It’s pretty easy to see what the weak link in Notre Dame football’s offense is, the passing game.
Through two games, the Irish have yet to throw for a touchdown, while accounting for just 321 yards through the air. The injury quarterback Riley Leonard sustained against Northern Illinois could have been a factor, but there are others reasons as well.
According to research done by the Notre Dame Football Stats & Analytics X account, they pointed out that the Irish are almost dead last in play action rate, ranking No. 133 out of 134 total teams.
It’s odd that Notre Dame hasn’t used this often, as the running backs have done a great job so far this season, which should open up this aspect of the offense.
Play Action Rate vs. Pass Rate Over Expected
Notre Dame is last in the Power 4 in play action rate and ranks 133rd out of 134 among all FBS teams
Only James Madison has used play action at a lower rate pic.twitter.com/MJXeAykQ4H
— Notre Dame Football Stats & Analytics (@ND_FB_Analytics) September 11, 2024
By adding more play-action to the offense, it should put an opposing defense into worse scenarios. Does the safety come up and try to stop a rushing attack that has averaged over 5 yards-per-carry or do they stay back and try to defend the pass?
Offensive coordinator [autotag]Mike Denbrock[/autotag] needs to have this part of his offense as a much more focal point. Otherwise, we will keep seeing results like we did this past weekend.
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