibly growing that Jimmy Clausen could turn pro after this season, it demonstrates how quickly a quarterback position can become fragile.
If Clausen does submit his name into the NFL Draft, Notre Dame would suddenly go from having maybe the best 1-2-3 combination nationally with Clausen, Dayne Crist and fifth-year senior Evan Sharpley in 2009, to Crist and two true freshmen (Andrew Hendrix and Tommy Rees) in 2010, neither of whom will arrive with nearly the accolades Clausen and Crist did.
And while Crist is stronger than Clausen at tucking the ball and running, head coach Charlie Weis would be averse to having Crist engage in that activity unless it’s an emergency, especially without any proven backups. It would be mandatory for Crist to stay healthy the same way Brady Quinn did in 2005-06.
The reverberations of Clausen’s decision come January will be powerful one way or another.
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