Clark Lea came into this game feeling like Notre Dame could handle the Virginia passing game playing man coverage. This was not the correct feeling. It had less to do with the scheme being faulty, and more to do with Virginia having a couple of excellent playmakers at wide receiver. The Irish weren’t surrendering a bunch of cheap stuff through the air, and their corners weren’t getting completely toasted. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap to a couple of excellent playmakers.
However, with all of that going on Lea made the switch to a zone defense in the second half, it forced Virginia quarterback Bryce Perkins to hold the ball longer than he had previously, which in turn allowed the Notre Dame pass rush to go into God mode, putting the team, the program, and the season on their backs in destructing the Cavalier offense and moving the team to 3-1.