Regain The Fourth-Quarter Advantage
In Notre Dame’s first four games, the Irish flexed their depth and conditioning by outscoring their opponents by a collective 31-10. In the past two, they’ve been outscored 21-0.

It’s been miscues more than anything else, but the message is Notre Dame needs to learn how to play a complete game. It’s a natural stepping stone for a team in transition, but at the midway point of the season, the Irish need to get beyond that.

Zoning Out
Notre Dame’s red-zone offense remains a dead zone. Their 12-for-22 success rate (55 percent) is the worst in the FBS.

It would seem that much that is a reflection of missed field goals, but only one of Walker’s attempts (misses or makes) has come from the red zone. All of his other attempts have been from beyond 40 yards.

The real culprit is ND’s still-spotty running game. The Irish still rank a pedestrian 109th in rushing offense and still have trouble on third-and-short and fourth-and-short.

The good news is that ND faces only two rushing defense ranked higher than 40th the rest of the season. The bad news is those two (BC 19th and USC 10th) are statically superior to any team they have seen so far in run defense.

Clausen’s passing has opened up the running game somewhat between the 20s, but if the Irish are going to stop being red-faced so often in the red zone, they’re going to have to learn how to play smash-mouth football.

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