Maybe we were all too hasty with judging the Irish offense after the first couple of weeks.
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has pivoted his play calling to Drew Pyne and though I wouldn’t say it’s been simplified but it seems more in line for a quarterback who isn’t as dynamic with his legs.
That means the Irish need to get rushing yards the traditional way, out of their running backs and Rees and the offense are doing just that.
Notre Dame has a three-headed monster in the backfield in Audric Estime, Logan Diggs, and Chris Tyree.
Estime has been compared to Jerome Bettis. Diggs might have the most upside and individual talent and Tyree isn’t limited to being a third down back but his skillset falls somewhere in between Estime and Diggs.
Even though it’s still a work in progress, Rees has seemingly turned the corner on how to use the three.
In the win over North Carolina, Estime was dominant almost every time he touched the ball. His physical running style wore down the Tar Heels defense to the tune of 134 yards on just 17 carries. His day was topped off with two touchdowns.
He followed it up with another solid day against BYU. Estime’s yards per carry was 6.9 as he finished with 97 yards on 14 carries.
Diggs was dinged up at the beginning of the season but he’s finding his legs while Rees continues to find ways to maximize Diggs’ strengths. After a 10 carry game in Chapel Hill, he followed it up with 17 carries for 94 yards against BYU.
In the last two games, Tyree has had 26 carries for 122 yards along with 6 receptions.
Notre Dame’s upcoming opponent, Stanford, has struggled stopping the run. Stanford is 121st in the country against the run, giving up an averaged of 207 yards on the ground per game.
It looks like the Irish have begun to find a winning formula on offense and it starts with a dominant three-headed monster.
