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Letter grades for Notre Dame football during their 2020 season, which saw them go undefeated in regular season play, only to lose their final two games.
The season has now ended and we can start to look back on what was a very odd 2020 season of college football. Two of 247Sports analysts Brad Crawford and Bud Elliott, broke down each team in the ACC and gave out grades for their performances.
Both, Crawford and Elliott gave the Irish A’s for the 2020 season, but I wanted to dig a bit deeper and give grades out for each position group and coaching. So here it is, my grades for each Notre Dame unit from this past season.
When Clark Lea stepped off the Notre Dame bus Saturday, he probably didn’t expect Syracuse to present such a challenge to his defense.
When Clark Lea stepped off the Notre Dame bus Saturday, he probably didn’t expect Syracuse to present such a challenge to his defense. In the first half, we saw that at times. A victory that appeared to be such a foregone conclusion didn’t seem like it midway through the second quarter. Then, the Irish woke up, and they now hold a 24-7 halftime lead.
The Orange started their first drive of the second quarter at their own 38-yard line and executed it to perfection. Rather than go for it all on one big play, they successfully relied on a series of runs and short passes. It paid off when Rex Culpepper connected with Anthony Queeley for an 18-yard touchdown to give their team the lead. Dino Babers said that this is his team’s title game, and that’s how it’s played for the most part.
For most of the second quarter, the Irish’s offense continued to have trouble getting anything going. On one drive, they got into Orange territory and appeared to pick up a fourth down, but Michael Mayer’s momentum carried him back behind the marker, and the Irish turned it over on downs. Everyone was waiting for anything to happen to get this unit going.
The Orange inadvertently provided a spark for the Irish when they appeared to force a three-and-out, but Kingsley Jonathan was flagged for roughing the passer. Ian Book made Jonathan pay for his mistake with a couple of first-down completions to Tommy Tremble and Javon McKinley. He put a stamp on the drive with a 28-yard touchdown run to put the Irish back in front. That’s what happens when you give a team like this second chances.
After that, the Irish we’ve come to know finally showed up. Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa sacked Culpepper and forced a fumble that was recovered by Marist Liufau. It took forever for the replay booth to confirm that, but it finally happened. Speaking of things finally happening, McKinley, the Irish’s leading receiver, scored his first touchdown of the season on a 21-yard pass from Book on the first play of the drive.
With time running out in the half, the Orange gave the Irish another opportunity when Cooper Lutz ran into Matt Salerno after Salerno had called for a fair catch on a punt. The Irish took advantage of this latest in a series of Syracuse mistakes by putting together a drive in which they marched down the field as quickly as any offense in college football is capable of. Book’s 21-yard pass to Ben Skowronek put the Irish in field-goal range, but Book decided that wasn’t enough, and he hit McKinley for a 28-yard touchdown pass with six seconds left. All of that took 32 seconds, and the Irish went into the locker room feeling much more confident about their chances of a blowout win.
Who were the biggest stars in Notre Dame’s 31-17 victory at North Carolina? The Fighting Irish Wire staff has spoken with their game balls.
When you play as well as Notre Dame did against North Carolina on Friday you have plenty of players worthy of praise and it makes handing out the game balls after a decisive victory that much more difficult.
That said, the Fighting Irish Wire staff has compiled theirs from Friday’s victory, which is Notre Dame’s 15th straight dating back to late October of last year.
So who gets the awards for being the biggest stars in the Notre Dame win?
Here is who the Fighting Irish Wire staff decided, starting with Geoffrey Clark:
The best and worst performances from Notre Dame in their win over North Carolina.
It sure wasn’t pretty for the Irish, but we knew that North Carolina would be up to the challenge and present a tough challenge. There was obviously some rust from having a bye week, but once the Irish shook that off, they were able to take control of the game in the second half. Notre Dame earned a tough 31-17 win against the Tar Heels. Here are the best, 5 star, and worst, 1 star, performances for the Irish today.
Perhaps Notre Dame and North Carolina needed some time to take it easy.
Perhaps Notre Dame and North Carolina needed some time to take it easy. Unlike in the first quarter, offense was hard to come by in the second. This time, we saw the defenses shine. Consequently, this game is tied at 17 at halftime.
The frame became a battle of whether Jay Bramblett or Ben Kiernan could punt the ball further. It really doesn’t matter who won that because it didn’t make a difference on the scoreboard. That this even was the story for most of the quarter shows how great the defenses were. We’ll find out in the second half if rumors of an offensive shootout were greatly exaggerated.
Sam Howell barely avoided giving up a safety when Isaiah Foskey sacked him at the North Carolina 1-yard line. That drive ended in a punt. Later, it was Marist Liufau’s turn to wrap up Howell deep in Tar Heels territory. This time, Howell recovered and picked up the first down on the drive, which was followed by a series of passes to set up a 42-yard field goal for Grayson Atkins.
The biggest play of that sequence is a third and 20 that Notre Dame bailed out North Carolina on when Kyle Hamilton’s targeting penalty both extended the Tar Heels drive and got the pre-season All-American ejected for the rest of the afternoon.
With over a minute left in the quarter, Ian Book completed three consecutive passes to get into North Carolina territory and also got some help from a pass interference call. He took one unsuccessful shot at the end zone, and the clock dictated there only was enough time for Jonathan Doerer to tie the game with a field goal. He did just that from 32 yards out.
Notre Dame’s defense will be down a couple of players when they take on Florida State this Saturday night.
What feels like a lifetime ago at this point, Notre Dame improved to 2-0 on the season with a dominating 52-0 win over South Florida way back on September 19.
That day it was linebacker Jack Kiser, getting informed the morning of the game that he’d be starting, that walked away with Brian Kelly’s game ball honors.
Unfortunately Notre Dame will be without Kiser when Florida State comes to town Saturday night, nor will stellar defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa.
Brian Kelly says that defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa and linebacker Jack Kiser are out this week for Florida State.
— Pete Sampson (@PeteSampson_) October 8, 2020
Kiser was an emergency starter for Notre Dame in that South Florida game and played great, recording eight tackles, two of which for loss. Shayne Simon and Marist Liufau are set to return to their regular roles atop the depth chart at Buck linebacker.
Tagovailoa-Amosa being out is a hit to the first string however as he was off to a solid start with five tackles through the first two games, including two for a loss.
Expect to see more of Jayson Ademilola and Howard Cross, III in Tagovailoa-Amosa’s absence.
Find out which Notre Dame players won’t be suiting up this afternoon against South Florida.
Notre Dame has announced with players who were on the depth chart this week that will no suit up against South Florida this afternoon.
September 19 – Gameday Update pic.twitter.com/u8OvTHx2rY
— Notre Dame Football PR Team (@NDFootballPR) September 19, 2020
The biggest player not putting on the Blue and Gold this afternoon is safety Kyle Hamilton. He injured his ankle during last weeks win against Duke, Brian Kelly making the safe choice to sit his one of this star players. The defense didn’t look bad after Hamilton was injured, so him not playing shouldn’t be too much of a surprise.
Other notables include cornerback TaRiq Bracy, who had four tackles last week, and linebacker Marist Liufau. The depth at cornerback and linebacker was probably another reason Kelly played it safe with Bracy and Liufau. Also running back Jahmir Smith is out, hopefully electric freshman Chris Tyree is the benefactor.
