SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame’s offense is full of underclassmen who could be explosive weapons, like C.J. Sanders and Equanimeous St. Brown and Josh Adams and Dexter Williams. Of them, Adams is the closest to being established — that Wake Forest defender who he brutally stiff-armed on his 98-yard run last year can attest to it — but there isn’t that clear get-out-of-jail-free guy just yet.
But as Will Fuller leaps across the goal line for the Houston Texans (he caught five passes for 107 yards and a touchdown in his NFL debut Sunday against the Bears, though he dropped what would’ve been a long touchdown, too), Notre Dame’s offense is emphasizing efficiency with DeShone Kizer at the helm and a bunch of inexperienced playmakers around him.
“That's kind of who we'll be most of the year, high-percentage completions, move the ball around to a number of receivers,” coach Brian Kelly said. “There is not one guy that is going to end up with a hundred catches.”
Kizer completed 15 of 18 passes against Nevada on Saturday, and while he only threw for 156 yards, he accounted for three touchdowns in a brisk 39-10 win. More important than his yardage total was Notre Dame’s offense converting four of its five red zone opportunities into touchdowns with Kizer in the game, with the other stalling into a chip-shot field goal.
Through two games, the Kizer-led Irish offense has seven touchdowns on 10 red zone possessions with two field goals. The only miss came after Texas safety DeShon Elliott’s controversial hit on Torii Hunter Jr. in the end zone in Week 1, after which Justin Yoon’s field goal was blocked.
“You got to understand in the red zone that if the first option is not there, go to the second, or third,” Kizer said. “If the third isn't open, don't force it. That was my biggest fault last year. I wanted to take the first, second or third read, never really considered extending the play.”
This comes back to not having a guy like Fuller or C.J. Prosise (now with the Seattle Seahawks), who both were liable to rip off a 75-yard touchdown any time they touched the ball. Without them, Notre Dame’s offense had to be more efficient as it marched downfield and into the red zone to maintain the level of success it saw in 2015.
Maybe a guy like Sanders or St. Brown takes over that role as a big-play threat, but the way things have gone in Weeks 1 and 2, the Irish offense doesn’t necessarily need that.
“The game is not really fast down there for (Kizer),” Kelly said. “It’s starting to slow down."