Blue & Gold Illustrated: 2019 Notre Dame Football Preview
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1133608
BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 2019 FOOTBALL PREVIEW ✦ 135 TOP FIVE INDIVIDUAL PLAYS 1. Chris Finke's Leaping Touchdown Grab Drives Victory Over Michigan — Notre Dame's wide receiver unit endured justified criticism during the 2017 regular season for its inability to make clutch plays on 50-50 jump balls, but that changed in the 2018 opener against Michigan. With the Irish leading 7-0 against the favored Wolverines, senior quarterback Brandon Wimbush launched a bomb over the top of the defense. On the other end of that throw was 5-9½ senior wideout Chris Finke, who in tight overage out-leaped 6-1 safety Brad Hawkins for the touchdown. It was a tone setting play for the Irish wideouts, who regularly made tough catches during an undefeated regular season. 2. Alohi Gilman's Goal Line Strip Is The Difference Against The Commodores — It didn't seem like a big play at the time, but the junior safety's forced fumble at the goal line proved significant. With Notre Dame leading 13-0 in the second quarter, Gilman stripped a Vanderbilt wideout of the ball just inches short of the goal line. The ball was recovered by junior cornerback Julian Love in the end zone. Vanderbilt eventually closed the gap to 22-17, which made that second quarter turnover a season-changing play. 3. Unconventional Touchdowns Spark Road Win Over Virginia Tech — Two plays fueled Notre Dame's 45-23 road victory at Virginia Tech that for almost three quarters was a tightly contested game. The Irish led just 10-9 late in the second quarter, and the Hokies had regained momentum before a strip sack by junior defensive end Khalid Kareem. Love's scoop and score extended the Irish advantage to 17-9. The Hokies battled back, pulling within 17-16 and had Notre Dame pinned at its own 3-yard line early in the third quarter. But a 97-yard touchdown run by Williams gave the Irish some cushion and was the start of what became a rout in the second half. 4. BOOK AND BOYKIN CONNECT FOR GAME WINNER OVER PITT Notre Dame trailed for just 2:13 in its first six games, but to keep the winning streak alive the Irish needed a fourth-quarter comeback in game seven. The Irish fell behind 14-6 early in the third quarter and still trailed 14-12 with just less than six minutes to play when Book launched a perfectly placed deep ball to senior wideout Miles Boykin for a 35-yard game-winning touchdown. 5. Sprint To The End Zone Seals Win At USC And Playoff Berth — After an 11-0 start, the Irish faced one final obstacle to earn its first College Football Playoff berth — a road trip against USC, the program's greatest rival. The Trojans jumped out to a 10-0 lead before Notre Dame took a 17-10 advantage into the fourth quarter. With just more than three minutes left in the game and the Irish facing a third-and-five, Book beat the Trojans blitz with a quick throw to his left to a wide-open junior running back Tony Jones Jr., who raced 51 yards for a CFP-clinching touchdown. QUOTABLE "The numbers are not going to jump off the page, but we did what we needed to do against, arguably, probably the best defense that we're going to see this year. When you feel really good about the physicality of your football team, the offensive line, the defensive line, your quarterback is a spark, and on the perimeter. … We won some 50/50 battles, that's a pretty good football team." — Head coach Brian Kelly following Notre Dame's 24-17 win over Michigan Sept. 1 "I was a little nervous, but I think it's good to have nerves. We know week in and week out that our preparation has got us ready, and there shouldn't be anything you should be worried about or be anxious about. "We're confident. We know week in and week out we've had a great week of prepara- tion and we're ready to go. We've done the hard work throughout the week, so I was really confident. "Obviously, I was nervous the first couple plays. I hadn't been out there for a whole game in a while. It felt good, though." — Junior quarterback Ian Book following his first start of the season, a 56-27 win over Wake Forest Sept. 22 "It was never a question. I said at midseason we weren't changing. We never consid- ered it, never talked about it again. Wins and losses matter a lot, but it's what you see in practice every day. It's how you see kids grow and what they're doing." — Athletics director Jack Swarbrick following Notre Dame's 24-17 victory at USC Nov. 24, discussing Kelly's turnaround from 4-8 in 2016 to 12-0 in 2018 Miles Boykin caught a 35-yard game- winning touchdown pass from Ian Book with less than six minutes left to play to pro- pel Notre Dame to a 19-14 comeback victory versus Pittsburgh. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL By The Numbers 13 Consecutive wins posted by Notre Dame, beginning with the 21-17 comeback versus LSU in the Jan. 1, 2018 Citrus Bowl prior to finishing 12-0 during the regular season. That was the most victories by a Fighting Irish football team during a calendar year. The winning streak tied the third longest by the program since 1950. At the top is the school-record 23 straight by the 1988-89 units, followed by 17 in a row in 1992-93. The 1973-74 teams also combined for 13 consecutive victories. 24-17 Final scores in both the opening game victory versus Michigan to begin the run to the College Football Playoff and in the regular-season finale at USC to clinch a berth into it. The only other time the Fighting Irish began and ended a regular season with the same score outcome was during the 1973 march to the national title when they opened with a 44-0 win versus Northwestern and produced the same result in the finale at Miami to finish 10-0. 367 Points scored by graduated four-year starting kicker Justin Yoon — the most in school history. The previous standard of 320 by 1982-85 running back Allen Pinkett (53 touchdowns, still a career record, and a two-point conversion) stood for 33 years. Yoon converted 59 of 73 field goal attempts for a .808 percentage, all school records (with at least 50 makes), and he also was successful on 190 of his 196 extra points for a .969 percentage.