You have to love the fact that the Irish went out and scored 41 points, 38 in regulation, and still could be better. It seems pretty obvious what area where the improvement could come from, but a deep dive into statistics always is nice to reaffirm what we all believed we saw with our eyes on Sunday night.
SportSource Analytics tweeted out their advanced game information in the Irish’s game against Florida State and it confirmed some things that happened in Tallahassee. It was a very solid performance from the passing game, Jack Coan light up the Seminole defense setting a Notre Dame record for most passing yards in an a season opener.
Advanced Box Score from #NDvsFSU last night.
Really positive signs for the #Seminoles, and some areas for improvement.
✅#FSU stuffed 48% #NotreDame's runs. Critical to stuff runs in predictable late game situations.
✅Explosive run game.
⛔️Turnovers – 3.
⛔️25% Pass Success %. pic.twitter.com/mTqPb5pNvy— SportSource Analytics (@SportSourceA) September 6, 2021
When deep diving into the stats, you notice that the Irish had an average of 6.16 yards per play, which is excellent. A first down every two plays will win you a whole lot of games. This was heavy on the passing game, with 8.97 yards per pass attempt, obviously excellent there also.
The run game left more to be desired, averaging just 2.61 yards per play with almost half of them, 15 of 31, “stuffed” runs. That is well above the national average of 30.2%, the Irish were at 48.4%, which is not optimal. Yes, having 4 new offensive linemen could have played a part, but the unit is talented and should have gotten better results.
Defensively, there are some concerns as well. The Seminoles averaged 9.42 yards per play on 2nd down and 8.06 yards on 3rd down. Those averages need to drop. It is interesting that they averaged just 5.96 yards per play during the 4th quarter comeback, you’d expect that number to be higher.
The Irish held the Seminoles under the national average in the passing game, but were not nearly as effective in the run game. They allowed FSU to run for 6.93 yards per play, well above the national average of 5. They also gave up 7 rushing plays of over 12 yards and 3 over 20 yards. Marcus Freeman has to clean up the run defense.
Overall, it wasn’t the prettiest game from the Irish, but a win is a win. They battled against a much improved FSU team to get an opening win, on the road in a hostile environment.