Defense Better Than Offense

The defense played very well on Saturday, and the offense played well on one drive. On 25 first downs, UCLA gained just 29 yards, or 1.2 yards per play. Irish head coach Charlie Weis had glowing remarks for the Irish defense. “The defense had one mental error for the entire game. That’s almost unbelievable,” said Weis. He added, “If we hold them to 17 points, I’m expecting to win…and that’s what the defense did. The defense should be commended.”

Weis had fewer positive remarks for the offense. He pointed out that “we were 4 and 19 on third down…gave up 5 sacks and 9 pressures. That’s horrendous.” In addition to those numbers, Weis could have also pointed out that ND’s offensive line played very poorly. ND gained 79 yards rushing while losing 38. The offensive line is going to have to play much better if ND the rest of the season.

One positive offensively was the play of wide receiver David Grimes. ND has been waiting for a third receiver to step up and supplement Rhema McKnight and Jeff Samardzjia, and Grimes appears to be the guy they have been waiting for. He has battled injuries, but he bounced back to catch 8 passes on Saturday, which more than doubled his career total. Grimes gives The Naval Academy one more weapon to worry about next Saturday.