Notre Dame won a football game on Monday night, but don’t tell most Notre Dame fans that since most are upset the Irish didn’t come out looking like mid-season form. Notre Dame’s offense sputtered out of the gates while the defense took a look bit of time to get settled before ultimately at least resembling the defense that power last year’s playoff run.
Tony Jones Jr led the Irish offense with 112 yards on the ground while Chase Claypool came up just short of 100 yards receiving.
We are going to have much more on this one over the next couple of days since we have a lot of time between now and Notre Dame’s next game (and these night games on work nights are for the birds).
Frank Vitovitch has been Co-Owner and Editor in Chief of UHND.com since joining forces with Kyle Flavin in 1999. Since that time, he has written over 2,000 articles covering Notre Dame football, recruiting, and basketball. He also works with all staff and external writers on all articles published on UHND.com. Frank's love for Notre Dame football started at a young age watching Rocket Ismail give opposing coaches ulcers in the late 1980's. By day Frank works in marketing and holds a degree in Digital Media from Drexel University. Frank's work has been cited by online/print editions of NBC Sports, ESPN, and Sports Illustrated and has been quoted on air by ESPN's Collin Cowherd. He's conducted interviews with Notre Dame legends Rocket Ismail, Randy Kinder, Lee Becton, Reggie Brooks, Michael Stonebreaker, and Ned Bolcar among others over his 20+ years of covering Notre Dame football. He's also been published in the print edition of USA Today Sports Weekly and the USA Today College Football Preview multiple times. Other Published Works/Citations for Frank Three Reasons Notre Dame Will Beat Alabama - USA Today Notre Dame Suspends WR Kevin Stepherson, RB C.J. Holmes Indefinitely - Bleacher Report Notre Dame / Ohio State Fiesta Bowl Preview - Eleven Warriors Brace Yourself: The Fighting Irish are Relevant Again - Sports on Earth Interviews with the Enemy: A Q&A with Frank Vitovitch of UHND - Yahoo! Sports Five Good Minutes: Notre Dame Football Preview With UHND.com - BC Interruption Vicious Electronic Questioning with UHND - MGO Blog
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I was more impressed by NDs DTs than I was with their DEs. Jamir Smith is a load, as was Tony Jones. But their lack of break-away speed limits NDs big-play potential (see: Josh Adams, Dexter Williams). Another injury to Jafar won’t help. DBs played well, especially young Hamilton and, as usual, Gilman. Drew White impressed. Despite scoring 5 TDs, the O’ left more to be desired. Here’s hoping Claypool doesn’t have a shoulder injury like the other two starters who couldn’t play have. That, indeed, would be a major loss. Too many missed tackles and failures on 3rd and short tonight; but being the first game, there’s time to improve on those shortcomings. They say good teams usually improve the most between their first and second games. There’s plenty of room for that. But an 18 point victory on the road against a team fired up to show the country they weren’t as bad as last year suggested was understandable.