No. 8 Notre Dame destroys Georgia Tech: 5 instant takeaways
No. 8 Notre Dame moved to 10-1 on the season as they dominated Georgia Tech on senior day, 55-0. Notre Dame will move up in the College Football Playoff rankings a spot this week after No. 7 Michigan State was obliterated by No. 4 Ohio State, but what was there to take-away from this game?
Here are five very good things:
5. First Down Dominance:
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Did you notice something similar about several of Notre Dame’s big plays in the first half?
Kevin Austin on the first play of the game, Michael Mayer’s touchdown reception, Lorenzo Styles making a few catches, Austin again for 51 yards just before halftime…
In the first half Tommy Rees was going for the jugular early in series. On 16 first down plays in the first half, Notre Dame averaged 14.2 yards per play.
That. Will. Work.
4. Defensive Front Dominates - Again
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Notre Dame’s defensive front was dominant again today which wasn’t surprising seeing as how they’ve played all season. The pressure they were able to get all day Saturday was nothing short of absurd as Georgia Tech’s offensive line appeared to be more of a MAC level line than a Power Five line.
3. Shutout!
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The most compelling part of the second half was if Notre Dame would keep their shutout, which they did. This defense as a whole hasn’t allowed a touchdown in nine quarters and is averaging allowing 3 points per game in the month of November. I don’t care who you’re playing, those numbers are incredible.
2. Senior Day Special
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There are Notre Dame fans today that are too young to know what life was like before Brian Kelly. Not to say he’s perfect, but I remember freezing my butt off at Notre Dame Stadium on senior days that ended in embarrassing losses to Syracuse and Connecticut.
This is what one of the best programs in the nation is supposed to do to an inferior opponent and it’s what Notre Dame. It happened because…
1. Brian Kelly's best coaching job at Notre Dame
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This is a team that barely survived scares from an average Florida State team and an unimpressive Toledo squad early in September.
They laid an egg against Cincinnati in their biggest game of the regular season which still stings, but did you have this pegged as an 11-win team?
With the overhauls at offensive line, receivers, all levels of the defense, and oh yeah, quarterback, this team had every excuse to be a 9-3 squad. Yet they were able to perform to a 10-1 mark with a likely win at Stanford remaining.
Brian Kelly getting this to be a 10-win season and dominating November like his team has, has been as impressive of a season as Kelly has had in his 12 seasons at Notre Dame, and that is a fact regardless of if they make the College Football Playoff eventually or not.
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