Notre Dame wouldn’t be the first team to make the Playoff with a former 3rd-string QB

In the spring of 2014, many assumed Braxton Miller was going to lead the Buckeyes as they sought to combine postseason eligibility and a roster stacked with Urban Meyer recruits to reach the first Playoff.

Months later, with a second- and then third-string QB behind a still-inexperienced offensive line, many assumed Ohio State was going to peter out at some point.

Many of us made a similar assumption about Notre Dame when emerging QB Malik Zaire broke his ankle in Week 2 against Virginia. Then his 6’5, 230-pound sophomore backup, DeShone Kizer, threw the winning pass against UVA and the Irish dominated then-No. 14 Georgia Tech in a game not nearly as close as the 30-22 final score.

But remember this: former starter Everett Golson would’ve likely been Zaire’s backup if he hadn’t transferred to Florida State. That’s about how it shaped up in the spring.

It’s time to consider whether Notre Dame is strong enough to navigate its remaining schedule with a former third-stringer at the helm and reach the Playoff, despite plenty of other injuries.

“We’re not going to make any excuses for where we are,” head coach Brian Kelly said after Virginia. “There’s no reason why we can’t win with DeShone Kizer.”

Here’s how the Irish plan to make life easier for the sophomore.

One of the main challenges for spread teams trying to run: doing so without the QB having to make lots of option reads in order to keep defenders from sneaking into the box. When some of your potential blockers are out wide, how else do you run the ball?

Run/pass option plays (RPOs) have been godsends to many spread teams. These allow such teams to run without taking their pocket passers and best receivers off the field.

However, an RPO can be a challenge for a young QB. Defenses are growing accustomed to disguising coverages and trying to bait QBs into making disastrous decisions in the narrow windows of time afforded on these types of passes.

The Irish have some RPOs in their playbook. But they also have a lot of running plays that work without requiring Kizer to make lots of decisions before and after the snap. For a perfect example, witness this 91-yard run by C.J. Prosise that essentially sealed the deal against Georgia Tech:

This is a basic counter, with the line blocking away from the ball’s path. The backside guard kicks out right to the otherwise unblocked defensive end and the H-back pulls to find the playside linebacker (M on the diagram below).

Running it from a spread set requires that the WRs execute blocks on the overhang defensive backs (in this instance the strong safety, $, nickel, N) so they can’t outnumber the play.

Notre Dame’s OL demonstrated textbook blocking on virtually every running concept. The WRs repeatedly found their marks and maintained blocks downfield, making life easy for Prosise as he ran for 198 yards.

Prosise is now averaging 7.64 yards per carry and is No. 3 in total rushing yards against FBS opponents. If Notre Dame can run like this without requiring Kizer to carry often or make lots of reads in the RPO game, what will happen as he gains more comfort with the system?

In the Kelly era, Notre Dame has tried to feature a downhill run game to allow the Irish to control games and to feature play action. WIth this offensive line, which might be the best in the country, it’s all too easy for Kelly to get receivers open in tons of space for Kizer.

On this play below, Georgia Tech blitzed. But you’d never guess that from how much time Kizer had to throw while sitting behind max protection (seven blockers). The nature of modern man blitzes like this one can make defenses especially vulnerable to play action, since the inside linebacker has his eyes glued to the running back, leaving a vacant passing window over his head.

It’s not a brilliant throw, as it’s a touch late and a little low. If Kizer had hit the receiver in stride between the hashmarks, he could have picked up another 10 or 20 yards and perhaps even scored. Nevertheless, the combination of the Irish run game, WR speed and spread spacing made what’s normally a difficult pass relatively simple.

Here’s another example. They lined up three receivers to the wide side of the field and ran two vertical routes, with the innermost receiver running into the flat. Kizer checked the flat to see if the nickel and corner monitored the vertical routes, then punished them for it.

Kizer has shown some ability to read the field and throw with accuracy and anticipation, but it’s not all that hard when your top target might be the best receiver in the country.

Notre Dame converted two third-and-long plays by scheming Fuller to get one-on-one matchups outside and having Kizer chuck it up.

Defenses generally like to provide safety help over the boundary side receiver or the slot receiver, then dare opponents to beat man coverage to the far side of the field. It’s generally a good bet that the QB can’t throw a frozen rope such a great distance with the timing necessary to beat a good cover corner.

But when your receiver can make catches like this?

Well, that tends to simplify things in a real hurry.

Fuller has gone for 397 yards and a nation-leading five touchdowns on the year, including the game-winner against UVA, and has been an unsolvable riddle. The Irish will line him up all over the field, but when they put him out widest, it makes it hard to get safety help all the way over there.

Of course, if an opposing team finds a way to bracket the widest receiver, that’ll just mean the 6’2 Chris Brown or 6’5 Corey Robinson is left facing man coverage in easy range of the QB.

Much like the 2014 Buckeyes with their unstoppable running game and deep-threat WR corps, this year’s Fighting Irish are designed and equipped on offense to survive losing their top quarterbacks to injury and transfer. It is a team sport, after all, and the Irish have a team that has made offensive success sustainable, even in the face of injuries that would cripple other teams.

Now we’ll see if they can accomplish anything near what those Buckeyes did.