Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1037156
28 OCT. 15, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED two-score performance against Vir- ginia Tech, Boykin has three games of at least six catches for 100 or more yards. "It was awesome," junior quarter- back Ian Book said of Boykin's per- formance. "He is really good. I love throwing to him. "He shows every week he's a great receiver that's going to catch the ball on anyone and score points." IRISH DEFENSE HOLDS STRONG IN SECOND HALF It was a little bit of a struggle for the Notre Dame defense against the Hokies, at least in comparison to the group's season performance to date. For just the second time in six games, the Irish allowed more than 400 yards of offense and 20-plus points. Virginia Tech put up the most yards (441) and second most points (23) on the Irish this season. The Hokies also converted 10 of 21 third-down attempts (47.6 percent) to keep drives alive and put pressure on the Irish. After eight sacks in wins over Stan- ford and Wake Forest, Notre Dame mustered just two against Virginia Tech. The defense did produce the fumble return for a touchdown and picked off Hokies quarterback Ryan Willis once. In the end, points are all that mat- ter when it comes to the outcome of a game, and Notre Dame excelled in that department. Virginia Tech scored just seven points in the second half, which did not come until 5:40 remained in the fourth quarter. "They were doing a lot with mo- tions, window dressing, tackle over and unbalanced," fifth-year senior linebacker Drue Tranquill said of Vir- ginia Tech's early success and how the Irish adjusted. "There were lot of formation adjustments that we needed to see, communicate and get lined up to." In the last two second halves, Notre Dame outscored the Cardinal and Hokies 45-13 to close out the two top-25 matchups. "It's an extremely confident group," head coach Brian Kelly said. "We didn't travel some really good players down here, and we still played really good football. "It's a deep team. It's a talented team. But I would say more impor- tantly it's a confident football team in what they can accomplish." ✦ VIRGINIA TECH VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Virginia Tech 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 7:17 8:58 9:15 7:09 16:15 16:24 32:39 Third-Down Conversions 2-4 3-6 2-5 3-6 5-10 5-11 10-21 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 1-1 Average Field Position VT-23 VT-37 VT-31 VT-26 VT-33 VT-29 VT-31 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 7:43 6:02 5:45 7:51 13:45 13:36 27:21 Third-Down Conversions 1-3 2-5 3-4 3-4 3-8 6-8 9-16 Fourth-Down Conversions 1-1 0-1 0-0 0-1 1-2 0-1 1-3 Average Field Position ND-25 ND-28 ND-18 VT-49 ND-27 ND-34 ND-30 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards VT ND Nega ve 5 7 0-5 49 38 6-9 10 8 10-19 17 9 20-29 3 1 30-39 0 1 40-49 1 1 50 or more 0 2 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Virginia Tech 3 2 1 0 Notre Dame 3 2 1 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Virginia Tech • 2-10 ND42 Peoples rush for 41 yards to the ND1 Notre Dame • 1-10 ND27 Book pass to Finke for 56 yards to VT17 • 2-12 ND3 Williams run for 97 yards and a touchdown • 3-8 VT40 Book pass to Boyin for 40 yards and a touch- down • 1-10 VT31 Williams run for 31 yards and a touchdown Fifth-year senior linebacker Drue Tranquill, who made five tack- les (one for loss), and the Notre Dame defense limited Virginia Tech to just seven points in the second half. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA