Notre Dame’s offense struggled mightily in its season-opener in Columbus on Saturday night.
It was the first career start for quarterback Tyler Buchner, who was never able to get into a rhythm against the Buckeyes. Notre Dame coach said Marcus Freeman said the Irish’ run-heavy approach was intentional — but they averaged just 2.5 yards per rush.
On Wednesday on an episode of Always College Football, ESPN’s Greg McElroy shared some of his concerns
about Notre Dame’s offense moving forward.
“The only issue is I can’t really nail it down to one specific problem,” McElroy said. “The issues were kind of all over the place. They couldn’t run the ball with any type of consistency. The passing game was, for the most part, ineffective with a few good plays. Situationally, 3-for-13 on third downs and failing to convert a red zone trip to a touchdown. Situationally, it has really not been very good.
McElroy also identified a pattern of poor offensive performances for Notre Dame against elite competition
a trend that also includes last season’s loss to Cincinnati, 2 recent performances vs. Georgia and a 10-point showing vs. Clemson in the ACC Championship game.
McElroy said he’ll be looking for Notre Dame offensive coordinator Tommy Rees and his staff to be more creative moving forward in these types of big games.
“Tommy Rees and staff, they need to do a better job of finding ways to create matchup advantages,” he added. “I just think they need to get more out of their receiving group and they might need to be just the tiniest bit more creative in the run game as well.”
Notre Dame faces Marshall at home in Week 2.
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