Areas to improve in all phases of the game.
QUICK OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE NOTRE DAME GAME
LINE PLAY Notre Dame’s opening series set the tone early in this game, even though Tech was able to get Notre Dame off the field fairly quickly. P.J. Davis was almost tackled on the first play which kept Notre Dame from a huge loss. That was one of two holding calls not called in the very first series.
Notre Dame was kept from scoring in their subsequent series but there was a blatant holding on a 14 yard run. In Notre Dame’s 3rd series there was holding on a 2nd and 14 play.
Well into the first half it became clear that “NFL caliber” offensive linemen do two things really well. They hold their positions and do not allow penetration, even though they do not get a great deal of push. They are physical enough that they can get away with holding against less physical players. P.J. Davis especially had to be tired after this game since he was held repeatedly while trying to fight through blocks.
On JT’s long touchdown run that was called back due to Tech holding it was clear to me that this hold was no more egregious than many of Notre Dame’s holds which were not called. This is not to play the refs, this is not to make excuses, it is simply an observation. The Notre Dame line was one of the best I have ever seen and that allowed them to get away with things. To me it points up the fact that holding is just part of the game now if you are an elite level lineman. Holding without getting caught, that is.
TECH’S SKILL POSITIONS Justin Thomas proved that he still has a lot to learn. This was not going to be a game in which Notre Dame gave up a lot of big plays. He needed to play within the offense and take what they were giving. I wonder if playing Alcorn State and Tulane gave him a false sense of his ability. On one play in particular, which I think was emblematic, Justin saw the pitch man covered and three other players bearing down on him. He faked the pitch and then tried to juke the first tackler. What he needed to do was plant his foot, shift to high gear and grab the 3 yards Notre Dame was giving him. Instead he tried to make a bigger play than was available to him.
TECH’S TEAM VIBE It was frustrating to watch Tech for several reasons. As mentioned above players often tried to do too much on offense rather than taking the positive yards and waiting to “get ‘em next time.” Had Tech played within itself they still might not have won but it would have been a lower scoring game for Notre Dame because Tech would have held the ball longer.
Not sure if this was a strategy or just poor field leadership but Tech had a malingering attitude about getting ready for the next play on offense. Way too many times JT was just getting under center with as little as 8 seconds left on the play clock. This occurred over and over again leading to having to call time out on several occasions. Not sure why we did not see the Tech from the recent past which hustled to the line and giving the offense 28 seconds or more to go through their reads.
NOTRE DAME’S NEW RECORD SETTING 91 YARD TOUCHDOWN For what it is worth Jabari was held not once but twice on that play. It is unclear to me if he could have slowed the runner down if he could have gotten to the gap but a penalty would at least have erased the TD.
TECH BEAT THEMSELVES FOR MOST OF THE GAME Notre Dame fans will no doubt feel they put a whipping on us. I do not see it that way. Perhaps Notre Dame would have won the game regardless but we were at team out of sync for most of the game. We clearly are not clicking yet as a team, seemed unusually tight at times and played the kind of game we played against Duke last year. Missed field goals, bad punts and fumbling the ball were just some of the symptoms.
When the game was out of reach Tech staged a comeback not dissimilar to the way we did against Duke last year. Perhaps Notre Dame let off the gas but Tech players suddenly looked like they had nothing to lose and played loose. Even the side line looked relaxed and players began to smile.
This game was an important lesson for the team. Wish it had turned out differently but this is why you line up and play the game.
