Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 SEPT. 19, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED Fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book and the offense then capitalized off its second chance opportunity, and the Fighting Irish ended up with a 12-play, 96-yard drive and a 7-3 lead. "I was ready to go," Book said. "We were keeping the offense right there, and I was just excited to see Jay run the ball like that. He did a great job. He wasn't scared and didn't go around the edge. He went right down the middle." FRESHMEN MAKE EARLY IMPACT Under head coach Brian Kelly, it has been difficult for freshmen to see the field on offense. Last year, only three fresh- men exceeded four games and burned a redshirt: safety Kyle Hamilton, de- fensive tackle Jacob Lacey and punter Jay Bramblett. In 2018, then-freshman wide receiver Kevin Aus- tin caught five passes for 90 yards and was the lone player on offense in his re- cruiting class to see the field. But if Notre Dame's of- fensive rotation against Duke is any indication of what's to come, two members of the class of 2020 will buck this trend: tight end Michael Mayer and running back Chris Tyree. Against the Blue Devils, Mayer finished third on the team in recep- tions with three and tied for third in receiving yards with 38. Each of his catches resulted in a first down, in- cluding one where he was wrapped up behind the line of scrimmage, then shed the defender, ran five more yards and moved the chains. "I was extremely impressed with Michael," fifth-year senior quarter- back Ian Book said. "He's been doing that all camp, as well, so I wasn't sur- prised. He's just physical. Everybody saw that tonight. "He's not going to go down the first time he's touched. As a quarter- back, that's huge. It almost feels like you might check the ball down to him, but he's going to get more than where he catches it at." With six carries, Tyree ran the ball more than anyone on the team out- side of sophomore starter Kyren Wil- liams. Most of Tyree's production came on a 25-yard run up the middle, but his speed adds another dimen- sion to the Notre Dame backfield. "We're all different types of backs, which makes us, I feel, one of the best running back rooms in the nation," Williams said. "We have a lot of po- tential, and once the world sees what we can do, it's going to be crazy." Tyree was also a major contributor on special teams. He returned four kickoffs for a total of 90 yards with a long of 38 yards. ✦ NOTRE DAME VS. DUKE QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 4:49 8:43 10:04 9:59 13:32 20:03 33:35 Third-Down Conversions 0-3 2-4 1-4 4-5 2-7 5-9 7-16 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 1-1 1-1 0-0 1-1 1-1 2-2 Average Field Position UND-25 UND-21 UND-19 UND-42 UND-23 UND-27 UND-25 Duke 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 10:11 6:17 4:56 5:01 16:28 9:57 26:25 Third-Down Conversions 1-5 0-3 1-3 2-4 1-8 3-7 4-15 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 Average Field Position DU-20 DU-18 DU-44 DU-25 DU-19 DU-37 DU-26 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND DU Nega ve 6 7 0-5 43 38 6-9 7 4 10-19 12 11 20-29 4 4 30-39 0 0 40-49 0 0 50 or more 1 1 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 4 2 1 1 Duke 3 1 2 0 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 UND14 Book pass to Williams for 75 yards to DU11 • 4-1 DU26 Williams run for 26 yards and a touchdown • 1-10 UND44 Tyree run for 25 yards to DU31 Duke • 3-5 DUK37 Brice pass to Pancol for 55 yards to ND8 • 1-10 DUK41 Brice pass to Calhoun for 25 yards to ND34 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick announced prior to the game that head coach Brian Kelly signed a contract exten- sion through the 2024 season. Kelly is enter- ing his 11th season with the Fighting Irish and compiled 33 wins over the last three seasons. "We are pleased to be able to have Brian lead our football program for the foresee- able future," Swarbrick said in a press release. "These terms were agreed upon in December and we planned the subsequent announce- ment for the Blue-Gold game in April. "When the university transitioned to remote learning in March, we decided to wait to make this announcement until we were able to re- turn our attention to football being back in action and I am happy to share this great news today." • The Irish picked up their first conference win in the 134-year history of the program. • For the fourth season in a row, Notre Dame won its season opener. • Notre Dame is 24-7 (.774) against ACC opponents since the scheduling agreement began during the 2014 season. With the win over Duke, the Irish improved to 15-1 in reg- ular-season games against ACC foes since the start of the 2017 campaign. • The Fighting Irish have held 26 of 27 op- ponents during Clark Lea's tenure as defensive coordinator to 30 points or less. Freshman running back Chris Tyree flashed his big-play potential versus Duke, first with a 38-yard kickoff return the initial time he touched the ball and then with a 25-yard run up the middle. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS