Notre Dame football has a couple of standout defensive performers against Northern Illinois, but even more duds

Notre Dame put together a putrid performance on Saturday, falling 16-14 against Northern Illinois at home. While the offense was the biggest negative in this football game, the defense also didn’t play well for the Irish. With every performance, there were some positives and some obvious negatives.

Here are the standout performances from this awful loss, and others who left a lot to be desired. That includes a couple of players that Notre Dame might want to start to build around, and others that could be put on notice.

STUDS

The defense wasn’t the biggest problem, but they certainly didn’t play well. Here were the biggest standouts from the game.

LB Jaiden Ausberry

There were very few players on Notre Dame that brought energy during the game. The most juice may have been from Ausberry, who made several huge plays defensively. Playing from a couple of different alignments, Ausberry is a versatile weapon who can do a lot for a defense. He finished the day with six total tackles and a pass breakup. Ausberry should have earned himself a lot more reps at either rover or WILL moving forward.

DB Jordan Clark

The stat sheet won’t pop off for Clark, who recorded a pass breakup on Saturday, but he was very good. Clark didn’t surrender anything from his nickel position, and made several key plays in the game. We haven’t heard Clark’s name much during the first two weeks, and that’s a good thing. He has quietly been an important part of this talented secondary.

DE Boubacar Traore

Traore began showing some huge flashes on Saturday. He ended with three total tackles and a tackle for loss, but the explosiveness he showcased was big time. Beginning to get more and more opportunities behind Jordan Botelho (who has also been good), could help to make a big impact. Traore has some crazy upside, and we are just getting an early taste of it.

DUDS

Notre Dame had several players who left a lot to be desired on Saturday. Here are the duds who had less than stellar outings against Northern Illinois.

DT Riley Mills

You could throw Howard Cross in here too, but he has at least shown flashes the first two games. It’s now two straight contests where you might be better without Mills on the field. He has been a total bust, especially after being named a captain this offseason. For as talented and as imposing as Mills looks, he has just never put it together. As fans, we need to start demanding more from Mills. We need a Tarzan, not a Jane.

LB Jaylen Sneed

The inconsistencies that have plagued Sneed in the past once again popped up on Saturday. Yes, he’s a great athlete but his feel for the game leaves a lot to be desired. There were several plays where he was not in the right spot, or completely fell victim to play action. He also got sucked in a couple of times for reasons that still remain unknown. It was a frustrating outing.