Tag: Carter Bradley

Notre Dame vs. Toledo: Fourth-Quarter Analysis

Whew.

Notre Dame will need to clean some things up before the competition really gets fierce. That it struggled so much for a second consecutive week undoubtedly will cause a lot of discussion about how good this team really is. For now, it can settle for a 32-29 win over a Toledo team that came into Notre Dame Stadium with something to prove and did just that even as it just came up short.

On a drive the Irish (2-0) left over from the third quarter, Tyler Buchner got the Irish into field-goal range on a 15-yard run. That set up a 30-yard field goal from Jonathan Doerer to put the Irish back in front. South Bend breathed a little easier.

The Rockets moved backwards on their first possession of the quarter by virtue of both the Irish’s defense and a couple of false starts. That enabled the Irish’s offense to set up shop at their own 45-yard line. Buchner only needed one play to hit Chris Tyree, who began the play in motion before the snap, for a 55-yard touchdown. South Bend breathed even easier than before.

It also took only one play for the Rockets to gain momentum back. Pinned back at his own 11, Bryant Koback took a handoff and found enough holes to gain 67 yards. That ultimately set up a third-and-goal from the Irish’s 8 on which he took a shovel pass to score a touchdown and bring the Rockets within two. A pass on a two-point conversion failed, so the Irish held onto a 24-22 lead.

With time winding down, the Irish focused on the ground game to eat the clock. It worked for a while, getting all the way to the Rockets’ 33. That’s when disaster struck as Desjuan Johnson forced a Kyren Williams fumble, which Zachary Ford recovered at the Rockets’ 27 with less than three-and-a-half minutes to play. Holy cow.

Needing only a field goal to take a late lead, the Rockets’ offense moved enough to set that up. However, it wasn’t needed. On a third-and-1 from the 26, Dequan Finn ran to the left and found enough open field to run into the end zone for a backbreaking touchdown to put his team up, 29-24. With 1:35 left, the Irish needed to make something happen fast.

The drive started well when Jack Coan hit Kevin Austin for a 34-yard reception to put the Irish into Rockets territory. Aided by a couple of penalties, the offense quickly found itself in the red zone and made the most of it. After having his finger popped back in on the sidelines, Coan found Michael Mayer right in front of the end zone, and he marched the short distance with his 18-yard touchdown reception. Needing a two-point conversion to protect the lead in the event of a Rockets field goal, quarterback-turned-receiver Avery Davis had enough time to find an open Williams, who caught the ball to put the Irish up three.

The Rockets had 1:09 to respond with 87 yards of field to work with and suddenly became undisciplined as they took one penalty after another. At one point, they took a timeout to avoid a 10-second runoff. Toledo’s frustrating drive ended abruptly when Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa forced a Carter Bradley fumble that was recovered by JD Bertrand. All of South Bend can exhale.

Will you be able to breathe after that, or is this frustrating? Whatever the case, a win is a win is a win.

 

Notre Dame vs. Toledo: Second-Quarter Analysis

Well, this isn’t going as planned.

It looked like the Notre Dame offense found the spark it needed. With the running game practically nonexistent for the first five regulation quarters of the season, there suddenly was reason think that would be the unit snap the Irish of of their funk. However, it took one bad play in the final minute to cancel that progress out, and the Irish trail Toledo, 16-14, at halftime.

The Rockets, looking for a field goal to give them their first lead of the game, came close to that possibility. However, Isaiah Foskey sacked Carter Bradley for a 10-yard loss, though it ultimately set up a Bailey Flint punt that pinned the Irish at their own 4-yard line. If the offense was going to snap out of it now, it would have to do so with almost the whole field ahead. Enter Tyler Buchner, who was inserted at quarterback for his first game action since his junior year of high school in 2019.

All Buchner did was roll out to the right for a 26-yard gain on his first play. He then ran for an additional 11 yards, then hit Braden Lenzy for a 15-yard completion a couple of plays later. The drive concluded on the next play when Kyren Williams busted through traffic on the right side for a 43-yard touchdown. It was nice teamwork led by a unlikely duo.

When the Irish took the ball back after a Rockets three-and-out, Jack Coan returned to action. After he threw an incomplete pass on third-and-1, the offense stayed on the field to go for it despite being on its own 40-yard line. Chris Tyree got stuffed, and the Rockets got the ball back with terrific field position.

The ensuing defensive possession started out disastrous for the Irish. A couple of penalties first kept the drive going, then gave the Rockets a first-and-goal at the 2. Things looked better when Kyle Hamilton tackled Bryant Koback for a 3-yard loss. The Irish then caught a break when a Bradley pass went through Bryce Mitchell’s hands in the end zone, and Thomas Cluckey came out to kick his third field goal.

With the Irish hoping to get points before halftime, the worst possible thing happened. Coan was intercepted by Chris McDonald, who returned the ball 27 yards to the house with nobody in front of him, and the Rockets had the lead. What a momentum shift in South Bend. The Irish had one last possession to try and score before the clock hit zero, but nothing came of it.

Not much you can say right now. Here’s hoping the second half goes much better.

 

Notre Dame vs. Toledo: First-Quarter Analysis

How are we feeling so far, gang?

One quarter into Notre Dame’s game against Toledo, and things don’t look so different from last week so far. The Irish’s offense has been a mixed bag, and the defense still has a tendency to give up big plays. Nevertheless, Notre Dame will be happy with a 7-6 lead.

Jack Coan came out riding the momentum he had for much of his time playing Florida State. A couple of big completions aided by some Rockets penalties put the Irish deep into the red zone quickly. The first drive ended with a 4-yard touchdown reception from Michael Mayer, who remains hot in his own right.

The Rockets broke through on the first third down of their opening drive when Carter Bradley found Devin Maddox, who had plenty of open field to get to the Irish’s 11-yard line on a 66-yard gain. Kyle Hamilton appeared to snuff the drive out with an interception on a tipped ball, but replay reviews ruled that he did not catch the ball before it hit the ground. Despite the break, the Rockets couldn’t take advantage and had to settle for a 31-yard field goal by Thomas Cluckey.

Coan completed three passes on the next drive to get into Rockets territory. With the Irish on the cusp of field-goal range, Quinyon Mitchell sacked Coan, forced a fumble and recovered it himself. The Rockets once again found the red zone with a couple of nice plays but stalled out afterwards. Cluckey kicked another field goal, this time, from 32 yards.

Things then settled down a bit as three-and-outs occurred on each of the game’s next three possessions. That might be just what the Irish need to regroup. However, it has to be frustrating to see progress not being made. At the moment, this does not appear to be your typical Mid-American Conference opponent coming to South Bend.

Tale of the Tape: Starting Quarterbacks – Jack Coan vs. Carter Bradley

These QBs are quite different.

After the first full week of games, we have a better understanding of who Notre Dame and Toledo are turning to at quarterback. We know Jack Coan is not afraid to throw, and he did so very well in his first game with 266 yards and four touchdown passes. While that’s encouraging, it’s worth asking how long he will be able to sustain that rate as the season goes on and the Irish play opponents of higher quality. We also should find out soon if he plans to run with the ball more.

What we know about the Rockets’ Carter Bradley is that he’s able to find his receivers. The question is whether he can do that more regularly because he’ll need to for an upset to happen in South Bend. Failing to eclipse 200 passing yards simply won’t cut it against the defense he’s about to face. That’s a lot of pressure to put on a quarterback not used to playing this level of competition, but it’s the reality.