Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 16, 2019

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

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26 NOV. 16, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED gained in a 42-3 loss to Alabama in their season opener. "We broke it down as a staff de- fensively, and we looked at different pieces of their offense that we needed to take away, and we took away a couple of things that we felt like were a must for us," head coach Brian Kelly said. "The tight end couldn't touch the football. We leveraged him inside and out. "We were going to make sure of that when the ball went on the perim- eter. So there were some things that they were really comfortable doing that we made very difficult for them." The Blue Devils averaged 3.23 yards per play. They also gained just 10 first downs all game, with only one apiece in the first and fourth quarter. On 16 third-down opportu- nities, Duke converted on just three. Much of this was due to Notre Dame's linebacker play, excellent run fits and sure tackling. Collectively, the three Fighting Irish starting line- backers missed just one tackle. "We were on our fits pretty good inside out," Kelly said. "We were on the tips of maybe one play in the third quarter where they hit an inside zone. Other than that, they fit the plays very well, and we leveraged the ball very well on the perimeter. "We didn't get out of our back- pedal very well on that one touch- down pass. But other than that, tech- nically we were pretty good." CHRIS FINKE FINDS HIS RHYTHM Being named a team captain at Notre Dame is an honor that very few players achieve, let alone a for- mer walk-on player. Fifth-year senior captain Chris Finke has checked both of those boxes in his Notre Dame career. Dur- ing the 2018 season, he also was one of Ian Book's favorite targets in the passing game. Through the first seven games of 2019, Finke was more of an after- thought in the offense while making mistakes that were uncharacteristic for him. He muffed a punt. He con- sistently ran routes that were short of the first down markers. He even dropped passes. The first seven games of the season Finke had 15 catches for 182 yards and one touchdown. Since then, he has reverted back to his 2018 form and has become that reliable safety net again for Book. In the last two games, Finke has 10 catches for 109 yards and two touch- downs, plus two punt returns that he took into opposing territory and led directly to touchdowns with short fields to travel. Head coach Brian Kelly has noticed Finke's contribution. "Awesome day for him, another guy that has worked so hard, he was fast this week," Kelly noted. "He was hitting 20, 21 miles an hour on GPS. He has his legs. He feels good." There is no doubt that Finke is feel- ing good. His ascension back to reli- able receiver is music to the ears of Book who is finding his way back to being the quarterback he was in 2018. Together, they can take the offense to a higher level. ✦ DUKE VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Duke 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 6:17 7:44 7:38 5:00 14:01 12:38 26:39 Third-Down Conversions 0-3 2-5 0-5 1-3 2-8 1-8 3-16 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 1-2 0-1 0-0 1-3 1-3 Average Field Position DU-21 DU-34 DU-35 DU-24 DU-29 DU-30 DU-30 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 8:43 7:16 7:22 10:00 15:59 17:22 33:21 Third-Down Conversions 5-6 0-3 2-4 2-4 5-9 4-8 9-17 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 0-1 Average Field Position ND-24 ND-20 ND-22 DU-34 ND-22 ND-41 ND-31 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards DU ND Nega ve 4 9 0-5 44 42 6-9 8 9 10-19 4 8 20-29 1 1 30-39 0 2 40-49 0 2 50 or more 0 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Duke 0 0 0 0 Notre Dame 6 5 1 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Duke • 1-10 ND29 Harris pass complete to Young for 29 yards and a touchdown Notre Dame • 1-10 ND35 Book pass complete to CLAYPOOL for 30 yards to the DU35 • 1-10 ND35 Smith rush for 40 yards to the DU25 • 1-10 50 Book rush for 45 yards to the DU5 • 1-10 ND48 Book pass complete to CLAYPOOL for 35 yards to the DU17 • 3-1 ND34 Book rush for 53 yards to the DU13 After notching only 15 catches for 182 yards and one touch- down in the first seven games of the season, fifth-year senior Chris Finke has hauled in 10 receptions for 109 yards and two scores in the last two contests. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN

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