Notre Dame Can - And Must - Improve The Ground Game In 2016

Notre Dame fell just short of the playoffs in 2015, losing twice in the regular season by a combined four points to a pair of teams that finished the year ranked in the top five at season’s end.

In an attempt to make another run at the playoffs, the Irish will once again look to feature the ground attack. Notre Dame must not only continue the run game dominance that saw the Irish set a modern day school record by averaging 5.6 yards per carry, it must improve upon its success.

Personnel losses make that a monumental task. Notre Dame will have to improve its ability to run the ball despite the loss of running back C.J. Prosise (1,032 rushing yards in 2015), consensus All-American left tackle Ronnie Stanley and center Nick Martin. Notre Dame also loses dynamic wideout Will Fuller, whose speed helped keep teams honest.

That’s a pair of first round NFL draft picks (Stanley, Fuller), a second round choice (Martin) and a third round selection (Prosise). Difficult as it may be, improving on the ground is certainly a possibility.

1. The offensive line must jell quickly, and then dominate: Notre Dame’s offensive line was the driving force behind the 2015 run game success. Four of Notre Dame’s starters – Stanley, Martin, left guard Quenton Nelson and right tackle Mike McGlinchey – finished among the top 15 players in the nation at their position according to Pro Football Focus.

Stanley and Martin are off to the NFL and 30-game starter Steve Elmer graduated early and retired from football. That is 104 career starts that Notre Dame must replace.

McGlinchey is moving to left tackle, where he and Nelson are poised to form one of the nation’s premier run blocking duos. Sam Mustipher is set to replace Martin at center, and he capped a strong spring with an outstanding performance in the Blue-Gold Game. Talented junior right tackle Alex Bars should be healthy by the time fall camp begins.

There are two major questions surrounding the line. First, who starts at right guard between seniors Hunter Bivin and Colin McGovern — or does standout freshman Tommy Kraemer eventually take over? The second is how quickly can the line get on the same page. If it happens quickly, it should once again carry the offense.

2. Better pre-snap decision-making by the quarterbacks: Notre Dame started two quarterbacks in 2015 – junior Malik Zaire and sophomore DeShone Kizer. Neither entered the season with much, if any, experience, and at times it showed. Both had some issues making the necessary pre-snap decision to get the offense out of a bad play, into a good play, or constantly be prepared to read the correct defender.

On the above play, Zaire either does not see, or does not react to the shift by the linebacker and safety behind him. With the linebacker walking off the edge and the safety fitting down in the box to protect him, Notre Dame does not have a way to protect the edge. In this instance, Zaire should have checked out of the play.

While Zaire is at fault in this particular clip, both quarterbacks had issues with this during the 2015 season. The better Notre Dame’s quarterbacks are at getting the offense out of bad looks, the more effective the run game will be.

3. Continued schematic evolution: In many ways the Notre Dame ground game was similar to the 2014 version, but in several very important ways it was also quite different.

Notre Dame adapted to its personnel – both in the backfield and up front – which resulted in the run game making huge strides. Teams adapted to the ground game during the season, and by the end of the year the Irish had again adjusted to them, ending the season with a 299-yard performance at Stanford, who finished the season ranked 30th nationally in rushing defense.

The Irish coaches will again have to adjust their schemes and formations in order to build around the returning talent and the new starters.

Several things are certain: Notre Dame will feature the Inside and Outside Zones, it will run its Power and Power Read concepts and it will have some misdirection runs. How they are executed, the frequency with which they are run and the counters that Notre Dame has with them will go a long way toward determining their success.

4. Building around Tarean Folston and Josh Adams, finding a role for Dexter Williams: When Adams and Prosise were together in the backfield, Notre Dame had a pair of long, fast and dynamic runners who were a threat to score every time they touched the ball. There were some schematic differences between how each was used, but by and large they were very similar runners.

Adams and senior Folston have two distinctly different skill sets, and building a run game around them will take some work. If the Irish coaches do it correctly, having this type of backfield is much harder to prepare for by a defense.

Under Kelly, the Irish coaches have proven themselves effective at building a backfield made of runners with different skill sets.

In 2010 it was Cierre Wood and his smooth style to complement the slashing ability of senior Armando Allen and the downhill skills of senior Robert Hughes. Wood combined a year later with then senior Jonas Gray, a one-cut runner who gashed opponents.

In 2012, Theo Riddick was a hybrid of Allen and Gray, but with more elusiveness. Paired with Wood, the Irish had two unique backs that formed a highly productive backfield.

Folston and Adams can be that type of tandem. Adding the explosive skills that the sophomore Williams brings could help ease the loss of Prosise, and a role in the pass game could be found for junior Justin Brent, another converted wide receiver.

5. Limit negatives: As stated in a previous story, the 2015 offense allowed far too many negative runs, making it less efficient. Having Folston back helps, and if he and Adams and improve this part of the ground game the Irish attack will be even more dangerous.

For more on Notre Dame's inefficiency, and why it matters, read here.

6. New wide receivers must block: The downfield blocking of the Notre Dame wide receivers is a widely overlooked and underappreciated aspect of the team’s success in the run game. Former Irish wideouts Chris Brown and Will Fuller were high effort blockers, using desire and quickness to overcome their lack of strength.

Senior Torii Hunter Jr. also was highly effective in the run game His leadership will be crucial to the young receivers, who must understand the importance of their role as blockers.

Sophomore Equanimeous St. Brown was a more than willing – and effective – blocker in his limited reps, which he needs to carry into his more full-time role.

Junior slot Corey Holmes, sophomore slot C.J. Sanders and sophomore receiver Miles Boykin will be new to the rotation, as are freshmen Kevin Stepherson, Javon McKinley and Chase Claypool. Notre Dame will have a bigger and deeper rotation this fall, so in theory the perimeter blocking should be better. Now it is up to the newcomers to take the same level of pride in their blocking the players they are replacing took.

7. Wide receivers must also protect the run game: Too many defenses tried to load the box against the Irish ground game, and when they did Fuller made them pay (as he did below on Notre Dame's opening play versus USC). There is more unproven talent in that area this season.

Notre Dame needs Hunter to be the downfield playmaker he was during the spring. It needs St. Brown to become a vertical threat and for Holmes to make plays over the middle. Getting tight ends Aliz’e Jones and Nic Weishar involved over the middle would also help.

If the wideouts can stretch the field and make teams pay for loading the box, the Notre Dame offense will be fine. Look for the Irish staff to seek to establish the play-action game early and often in 2016.

8. Better production from the two tight end alignments: Notre Dame had some positive moments from its 12 personnel (two tight ends) last season, but it was not as effective as it was in previous seasons.

With Jones and Weishar now a year older, senior Durham Smythe back to full strength (for now) and junior Tyler Luatua back in the fold, Notre Dame should have an opportunity to get creative with how it uses its tight ends in specific roles.

Better production from the tight ends in the run game will result in Notre Dame being able to put bigger players at the point of attack, to better out-leverage defenses and to force defenses to load the box when it wants that for perimeter pass game match ups.

9. Continued big play production: Getting Folston and his slashing style back should help eliminate some of the negative gains that plagued the offense at times in 2015. What Notre Dame cannot sacrifice is the quick-strike and big-play ability of the run game.

Adams and Williams will help with that, but Folston should be able to rip off a number of big runs as well. Many of the factors above will play into this.

10. Run the ball against the better defenses: Notre Dame was not good enough on the ground against the better defenses on the schedule. Against the four best run defenses on the schedule – Boston College, Clemson, Ohio State, Temple – the Irish averaged only 131.8 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry.

Expecting Notre Dame to gash the best defenses on the schedule week after week is not realistic. What is possible – and needed – is for Notre Dame to improve its effectiveness on the ground against those teams, which helps it move the chains and create more opportunities in the pass game.