Merry Christmas to you all!
*If you did not know, Indiana’s theme this season was, “Undaunted.” Yep.
After spending the season clawing our way back into the Playoff seeding, winning 10 games in a row, and in resounding fashion, we no longer need to be concerned with style points or margins of victory or rankings — we only need to focus on winning, and then turn to who is next. There is a lot of noise out there about how underwhelming and maybe undeserving Indiana was to be the #10 seed (and the other losers? hmmm), but they played the schedule they were given by the B1G and nearly won them all, and in resounding fashion as well, and that’s all you can ask a team to do. I think Indiana deserved to be in, and I think the talent gap between them and the Irish was evident (as well as some coaching strategies and tactics we employed). It can both be true that they earned their seed, and that Notre Dame was just a much better team. Next assignment for the Irish: The Sugar Bowl against the SEC Champion Bulldogs of Georgia.
Yay! We won a playoff game for the first time in three tries, and our biggest postseason win in decades, yet the task is hardly finished. This is not a sprint, but a marathon, with much more to go, and hopefully the players who’ve recently left games can heal up and continue to contribute. Rylie Mills is especially concerning if lost, but Bryce Young is not far behind; Rocco Spindler was in street clothes to end the game, and Kyngstonn Viliamu-Asa is still healing. Fortunately, we’ve recruited a ton of depth — even true freshman DE Loghan Thomas recorded a sack Friday.
For a school that has played over 1,200 games, it is hard to have many “firsts,” but hosting the first-ever on-campus Playoff game seeing the beauty of the campus on display, along with what appeared to be a strongly Irish crowd, so no Hoosier invasion. My “scouts” at the game (Mike & Anne O’Neill, and my BIL and nephew, Don and Landon Shank), thought there may have been no more that 10% Red presence, and they were quieted early on.
Game On…Game Over
As for the tenor and timbre of the game, even with Riley Leonard’s opening-drive tipped interception, there was still a positive vibe. My impression of IU QB Kevin Rourke was that the moment was too big for him — he never looked comfortable or confident, and that showed in his forced pass within the Red Zone that was intercepted by Xavier Watts at our two, setting up the uppercut by Jeremiyah Love the next play for 98 yards. And for all the bravado and bluster of Coach Curt Cignetti in the build up to the game — including this treasure on GameDay mere hours before kickoff: “We don't just beat Top 25 teams, we beat the s--- out of them” — they sure executed a meek and mild game plan, not one as if their season’s end was looming.
The final score and stats skew to make IU seem competitive, but their first nine drives ended in an INT, six punts, end of the half, and a measly FG. Nearly half of their 278 total yards came on their final two drives for TDs. We played dominant defense: three sacks, two hurries, seven more TFLs, three breakups, and an INT, with a 20% Havoc Rate. Al Golden was unconcerned with how the D played at the end: “At that point I didn't think continuing to show elaborate pressures in that situation was to our benefit, to be quite honest with you. So I could've called a better game at the end there for the guys and helped them out.” In other words, we did not care about garbage-time scores, but rather wanted to not give anything away to Georgia, so we just played vanilla defense because the game was won. And Denbrock seemed to do the same on O.
Note that when Love had his breakaway 98-yard TD run, he said that he actually decelerated towards the end (with the brick wall looming), but tracked the Indiana DBs trying to catch him on the Jumbotron, and he covered the ball with two arms from the five-yard line in — Deland McCullough must be so juiced! He said, “He wasn’t gonna catch me.” I’d offer than Jadarian Price may done the same thing given that blocking.
Here’s some wild variance in our first three drives:
Two plays, -1 yard, 43 seconds, Leonard’s pass intercepted after being tipped
One play, 98 yards, 14 seconds, TD run by Love
16 plays, 83 yards, 9:08, 5-yard TD pass by Leonard to Jayden Thomas
Something Special
Wasn’t it awesome to see PK Mitch Jeter hit two of his FG attempts — especially his first, from 49 yards (downside: a later attempt was blocked)? And as long as I’m on Special Teams, how about the reverse on the KO return, with the toss from Jaden Harrison to always-wiggly Jordan Faison for a 43-yard return? But especially loved Freeman’s use of trickeration down near the goal line that forced Cignetti to burn a timeout as we shifted out of a FG formation to baffle his team — Freeman’s wry smile was telling. We’ve successfully executed fake kicks for first downs against Navy, Georgia Tech, USC, and even baffled the officiating crew so much they had to nullify the TD against Virginia.
Some standouts to note: Xavier Watts led the team with 10 tackles, including half a TFL, and with his pick, he now has 13 INTs in his last 24 games. Also, to show how non-dependent we are on our passing game, Jordan Faison’s 89 yards receiving were the most for any player this year.
First Principles from Freeman
Also, Jeremiyah Love does not even get recruited by Brian Kelly — not even a reach goal for him — and thus, the dynamism of this team, the overall speed, especially from this one special player — never even gets realized without the abrupt and jarring change that happened in December of 2021. In retrospect, what a great change it was.
Another dissimilar but related aspect of this team from the speed that Marcus Freeman has recruited is the tough attitude he has brought — the physicality. He attempted to disavow his one-word answer before the Army game because it was so honest and blunt, when asked what the Irish needed that night — “Violence.” That’s probably an inapt term for what he meant, but his point is pertinent — he wants his team, especially his linemen on each side, to dominate their opponents thoroughly (as former AA Center Jeff Faine said, “I want to make the guy across from me want to quit the game”). And if you’ve missed it, O Lineman Pat Coogan was caught on video prior to the Louisville win, and now again before the Playoff win, with a particularly impassioned and profane rant that I won’t repeat here except for the bumper-sticker phrase: “60 minutes of F&*k You football!!” (His father told him he was glad his grandmother was not on social media).
Football can be a rather simple game — block, tackle, beat your opponent to the gaps in the field to advance, or stop the advance, of the ball. When you get your athletes focused on excelling at each of those simple things, your team wins. Speed and physicality are the bedrock of these. Indiana ran plays where they thought they could gain outside speed advantages, only to be shocked by the speed of our defenders. Be awed by Love’s long TD run, but also at true freshman Anthonie Knapp’s sealing block on a first-team All-B1G DT that enabled the run — physicality to enable speed, leading to domination.
This is not your predecessor’s Irish.
Hoosiers: “We hold teams to 70.8 yards rushing per game!”
J. Love: “Spot me at our two.”
Cup of Cheer
Was it a perfect game by the Irish? Not even close, but that provides Freeman and his staff areas to focus on for improvement, and motivation. And, of course, he’ll continue to bring up NIU. Relish this historic win, knowing it’s the first step of several others to become champions this season. There is a lot more heat than light out there right now; that is, there is a lot of chatter and friction and negativity, but few cogent takes on what is happening. These Irish are in a great spot to beat Georgia, which is the only thing we need to be focused on. They are the SEC champions, but also lost two games and nearly a third this season — to an ACC team, heaven forbid! Freeman’s game plan against Indiana was solid: thump them early, be physical, control the clock, and give away nothing more to Georgia.
A Unique Tag Line
