Rakes Report #134: Go on dust your shoulders off, keep it moving (The Virginia Tech Review)
~optional musical accompaniment~
1) We are in a bit of a weird spot. On one hand, Notre Dame overcame a number of potentially crippling missteps and rallied for a thrilling victory over Virginia Tech to get to 6-2, the record a team that most people predicted to go 10-2 or 9-3 would likely have through eight games. On the other, they were a 17-point favorite and needed a miracle drive to win at home a week after they got trounced in Ann Arbor. We won’t know the true framing for this game until November ends: Was it a sign that things were coming off the rails and that we might be in for a disastrous final month, a gutsy victory to start a five-game win streak that gets the team in its second straight New Year’s Six bowl or something in between? Stay tuned.
2) Let’s start by celebrating that impressive and absurd (18 plays in under three minutes?!) final drive for Ian Book, Chase Claypool and the Notre Dame offense. Along the way they converted two fourth downs, including a 4th and 10 strike to the Canadian senior, who now has at least a half dozen catches this year where there seems to be no conceivable way he’s going to get a toe in and then he does. After the week and season Book had it was great to get to see him high-stepping into the end zone for the go ahead score, followed by a “Maybe I should get into close-up magic”-level hold from Jay Bramblett for the go-ahead point. That drive couldn’t and wouldn’t have happened without the Irish defense getting a necessary stop, capped by a Khalid Kareem sack. On top of all of that, the game ended when Kyle Hamilton, who survived a targeting penalty review earlier in the game, picked off the Hokies’ final pass of the game. There was a lot of narrative stuff going on here.
I’ve now watched the final play/drive highlights a few times and two fun random things: Flutie cutting off Tirico to insist pressure is coming only for no pressure to come and Book flipping the ball backwards as he heads deeper into the sideline to celebrate. Also still cannot believe Claypool got a toe down and that Book was able to shake off a rough day by finding him on the 4th and 10. Take some time to watch those plays again because with some separation from the agony of most of that game they were really, really special.
3) The reason Notre Dame needed the miracle rally against a team that couldn’t throw the ball is because pretty much everything went wrong leading up to that. The offense that had been perfect in the red zone saw two turnovers (including the first lost fumble by a running back in years) and a missed 35-yard field goal from Jonathan Doerer, who had been so steady all season. The Irish dominated the first half and should have been up somewhere in the realm of 10 to 21 points but instead were tied because of a gut punch 2011 throwback 95+ yard fumble return.* (Book also threw another pick in the third because someone named Divine Deablo was destined to make trouble at Notre Dame Stadium.) It’s a testament to the theory suggesting the 2010s broke time that so many people viewed a thing that last occurred eight years ago as a frequent occurrence against the Irish, but unlike South Florida and USC the Irish were able to win this game.
* Fun fact: If Jafar Armstrong doesn’t convert that dandy of a 3rd and 10 where he juked one defender and plowed through the second, the Irish try a field goal and barring a blocked kick return it’s at worst a 14-7 game at the half. Also, if JOK is able to corral the fumble that started that drive, he scores to make it 21-7. Also, if Jahmir Smith or C’Borius Flemister — who’ve proven quite adept at goal line work so far this season — get that carry instead of Armstrong, perhaps it isn’t fumbled and it’s an Irish touchdown. A lot had to go wrong for this game to be tied at halftime and boy howdy did it.
Other things that went wrong? Robert Hainsey fractured his ankle and is done for the season, so combined with Tommy Kraemer’s injury last week means the remainder of at least November will be played with reserves on the right side of the line. North Allegheny’s Josh Lugg did a solid job in emergency tackle duty next to Trevor Ruhland and thankfully the Irish won’t be going against super athletic defensive lines the rest of the way so they should be all right but this is about the limit of playable depth. I have many questions about some of Chip Long’s play calling, as there were headscratchers aplenty on Saturday afternoon highlighted by a quick hit to Chris Finke on 3rd and goal from the 18. I understand that Book isn’t firing on all cylinders and there isn’t an elite running back on the roster to simplify things but this is a big four-game stretch for both Long and Book because there isn’t an elite defense left on the regular season schedule. Go put up some points, please, because I don’t think opposing defenses are going to play the same three-man front as Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster did on the final 18 plays.
(If you’re thinking “Notre Dame needs more playmakers on offense” I strongly agree, so it’s nice that they currently have verbal commitments from a running back, wide receiver and tight end ranked in the top 52 of the 247 composite, including two five-stars. This is getting too far ahead, but in the 2021 class, they currently have verbals from two wide receivers and a tight end ranked in the top 102. While we should not count on his return, Top 100 wide receiver Kevin Austin might be a shot in the arm next season as well. The only good thing about our current problem is that it appears solutions are maybe on the way.)
4) Foster has been defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech for 33 years. After the game he paid Book quite a compliment, saying, “I’ve been in three of these kinds of losses. At Syracuse, against BC and then this game, and they’re all extremely tough because in each of those situations, our kids played their tail off.”
The Syracuse game was 1998 when Donovan McNabb helmed the Orange and the BC game was 2007 with Matt Ryan at quarterback, both last-second losses for the Hokies. (Both of those videos are extremely fun throwbacks if you’re bored at work this week.) I don’t think Book is going to be a top three pick in the NFL draft but that is still a really high company for the Irish quarterback to maintain in the mind of a long-time fixture of college football. Last week we talked about how much joy was stolen from and this time around the Irish were able to rob a special moment from their guests, which is always nice.
5) Defense had a nice bounce back, holding the Hokies to under four yards per play and three yards per rush. Granted, Virginia Tech’s offense was Not Good as Quincy Patterson went just 9 of 28 but they locked down for some field goals in the second half when a touchdown would have been debilitating. They started the game by forcing three-and-outs on six of the first seven drives and allowed just 13 points, with the one touchdown they did give up aided by 30 yards in penalties and an inexplicable play where Donte Vaughn gave a 15-yard cushion on 4th and 4. Credit to the Hokie receivers for making a couple of incredible catches to give the offense any kind of life but this was not a great unit with Patterson at QB and Clark Lea’s defense did a nice job not letting them rise above their station.
While we’re on the defense, a little bit of news: On Sunday, Ohio State safety Isaiah Pryor announced he was transferring to Notre Dame, where he’ll be able to play starting in 2020 with two seasons of eligibility remaining. Pryor was a Top 100 recruit who didn’t click in Columbus but there’s the potential for Lea and Terry Joseph to help remold his talents. Defensive backfield was going to be a concern next season and this certainly won’t hurt the situation.
6) Those referees were awful. How is college officiating so bad? At least they got the booth reviews, including on targeting, correct, but goodness. It’s probably justice that Doerer missed that field goal considering the Irish drive was extended by a very dicey roughing the passer call.
7) Winning Is Hard/Schadenfreude Round Up: A lot of the top teams were off and many others took care of business, so there wasn’t much here until Florida State fired Willie Taggart on Sunday afternoon. Taggart was in the middle of just his second season with the Seminoles but had just suffered a 27-10 home loss to Miami to fall to 4-5. With assistant buyouts this move will cost Florida State around $20 million, and they also paid $3 million to Oregon and $1.3 million to South Florida to initially get Taggart. A true disaster all the way around.
Also in the Sunshine State, Florida lost to Georgia in a battle of top ten teams because when two highly ranked teams play one of them has to lose. Early in the game Dan Mullen went empty set on a fourth and short the Gators didn’t pick up, which probably didn’t matter considering how well Jake Fromm and the Dawgs defense played but it’s absolutely a thing we would discuss all week if we were Florida fans.
SMU’s undefeated season came to an end at Memphis in one of the more enjoyable games you’ll watch all year. App State lost their first game of the year at home to Georgia Southern as double-digit favorites, likely knocking them out of New Year’s Six discussion. Cincinnati was a 24.5-point favorite at East Carolina and trailed most of the game before a field goal at the gun. Undefeated Baylor was a big home favorite over West Virginia but won by three. Oregon and Utah were both down double digits on the road at Southern Cal and Washington before prevailing. (Chris Petersen is 5-4 this year, by the way.) Auburn only beat Ole Miss by six on the Plains.
Scott Frost lost to what looked like a hopeless Purdue team and the Huskers are now 4-5. Pat Fitzgerald’s offense scored a field goal which is pretty impressive but unfortunately the 7-2 Hoosiers scored 34 and the Wildcats are now 1-7. The Taggart news likely made Chad Morris nervous as Arkansas lost by 30 at home to Mississippi State and remains winless in the SEC through nearly two seasons. Kevin Sumlin lost at home to the resurgent Oregon State Beavers and now the Wildcats are 4-5. In some positive news for the Irish schedule, Virginia won at North Carolina to improve to 6-3.
8) As frustrating as most of that game was, you can boil it down to “Notre Dame outgained their 5-2 ACC opponent by over 200 yards, doubled them up in first downs and won” which is certainly leaving out a lot of relevant details but is accurate as far as words go. I am thrilled these seniors all got a really cool moment at home, because it would have been so easy for the Irish suffer defeat considering all the bad breaks. You all have watched Notre Dame lose that exact game many, many times and college football teams lose that game nearly every weekend but the Irish overcame it all and pulled through with a gutsy drive from a quarterback who’s now 15-3 as a starter.
Regarding the remaining games: Navy and Boston College, the final two home opponents, rolled to a combined 114 points this weekend against UConn and Syracuse so they’ll be happy to put up some rushing yards should their hosts be interested in obliging. I fear Stanford in Palo Alto as a loss until Kelly proves he can win there, particularly if KJ Costello is healthy. But first the Irish must go to Duke, for a night game, with David Cutcliffe and the Blue Devils coming off a bye. Prior to their idle weekend they had faded a bit, but you know they’re going to throw the kitchen sink at their high-profile guest.
Road games against teams that have crafty coaches and two weeks to prepare are tough, but this was always going to be tricky. The Irish have a talent advantage, they’re coming off a wild comeback and most importantly, this isn’t supposed to be easy. Go to Durham, avenge the 2016 debacle and get back home to keep this rolling. Only four games left — how?! — so let’s both cherish and win them all.
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