Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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24 NOV. 30, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH CONTROL EAGLES' RUNNING GAME Ten games into the season, Bos- ton College running backs AJ Dillon and David Bailey — who both weigh more than 240 pounds — were com- bining for an average of 221.6 rush- ing yards per game. Notre Dame took it as a challenge to shut down them down, and suc- ceeded. Collectively, Dillon and Bai- ley finished the game with 82 yards on 24 rushing attempts. That comes out to 3.4 yards per attempt, which is more than two yards less than their combined season average. This is the second week in a row that the Fighting Irish were able to significantly limit a run-first team's rushing attack. According to Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, it was a team effort. "It's controlling the line of scrim- mage," he said. "It's just not one guy. We have lost two really good play- ers on defense, but other guys have stepped in. "Our guys have bought into our scheme, they're very disciplined, they trust each other, they do their job, they're not doing somebody else's job." The stats back this up. No one de- fender had more than eight tackles, but six players had at least six. Those players were senior safety Alohi Gilman, senior defensive ends Ade Ogundeji and Khalid Kareem, and the three starting linebackers — fifth- year senior Asmar Bilal, and juniors Drew White and Jeremiah Owusu- Koramoah — all of whom were un- proven heading into the season. "Asmar Bilal was not a starter until this year," Kelly said. "Drew White was not a starter until this year. So you've got guys that are accountable, that trust what we're doing, that do their job and they have done it in a fashion that has allowed us to now in back-to-back weeks shut down the No. 1-ranked rush offense and the No, 5-ranked rush offense." This performance also exempli- fies how much Notre Dame has im- proved against the run since the be- ginning of the year, when the Irish gave up 258 yards on the ground to Louisville in the season opener. DOERER DOES IT AGAIN It's rare that a kicker has the op- portunity — let alone the ability — to single-handedly keep a team in a game for an entire half of football. Junior placekicker Jonathon Doerer had both versus Boston College, and cashed in by hitting four field goals in Notre Dame's first seven posses- sions of the game. He individually outscored Boston College 10-7 in the first half and 16-7 overall. Irish head coach Brian Kelly knew getting points on those early drives was crucial. "Jon Doerer was outstanding dur- ing that period of time when we were a little uneven, where he kicked field goals and kept us ahead of what would have been momentum swings, if you will," Kelly said. "And those were big kicks for us." His field goals spanned 47, 29, 45 and 37 yards, and even on the longer attempts it appeared the ball was still traveling up when it crossed the up- rights. According to Kelly, he always knew about Doerer 's leg strength, but it was something else that got him to this point in his career. "It was consistency," he said. "It was really the mental performance end of things. And I'm so proud of him and his ability to really change his mindset BOSTON COLLEGE GAME NOTES BY ANDREW MENTOCK AND VINCE DEDARIO Boston College junior running back AJ Dillon — the nation's third-leading rusher — entered the game averaging 145.1 rushing yards per game, but was limited to just 56 yards on 14 carries by the Irish. PHOTO BY ANDRIS VISOCKIS MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • The Irish improved to 14-1 in regular-sea- son games against Atlantic Coast Conference opponents over the last three seasons. • With another scoreless first quarter from the Notre Dame defense, the Irish are allow- ing just 3.09 points per game in the opening stanza this season (just 2.40 points per first quarter at home). This game marked the sixth first-quarter shutout by the Irish this season. • Sophomore wide receiver Braden Lenzy scored on a 61-yard rush, the longest rush- ing touchdown (previously 51) and longest rushing play (previously 53) of the season for Notre Dame. It also marked Lenzy's fourth touchdown of the season (two rushing, two receiving). • Freshman safety Kyle Hamilton recorded his fourth interception of the season in the fourth quarter to set up an Irish touchdown drive. He leads Notre Dame in that category and is one of two true freshman in the Foot- ball Bowl Subdivision with four picks this sea- son (LSU's Derek Stingley Jr. is the other). • Sophomore rover Paul Moala wore No. 70 on defense instead of his usual 13 so the same number would not be used by him and sopho- more Lawrence Keys III on special teams.