Defense Not Good, Offense Not Good Enough Against Notre Dame
Simply put, the SU defense wasn’t good enough to stay with Notre Dame. The Orange allowed big play after big play against the Irish, and that was the death blow for the Orange, starting right from the opening play.
The defense has struggled, as it has all year to contain receivers and limit the big play. The secondary has had major issues covering receivers down field. We’ve seen this all year long. This week, against DeShone Kizer, that was no different. Kizer is simply one of the best quarterbacks in the country, and Equanimeous St. Brown has become one of the top receivers in the country with his performance so far this season.
When you allow 50 points, the defense doesn’t do a good enough job.
Offensively, there were plays and points left on the field. A drop here, an illegal motion penalty there, and next thing you know the Orange is getting stopped drive after drive. A scoreless 3rd didn’t help, neither did a blocked PAT (brought back for 2 points) and a missed field goal.
This was another game where the stats look fantastic for Eric Dungey, and I think Dungey did all he could in this one. With 363 yards passing, while completing nearly 61% of his attempts, as well as 5 total touchdowns, it is tough to complain about the outing he had.
The problem with the SU offense came with the running game. Dungey was the leading rusher with 49 yards on 17 carries. While Saturday’s game wasn’t exactly conducive to running the ball, and it was far easier to throw the ball than it was to run the ball, it is important to get the running game going at some point. A lot has to do with the offensive line play and some of the injury issues along the offensive line, but the running game has to be significantly better than it has been through five weeks.
The Orange has to be better defensively, that much is obvious, but the offense has to be better as well. It sounds crazy to say that after the offense put up 33 points, which matches the season high against Colgate. But when the defense is going to give up touchdown after touchdown, the offense has to pick up the slack, fair or not.