Week 13 Data Review: Notre Dame 49, Army 14

The data story coming out of Notre Dame’s 49-14 rout of Army.

The run continues!

With Week 13 in the books, this 2024 Notre Dame football squad is 10-1 and on a nine-game winning streak. They’ve added Army to their conquest list and not only gave the Black Knights their first loss of the season but also spoiled what was turning out to be one of the program’s most successful seasons to date.

So let’s see what details we can dig out from the data.

Scoring Overview

The Irish finished the game up 49-14 over Army. It was one of ND’s most consistent scoring games of the season. They tallied up 14 points in the 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd quarters and tacked on an additional seven to close out the 4^th quarter. Army managed to score in the 2^nd and 4^th quarters, but the game’s outcome was never really in question.

Scoring Details

Notre Dame put its rushing strength on full display against what had been one of college football’s stingiest defenses against the run. Five of the Irish’s touchdowns came on the ground, and they also claimed two touchdowns through the air. Army’s two scores were rushing touchdowns.

Special Teams Detour

A note about the field goal “situation.” It’s been a pain point for a while now and ND’s field goal kicking challenges took center stage against Army. It’s not really a big concern for me because of how the offense and defense are operating but it’s safe to call it out as a problem now.

Senior Mitch Jeter has attempted 11 field goals so far in 2024, compared with 14 for all of the 2023 season. He hit 12 of 14 last season but through Week 13 he’s 6-11with a 55% success rate.

He was 5-5 from between 20 and 29 yards last season and is currently 2-2 from the rsame range. But Jeter is 0-1 from 30 to 39 yards (3-3 in 2023), 4-7 from 40 to 49 yards (3-3 in 2023) and 0-1 from 50+ yards (1-3 in 2023). There’s definitely the injury to account for but he’s also been asked to kick much longer field goals this year. Unfortunately, those results haven’t been good.

Drive Summary

The only real blemishes on Notre Dame’s Week 13 drive summary were the two missed field goals and an early turnover on downs. But none of those mishaps were particularly damaging. The turnover on downs capped off a 10-play, 73-yard drive and was sandwiched between four touchdown drives. Similar situations with the missed field goals.

Seeing as how Army was 9-1 and ranked as #19 by the CFP committee, you couldn’t really write it up better.

Offensive Benchmarks

The Notre Dame offense has leveled out and I daresay taken on something like an identity. They’ve continued their run of exceeding 2023’s total offensive benchmarks per game. The passing yards continue to hover below last season’s benchmarks but the rushing attack is almost a perfect compliment. As a team, Notre Dame averaged 9.4 yards per carry against Army.

Irish QBs Riley Leonard and Steve Angeli strung together the most accurate passing game. Leonard was 77%, 10-14 and Angeli was 80%, 4-5.

Rushing Details

Notre Dame’s 2024 rushing group is getting better and better down the stretch. Each of the team’s key running backs walked away with touchdowns against Army. Jadarian Price and Jeremiyah Love both had two and freshman Aneyas Williams recorded his second career rushing touchdown. Love led the team in production with seven carries for 130 yards, while Price tallied up 53 yards on 10 carries and Williams had 62 yards on three carries.

Receiving Details

While the passing game largely took a backseat against Army, the wealth was spread wide across the receiving group. Beaux Collins led the team in catches, with four for 37 yards. Jordan Faison led in production with 46 yards on two catches. He and Jeremiyah Love pulled in the two receiving touchdowns against the Black Knights. Tight end Mitchell Evans and senior wide receivers Jayden Harrison and Kris Mitchell also made decent contributions to the team effort.

Defensive Summary

The defense’s young players continue to produce at a high tick. Freshman and sophomore’s accounted for 64% of the unit’s total tackles and 67% of solo tackles. Sophomores Adon Shuler (Safety) and Christian Gray (Cornerback) were the young standouts in the secondary. Freshman Jaiden Ausberry (Linebacker) and sophomores Donovan Hinish (Defensive Lineman) and Jaylen Sneed (Linebacker) represented the youth up front.

This has got to be the deepest, from both position and age perspectives, that the Irish defense has been in a long time. And that’s saying a lot.

Final Thoughts

Notre Dame football is firing on all (at leas most cylinders) going into their final regular season game against USC. There was a ton of controversy surrounding the program in the beginning of the season but a lot of that has been overshadowed by the misfortunes of other big-name, CPF contender programs and consistent winning.

And I get the feeling that’s the best position for things to be in. Marcus Freeman and company have the team locked in and they seem to be incredibly confident with executing with the tools at their disposal.

I’m excited and I hope you are too.

Cheers and Go Irish!!