Notre Dame Mid-Season Checkpoint: The Seven X-Factors Revisited
The Irish have had a bumpy road to a 3-3 record, but are on the upswing. Three straight victories against Boston College, Pittsburgh, and Western Michigan are helping Notre Dame put the tough losses to Michigan, Michigan State, and Stanford in the rear view mirror.
Before the first game of the season, I listed seven X-Factors that would determine the direction of Notre Dame's season. Now it's time to revisit those X-factors and see how they've played out as well as what is needed before the last big games of the season against No. 11 Utah and arch rival Southern Cal.
7. Wide Receivers Not Named
1 of 7
Correlation to Performance: High
Grade: C-
Remaining Outlook: The receivers still look like they are learning to drive a stick-shift on a turbocharged Porshe. Sometimes they gun it, others they completely stall.
Inconsistency (including from Floyd) is a big reasons the offense has yet to really roar. There have been flashes from Theo Riddick, but players like TJ Jones cannot disappear after one good game. Few others have appeared at all.
With the reliable safety net of Kyle Rudolph now done for the season, play-makers must emerge (especially in the red zone) to keep this offense from in gear.
6. Manti Te'o and the Hype
2 of 7
Correlation to Performance: Medium
Grade: B+
Remaining Outlook: Te'o has solidified himself in the middle of the defense, including a personal best 21 tackles against Stanford. He has been solid against both the run and the pass, helped by the emergence of his partner-in-crime, Carlo Calabrese.
Te'o still finds himself out of position more often than he should, but his sheer athleticism and instincts are able to cover many mental mistakes. If Te'o's tackles for loss spike in the second half of the season, it will be a good sign that mental mistakes are fading quickly.
5. Offensive Line Cohesion
3 of 7
Correlation to Performance: Medium
Grade: B-
Remaining Outlook: This unit has at least met expectations by keeping Dayne Crist's jersey out of the laundry. They suffered a lapse against Stanford, who was able to generate significant pressure rushing just three linemen, but have otherwise been solid.
The running game has been average, and the line still doesn't do a good job shedding blocks and getting to the second and third levels. Depth is very thin at center after backup Dan Wenger left the team following concussion issues.
Fortunately starter Braxton Cave has had little trouble with the transition to shotgun snaps, and if he can stay healthy a strong foundation on this unit is in place.
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4. Defensive Line Depth
4 of 7
Correlation to Performance: Low
Grade: C-
Remaining Outlook: The correlation to performance is low because the starters are playing like the backups instead of vice versa. Substitutions on the line have virtually no impact on end results.
Defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore is the only reason this unit is not graded a D. For moving back to his natural position, Ethan Johnson has been a virtual non-entity thus far.
The defense has played remarkably given the lack of line performance; if they wake up from their coma, the Irish defense will carry the team to a New Year's day bowl.
3. The Secondary
5 of 7
Correlation to Performance: High
Grade: B
Remaining Outlook: The most noticeable area of improvement in the 2010 Irish is unquestionably the tackling in the secondary. They avoid blockers and seem to make more one-on-one tackles in space than the last few years combined. This unit was much maligned in 2009, but this year can even look itself in the eye.
There are still depth issues, lack of big plays, and occasional breakdowns in coverage, but they are no longer watching the taillights of a wide receiver into the end zone.
2. Dayne Crist's Right Knee
6 of 7
Correlation to Performance: Medium
Grade: B
Remaining Outlook: The ranking of 'medium' only indicates that it is not the knee that has been the problem. If Crist goes out for any reason, the Irish offense disappears.
For reasons that were on full display in the Michigan game, Irish head coach Brian Kelly has kept Crist out of harm's way, especially on read-option run plays for the quarterback. However, he also acknowledged that for the Notre Dame offense to truly be effective, Crist needs to be allowed to run more frequently.
When Crist has run, it has been aggressively with little hesitation. If he is allowed to run more in the second half, he should do so by pulling the ball down and escaping the pocket when no receivers are open. Too often he has tried to force passes to stared-down and well-covered receivers.
The threat of a run forces the entire defense to adjust.
1. The First Loss
7 of 7Correlation to Performance: High
Grade: B
Remaining Outlook: Losing the heart-breaker of the Michigan game could have been devastating to the psyche of a young team. So could the second consecutive heartbreaking loss at Michigan State. The next game, a blowout loss to Stanford might have been the nail in the coffin.
But this team is learning to fight. The games against Boston College and Pittsburgh were trap games that a team with lesser character might have dropped. Yet they won.
Notre Dame is still making mistakes and has not yet learned how to put a team away, but this team can take a punch and swing back. The win-loss record is the easiest thing by which to judge, and there are no moral victories; but this Irish team is on its way to a very strong second half of the season.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
