College Football

Notre Dame Football: 5 Notable Stats From 2016

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 10:36 p.m. ET

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Notre Dame football experienced one of the worst seasons in school history in 2016. There’s plenty of eye-catching statistics to take away from the season.

Even in a 4-8 season, there aren’t all negative takeaways. Notre Dame had a few aspects of their season that make the future shine bright.

They may be losing some key players this offseason, but with talented prospects stepping into starting roles. They’ll also get returning players who finally have a year of experience under their belt. With some off the field issues taking away players from the Irish roster, Notre Dame needed underclassmen to step into prominent roles.

Next season, these players are going to be veterans the entire team will look to for guidance. Even if they are sophomores, these players have earned the right to be leaders for the Fighting Irish.

While some of Notre Dame’s notable stats are positive, there is always negative takeaways to a losing season. It’s each one of these stats that give Notre Dame hope for 2017. Even if they had a disastrous year, there’s always change coming to South Bend. With that change is hope.

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The Fighting Irish had a lot of potential heading into the season. Next year, even with DeShone Kizer and others leaving, the expectations for Notre Dame will be high. Brian Kelly and the rest of the Irish coaching staff will look to every statistic moving into next season.

So, what are the most notable statistics from the 2016 season?

5. DeShone Kizer’s nine interceptions is least since 2012, and 2009 from a quarterback who throw at least 20 touchdowns. 

DeShone Kizer is considered one of the more NFL ready in this year’s NFL draft class. How he got there was through precise passing, and lack of turnovers. In 2016, Kizer only threw nine interceptions.

As impressive as Kizer’s statistic is, what the Notre Dame offense accomplished this season was far beyond personal stats. Kizer’s nine interceptions is the least by a Notre Dame quarterback since 2012 when Everett Golson threw for 12 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

The difference is that Kizer was the first player to throw for single digit picks while throwing for more than 20 touchdowns for the first time since 2009. Although he couldn’t beat Jimmy Clausens’ 28 touchdowns and four interceptions, Kizer’s performance was one of the best in Notre Dame history.

Kizer’s declaration for the NFL draft puts a damper on this outstanding stat. If the play caller was returning for another season, the Irish would’ve had a chance to compete for one of the best passing offenses in school history.

With a highly talented prospect in Brandon Wimbush likely moving into the starting role next season, the Irish are hoping to have the same success through the air. To bounce back from 2016 is going to take a lot, but with a solid pass game, they could make a big leap.

4. Notre Dame finishes 118th in team sacks, averaging 1.17 sacks per game in 2016.

Everyone knows that Notre Dame’s weakest point in 2016 was their defense. That was amplified with the lack of success they had rushing the passer.

The Fighting Irish averaged 1.17 sacks per game this season. On the year, the Irish only finished with 14 sacks, four of which were accounted for by Nyles Morgan. The Irish defense was a laughing stock to the NCAA all season. They showed glimpses of promise throughout the year, none of which lasted long.

Notre Dame is in desperate need of a new defensive coordinator, and this stat proves it. If the Irish want to have any success in 2017, they need to turn this defense around. Their offense has plenty of returning talent and could carry them for most of the season. With multiple defensive lineman and linebackers leaving this offseason, Notre Dame needs to make fixing their defense top priority.

Brian Kelly needs to find some sort of success in the pass rushing game next season. Without it, the defense could be looking at another embracing season. For Notre Dame, having a defensive unit that atrocious is something they don’t tend to enjoy.

South Bend better have a scarier group of quarterback chasers if they want to bounce back in 2017.

3. Notre Dame allowed 20-plus sacks for the third straight season. Accumulating 25 in 2016.

It may not be too apparent, but the Notre Dame offense line has struggled protecting their quarterback over the last few years. Since 2014, the Fighting Irish have allowed 75 sacks.

This season, DeShone Kizer was taken down 25 times. The Irish finished 86th in the country, allowing 28 total sacks on the season. Kizer’s success may have masked the Irish’s lack of protection, but it’s very noticeable when looking at teams statistics.

For a team that has had four linemen drafted into the NFL since 2014. Some of these players have already established themselves among the best linemen in the NFL. Looking at the amount of pressure they’ve allowed their quarterback to have over the last three seasons, it’s surprising how well these players are succeeding in the pros.

With a new play caller behind center next season, Notre Dame is going to rely on keeping him protected. If it is Wimbush, having time in the pocket is going to be a key in his progression as a player.

The Irish are hoping to keep their offense as consistent as it was in 2016, they’ll need to do a better job keeping their QB upright. With at least three returning starters next year, including Mike McGlinchey, Notre Dame’s O-line should be one of the best in the nation. Living up to those expectations is a key to their 2017 season.

2. The Fighting Irish finished 102nd in caused turnovers finishing with 14 total on the season.

Notre Dame’s defense was terrible this year. The worst part about it, the secondary. With only 14 caused turnovers on the season and one interception, it’s clear why the Irish pass defense was one of the worst in 2016.

It doesn’t help that six Irish players were arrested before the beginning of the season. Of those six, three were members of the secondary, including senior safety, Max Redfield and cornerback, Devin Butler.

When Cole Luke was the biggest name coming into the season, there wasn’t a ton of hope for the pass defense. Luke is a future NFL player, but as the only experienced cornerback in the starting lineup, the struggles were bound to come.

Next season, the Irish are losing Luke, but they will have Drue Tranquill, Julian Love, and Devin Studstill returning. With Love and Studstill getting their first-year of experience under the belt, their impact should be much bigger than this season.

13 fumbles isn’t a bad stat. For a defensive secondary who only averaged 1.17 sacks per game, they were able to force a decent amount of turnovers. Next year they lose some key players, but with the secondary getting better, they could become stronger pass rushers.

The amount of turnovers for Notre Dame will increase next season. They may be losing talent in their pass rush, but with reliable coverage, their linemen and linebackers should be able to get to the QB more than once per game.

1. A Notre Dame running back finishes over 5.0 yards per carry with a minimum of 100 carries for third straight year.

DeShone Kizer may have been the lead player in the Notre Dame offense during the 2016 season, but running back, Josh Adams, wasn’t far behind. For the third straight season, a Notre Dame running back averaged more than 5.0 yards per carry.

Josh Adams has taken South Bend by storm since last season. For the second straight year, Adams has averaged over 5.0 yards per rush. In 2015, Adams averaged 7.1 YPC and 835 yards. This past season, Adams finished with 5.9 YPC and 933 yards.

Adams is the best thing Notre Dame has going for them next season. For the last two years, he’s been one of the best in the NCAA. In 2015, Adams was the second man in a duel-threat backfield and still ran for nearly 1,000 yards. Next season, when the backfield is his to own, Adams should have the best year of his career.

This stat is a bigger testament to the Notre Dame offensive line then their running backs. Although Adams is worthy of a lot of credit, the offensive line deserves a standing ovation for this milestone.

For the last three years, Notre Dame has had one of the best backfields in college football. Last season, the Irish averaged 5.6 yards per carry as a collective unit and had six players finish the season with a YPC over 5.0.

This season the entire backfield as a whole didn’t see the success that Adams had. But with Adams being the only big contributor to the running game, the overall success wasn’t expected to be as large.

If Josh Adams has been this productive through his first two years, there’s no doubt he’ll have an even better season next year.

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