Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1047749
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 12, 2018 21 Wildcats outfit that is 12-1 in its last 13 Big Ten games — with the lone defeat coming 20-17 to Michigan this year after leading 17-0 at halftime. "We settled down in the second half and started moving the ball a little bit better [with passing]," head coach Brian Kelly summarized. "… Northwestern's hard to play here. They play hard. "We did some things that teams can't continue to do. We gave up a blocked punt and probably didn't play the end of the game the way we wanted, but the guys did a nice job of finding a way to win." FIRST QUARTER: NOTRE DAME 7, NORTHWESTERN 0 Top Moment: Following a missed field goal by Northwestern on its first series, Notre Dame drove 79 yards in 14 plays that took 5:33 and concluded with senior running back Dexter Wil- liams' one-yard touchdown run with 6:28 remaining. Top Performer: Book completed 6 of 11 passes for 98 yards, to four dif- ferent receivers, and also carried four times for 13 yards. Stats: Notre Dame's 27 plays net- ted 144 yards (98 passing and 46 rushing), while Northwestern's 12 plays accounted for 36 yards (2-of-7 passing for 19 yards, and five carries for 17 yards). Items: On the game's fourth play, a missed handoff exchange between Book and Williams resulted in a lost fumble that Northwestern recovered at the Notre Dame 36-yard line … Northwestern was unable to capital- ize when kicker Charles Kuhband- er's 39-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right with 12:01 left … The Irish also missed a field goal, a 44-yard at- tempt by senior Justin Yoon at 1:40, after it had a first-and-goal at the Northwestern 4-yard line before get- ting pushed back by two penalties. SECOND QUARTER: NOTRE DAME 7, NORTHWESTERN 7 Top Moment: Following Notre Dame's missed field goal in the first quarter, Northwestern went on a methodical march of 73 yards in 18 plays that milked 8:36 off the clock and ended with senior quar- terback Clayton Thorson sneaking in from the 1-yard line for the score. On fourth-and-five from the Irish 21- yard line, junior wide receiver Ben- nett Skowronek made a spectacu- lar one-handed catch on the run for seven yards to keep the drive alive. Top Performer: Northwestern's defense on Notre Dame's two posses- sions limited the Irish to eight plays and 18 yards, including forcing an incomplete pass on third-and-one on the second. Book connected on 22 of 34 passes for 343 yards with two touchdowns, plus added 56 rush- ing yards capped by a game-clinching 23-yard scoring run late in the fourth quarter. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA ND NU FIRST QUARTER ND Williams 1-yard run (Yoon kick) 6:28 7 0 Drive: 14 plays, 79 yards, 5:33 SECOND QUARTER NU Thorson 1-yard run (Kuhbander kick) 8:04 7 7 Drive: 18 plays, 73 yards, 8:36 THIRD QUARTER ND Boykin 20-yard pass from Book (Yoon kick) 7:28 14 7 Drive: 11 plays, 80 yards, 3:51 ND Young 47-yard pass from Book (Yoon kick) 2:33 21 7 Drive: 6 plays, 98 yards, 2:09 FOURTH QUARTER ND Yoon 43-yard field goal 13:05 24 7 Drive: 5 plays, 29 yards, 2:17 NU Lees 27-yard pass from Thorson (Kuhbander kick) 11:16 24 14 Drive: 6 plays, 70 yards, 1:49 NU Thorson 1-yard run (Kuhbander kick) 7:05 24 21 Drive: 5 plays, 17 yards, 1:51 ND Book 23-yard run (Yoon kick) 2:45 31 21 Drive: 10 plays, 89 yards, 4:14 ND NU Total First Downs 25 16 Rushing 7 5 Passing 18 10 Penalty 0 1 Rushing Attempts 40 40 Yards Gained Rushing 143 134 Yards Lost Rushing 22 26 Net Yards Rushing 121 108 Net Yards Passing 343 141 Passes Attempted 34 29 Passes Completed 22 16 Had Intercepted 0 0 Percent Completion 64.7% 55.2% Yards Per Attempt 10.1 4.9 Yards Per Completion 15.6 8.8 Total Offensive Plays 74 69 Total Net Yards 464 249 Average Gain Per Play 6.3 3.6 Fumbles: No.-Lost 1-1 1-0 Penalties: No.-Yards 8-58 0-0 Punts: No.-Yards 4-120 5-217 Average Per Punt 30.0 43.4 Average Net Punt 23.2 36.4 Punt Returns: No.-Yards 3-35 2-27 Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 3-52 0-0 Interception Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Fumble Returns: No.-Yards 0-0 0-0 Miscellaneous Yards 0 0 Possession Time 29:36 30:24 Third-Down Conversions 5-14 5-15 Percentage 35.7% 33.3% Fourth-Down Conversions 3-3 2-4 Percentage 100.0% 50.0% Sacks By: No.-Yards 5-23 0-0 NOTRE DAME 31, NORTHWESTERN 21 Nov. 3, 2018 ✦ Attendance: 47,330 Ryan Field ✦ Evanston, Ill. Quarter 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total Notre Dame 7 0 14 10 31 Northwestern 0 7 0 14 21