Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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6 NOV. 30, 2019 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI W hen Boston College entered Notre Dame Stadium Nov. 23, the one element it had that the Fighting Irish didn't was a dominant running back in junior AJ Dillon, who ranked third nationally in rushing with 1,451 yards. Even Dillon's backup, David Bailey, had more rushing yards (765) than Notre Dame's top man, Tony Jones Jr. (611), although in fairness the identity of the two offenses is different. Fortunately, a lethal passing attack and the mobility of senior quarter- back Ian Book compensated for the lack of production from the running backs, who were more a "hit" with their blocking than "run" with the ball in the previous four games: • at Michigan Oct. 26 — 18 carries, 35 yards, 1.9 yards per carry • versus Virginia Tech Nov. 2 — 23 carries, 58 yards, 2.5 yards per carry • at Duke Nov. 9 — 23 carries, 110 yards, 4.8 yards per carry • versus Navy Nov. 16 — 20 car- ries, 55 yards, 2.8 yards per carry Collectively, that comes out to 258 yards on 84 carries, equaling 3.1 yards per carry — a figure that merits respect as a grade-point average in the classroom but not on a big-time college football arena. Book has been the leading rusher in the latter last three contests, as his 220 yards on 30 rushing attempts — 7.3 yards per carry — trumped the entire backfield's 223 yards on 66 carries, good for 3.4 yards per carry over that span. There are myriad reasons for such disappointing numbers since the su- perb 308-yard rushing performance in the 30-27 victory over USC Oct. 12, with Jones romping for 176 yards. It began with an injury to Jones at Michigan that has inhibited him since then. Junior Jafar Armstrong's surgery on an abdominal tear during the opening series this year is hardly conducive to success, and sopho- more Jahmir Smith also was side- lined early with turf toe. Sophomore C'Bo Flemister is just now growing into the position, junior Avery Davis has been adjusting to multiple posi- tion shifts on offense and defense, and freshman Kyren Williams is get- ting redshirted. Losing the right side of the offen- sive line the past month with Tommy Kraemer (knee sprain) and Robert Hainsey (fractured ankle) hasn't helped either. To compensate, Book has been called on for more designed runs on zone reads, while sophomore wide- out speedsters Braden Lenzy and Lawrence Keys have been utilized to loosen the edge on jet sweeps several times per game. Where the backs have excelled that has been especially gratifying is blitz pick-up. Versus Navy, Flemister sacri- ficed his body on one that gave Book the needed time to make a key throw, and Pro Football Focus graded out Jones very well on his pass-block op- portunities, not even including taking out two defenders on a 15-yard scram- ble by Book on third-and-16, which helped set up the first touchdown. There is an "it is what it is" accep- tance at running back while also re- specting what they have accomplished and improved on through the year. "I don't know that we need to re- ally look that hard," said head coach Brian Kelly when asked to evaluate the running back corps. "I think we know what we have there. They were so as- signment correct in blitz pickup and blitz detail, and it allowed for us to hit a lot of big plays [versus Navy] … that's a big piece of what we need done. "We don't have Adrian Peterson back there, but we have a bunch of guys that are giving everything that they have to contribute in all the dirty areas. These are guys that are going to go into the corners and dig and grind, and there's no glamour there. I think they know who they are, and they're giving us all that they have." Jones will remain the lead figure, but it will continue to be primarily by committee or even "by feel" for first-year running backs coach Lance Taylor — who was also hired to sig- nificantly upgrade the recruiting at his position group. If Jones opts to return for a fifth year, all six current running backs on scholarship this season could be back in 2020 — and added would be ver- bal commit Chris Tyree, a Lenzy-like speedster who is rated the nation' No. 2 all-purpose back. Kelly indicated the future will take care of itself in the backfield. The pri- ority is making sure the work in the present will result in a better future. "I know everybody's looking for that 1,000-yard back, but we are going to be more of a committee and the one thing about them is that they all do the dirty jobs," Kelly said. "They're going to pick up a blitzing backer, they're going to run interference on blocking areas. They do a lot of dif- ferent jobs that some backs won't do. "We're going to get the most out of this group and so far, it's been pretty good." ✦ UNDER THE DOME HIT AND RUN Notre Dame running back corps compensates by doing 'the dirty work' Sidelined early in the season with turf toe, soph- omore Jahmir Smith is now regularly contributing as part of Notre Dame's committee approach to running back. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN