Notre Dame Football: Getting Back to Basics Will Help Salvage Season

With one third of the 2010 season in the books, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish have a 1-3 record with eight games left on the schedule.

The key to getting this season back on track is going back to the basic offensive and defensive philosophies that coach Brian Kelly brought into spring camp.

Coach Kelly's offense is based on multiple receiver sets that spread the run game, basically power football with pulling guards and tackles all from the shotgun.

In theory, this simple run game should thrive because of the explosive passing attack that is supposed to support it. All of this in an up-tempo offense that will see Notre Dame's time of possession look almost paltry compared to what seems logical.

I have always been under the assumption that three of the biggest keys to victory were time of possession, plus a higher number of takeaways than giveaways, equals a good chance at a victory.

Before the season started I had a hard time accepting that leaving the defense on the field more was a good thing, but after looking at the numbers I bought into it. I was wrong.

In 2009 Kelly's offense ranked last in the nation in time of possession (25:46 per game), but ranked fifth in the nation for scoring offense (38.6 points per game). These numbers along with the faith that I have in strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo, led me to think that the defense could keep up with this hectic pace.

After four games the Irish are averaging 25.19 minutes a game in time of possession with opponents averaging 34.90 minutes per game. Looking at the numbers, Notre Dame peaked during the loss to Michigan with 25:51 minutes, 154 yards rushing, and averaging seven yards per play of total offense.

The numbers in all categories have been down since then. So far this season the Irish have intercepted five passes, and been picked off five times, while fumbling seven times, losing four, and recovering only one fumble.

Coach Kelly's offense is his offense and it will stay that way, as it should.

When I say get back to basics all I mean is that for the time being—the remainder of this season–maybe he should slow the tempo somewhat until more of the pieces are in place, I truly believe that Michael Floyd and Kyle Rudolph will be back next year, and although the stamina of the Irish looks greatly improved over past years, it can only get better.

Notre Dame is averaging 315.5 yards per game passing, which would be acceptable if the running game was in order, but 110.8 yards per game rushing with two rushing touchdowns doesn't offset the passing attack the way we were led to believe before the season started.

Varying the game tempo would allow the offense to control the pace of play to give the defense a little time to rest.

Going back to basics in no way means getting away from Coach Kelly's offensive philosophies. It just means slowing down and not making it too complicated at this point in time might pay bigger dividends in years to come.