Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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DEFENSE: HIGH RISE CONTINUES After finishing No. 16 in defensive efficiency during the College Football Playoff year in 2018, second-year coordinator Clark Lea's troops placed No. 5 this year. It continued the dramatic upswing since the 2014-16 era when the Irish were 65th, 58th and 54th, respectively. Rushing Defense: 60th — 153.1 yards per game In the first two games, Louisville and New Mexico rushed for 249 and 212 yards, respectively, versus the Irish. Thereafter the run defense allowed only 139.0 yards per game. This included a 281-yard performance by Navy — but that was 79 yards under its national leading 360.5 during a 52-20 Irish victory. That's like limiting a 200- yard per game rushing team to 121. From 2014-16, Notre Dame allowed at least 170 rushing yards three years in a row for the first time in its history. Passing Defense: Third — 168.5 yards per game Passing Efficiency Defense Rating: Fifth — 110.15 Since 1997, the lone Irish team to allow fewer yards passing per game was the 3-9 unit in 2007 (161.58) — and that was primarily because teams could run at will against them (96th nationally), didn't need to play catch up and just ran the clock in the second half. Especially impressive was closing strong against Iowa State's Brock Purdy, who ranked fifth nation- ally in passing yards per game entering the contest (313.3), but was limited to 222 against Notre Dame while the Cyclones failed to cross the goal line. Total Defense: 18th — 321.6 yards per game This improved from the No. 30-ranked effort in 2018 (347.4 yards per game). Since 2003, only the 2012 unit with a 305.46 average posted a lower output. Scoring Defense: 12th — 17.9 This is the first time since 2001-02 the Irish have permitted less than 20 points per contest in back- to-back campaigns. Turnovers Forced: Fourth — 28 (19 fumbles and nine interceptions) Turnover Margin: Fourth — Plus-1.31 Notre Dame led the nation in fumbles recovered with 19 (no other team had more than 16), and the turnovers generated were the most in the 10-year Kelly era, eclipsing the 25 in his first season back in 2010. The turnovers forced also were the most since the 28 matched in 2003 (there were 33 in 2002). Third-Down Percentage Defense: 18th — 32.3 This was another area of vast improvement after placing 64th last year at 38.9 percent. Red Zone Defense: 129th — 96.7 percent This one is baffling, especially after finishing 12th last year with at 75.0 percent (27 of 36), with 19 of the scores touchdowns plus eight field goals. However, there is a bit of a misleading element here: • In 2016, the opposition scored a touchdown from inside the Irish 20-yard line 76.5 percent of the time. • In 2017, that figure dropped to 65.8. • In 2018, of the 36 chances Irish foes had, they scored a touchdown on only 19 of them, a 52.8-percent rate. Anytime you hover near .500, that is outstanding. So while the opposition did score on 29 of its 30 red-zone opportunities this year, only 17 of those 30 chances (56.7 percent) resulted in touchdowns. Context is vital. For example, national champ LSU finished 26th in red-zone de- fense at 77.5 percent (31 scores on 40 chances). But 26 of those 40 chances resulted in touchdowns by the opposi- tion, a clip of 65.0 percent, which was nine percentage points worse than Notre Dame. If you can limit red-zone op- portunities by foes to field goals instead of touch- downs, that is an overall positive. Senior defensive end Khalid Kareem helped the Irish defense lead the nation with 19 recovered fumbles. The team also finished fourth overall with 28 forced turnovers. PHOTO BY MIKE MILLER For the second straight season, Notre Dame's overall special teams efficiency finished No. 24 nationally in the FEI. Among the factors weighing heavily into this rat- ing are the average field position starting point that is generally wrought through the kicking game. Kickoff Return Defense: 18th — 17.89 yards Punt Return Defense: 15th — 3.89 yards Notre Dame, Arkansas, Ohio State and Penn State were the only teams that placed in the top 20 in both categories. With star players such as senior wide receiver Chase Claypool and senior safety Alohi Gilman included on the coverage units, this speaks well to the emphasis placed on it while helping win the field position battle. Net Punting: 81st— 37.70 On paper, this doesn't look good, but the context here is that on 63 punts this season by freshman Jay Bramblett (for an average 39.4 yards), the hang time and coverage were good enough to allow only 70 yards in returns. In 2018, four-year starter and team captain Tyler Newsome had a virtually identical 37.74 net average with 19 punts placed inside the 20-yard line. This year, Bramblett had 18 downed inside the 20. Field Goal Percentage: 22nd — 85.0 (17 of 20) Among 111 kickers who qualified in this area, junior Jonathan Doerer's debut season as a starter was superb. In addition to his work in the Camping World Bowl, his 3-of-3 performance in field goals — from 43, 45 and 52 yards — helped make the difference in the 30-27 win over USC. Kickoff Returns: 91st — 19.19 Punt Returns: 54th — 8.44 In 2018 Notre Dame had only 13 returns — the eighth-fewest in the country. This year, that number was upped to 21. Sopho- more Lawrence Keys led the way with 10 for 194 yards, but sophomore speedster Braden Lenzy took over in the bowl game and flashed with a 29-yard return among his three for 71 yards. Fifth-year senior Chris Finke ranked 23rd in punt returns in 2018 with a 9.8 average, and this year he was 19th with a 9.0 figure (45 players quali- fied). www.BLUEANDGOLD.com MARCH 2020 71 SPECIAL TEAMS: EXTENDED COVERAGE