NOTRE DAME, IN (UHND.com) – In case you haven’t heard, Michigan has not been able to stop the spread offense this year. The Wolverines have given up 73 points and 1,011 yards of total offense in their losses to Appalachian State and Oregon – two teams that run versions of the spread offense. This inability to stop the spread has led to plenty of internet speculation that Notre Dame should dust off the Georgia Tech game plan and run some of the spread they attempted against the Yellow Jackets, but in reality, Weis should leave that game plan sealed in a vault somewhere and stick with his normal offense.
Considering the state of the Notre Dame offense, the Irish need all of the practice and repetitions they can get at this point. Trying to install some more spread plays for this weekend will only stunt the slow progress this young offense has made under the direction of Jimmy Clausen.
Right now, the offensive line is still trying to figure out what is going on with their normal blocking schemes. Introducing more spread plays will only further confuse them. The line needs another strong week of practicing the fundamentals of the offense that this team will be running for the entire season and not just a single game.
If the Irish offense we clicking on all cylinders, installing some spread plays would be a great idea, but the offense isn’t clicking at all right now and doing so would be like trying to put a band aid on a cut that requires stitches – it’ll only work so much and in the end you’re going to need to get the stitches anyway.
Enough practice time was already wasted this summer on the spread offense which produced zero points and two turnovers in a little under a half of football against Georgia Tech two weekends ago.
Instead of wasting more, Weis and the offensive coaching staff needs to spend every available second working on fixing an offensive line which has paved the way for (-8) yards rushing, allowed 15 sacks through eight quarters of football, and committed multiple procedure penalties at inopportune times.
Considering the fact that Jimmy Clausen wasn’t full go until right before the Georgia Tech game, he too could use every available snap running the offense that this team will be running for the rest of the year. He’s really only had one full week of practice as the starter so the Irish can’t afford to waste any reps for their talent freshman quarterback either.
The fact also remains that Notre Dame’s version of the spread wasn’t exactly the model of efficiency in its brief appearance against Georgia Tech. The only two drives that did not end in a three and out, ended with a turnover – both fumbles by Demetrius Jones. Those aren’t the kind of results that suggest Notre Dame could effectively run similar plays against Michigan, even if they are allowing over 500 yards of offense per contest.
When Weis made the decision to go with Jimmy Clausen as his starter, he essentially abandoned the spread attack he attempted to install and now he must stay the course in order for this offense to establish itself. The only way this offense, especially the line, will improve is if there is some stability in what they are practicing and being taught.
Right now there are just too many problems to fix on this offense for the Irish to be spending time working on plays that would most likely go back in the vault next week when Michigan State comes to town. What the Irish need is another week of working on fundamentals with Clausen taking the snaps since that is likely the way it’s going to be for the rest of the year.
