Blue and Gold Illustrated

Oct. 7, 2019

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 7, 2019 35 BOWLING GREEN RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE First-year Bowling Green head coach Scot Loef- fler knew he faced a rebuilding project when he took over for deposed head man Mike Jinks, who went just 7-24 during his time on the job. If Loeffler was going to have any success this season, it would start with his ground game behind the one- two tailback punch of junior Andrew Clair and fifth- year senior Davon Jones. The tandem has been far from sensational through four games, accounting for just 90.8 rushing yards per game, 4.4 yards per carry and three touchdowns between them. As a team, Bowling Green averaged 165.0 rushing yards per out- ing and 3.9 yards per attempt during its 1-3 start. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said before the start of this season that the determinant of success in 2019 would be running the football on offense and stopping the run on defense. So far, nei- ther area has been a particular strength for the Irish. Notre Dame showed demonstrate improvement in its rush defense against Georgia, allowing only 152 rushing yards (well below the Bulldogs' aver- age of 286.7 entering the matchup), after surren- dering 249 on the ground to Louisville and 212 to New Mexico in its first two games. Advantage: Notre Dame BOWLING GREEN PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Sketchy quarterback play and limited receiving options have left little to talk about in the Bowling Green passing game. In four games, fifth-year senior quarterback Darius Wade — a graduate transfer from Boston College —averaged just 166.0 passing yards per contest with only three touchdown passes to go with three interceptions. Heading into the final weekend of September, Wade's 110.2 pass ef- ficiency rating ranked No. 114 out of 124 Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks listed. With experience and depth at the back end of Junior tailback Andrew Clair was a third-team All-MAC selection last season after rushing for 702 yards and 5.2 yards per carry. PHOTO COURTESY BOWLING GREEN STATE UNIVERSITY GAME PREVIEW: BOWLING GREEN On PaPer

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