Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 SEPT. 19, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GROUP EFFORT BY RUNNING BACKS Notre Dame's rushing attack can be more than Kyren Williams, although it will continue to fea- ture him. The dynamic sophomore running back had his touches nearly halved from 21 in the season opener against Duke to 12 in a 52-0 win over South Florida, but the position's production was unchanged from its week one levels. Three Irish running backs combined for 31 car- ries and 254 yards, outgaining the entire USF of- fense on their own. Williams' day ended in the third quarter, with 10 carries for 62 yards. Junior C'Bo Flemister had a team-high 13 rushes for 127 yards, highlighted by a 26-yard touchdown in the first half. Freshman Chris Tyree contributed 65 yards on eight carries. A fourth running back, senior Jafar Armstrong, ran for only seven yards on as many attempts, but scored the game's final touchdown and added an 18-yard reception. "You saw four backs that all contributed in a very positive way, C'Bo Flemister to Chris Tyree," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "Obvi- ously Kyren and Jafar, all of them did great things." The carries were evenly split throughout the game. Williams, Flemister, Armstrong and Tyree each played meaningful snaps in the first half. All but Armstrong had at least five carries before halftime. All but Tyree had at least one reception. The quartet of backs served as the Notre Dame offense's engine all afternoon, but didn't always get rewarded for it. They scored three of the team's seven touchdowns, but fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book had three others. He would be more than willing to transfer those three rush- ing touchdowns to the running backs if allowed. Two of them were goal-line sneaks. "Those one-yard rushes don't count," Book said, half-joking. "You've got to give those touchdowns to the running backs, who brought us all the way down there and to the line … I got to get a yard, so I don't want to take credit for those." TRIO OF DEFENDERS MAKE AN IMPACT IN THEIR FIRST START On Tuesday and Wednesday, the most important practices of the week, sophomore linebacker Jack Kiser mostly played on the scout team, helping SOUTH FLORIDA GAME NOTES BY ANDREW MENTOCK AND PATRICK ENGEL Freshman running back Chris Tyree contributed 65 yards on eight carries and scored one of the Fighting Irish's six rushing touchdowns. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS PARTICIPATION CHART OFFENSE QB: IAN BOOK, Drew Pyne, J.D. Carney RB: KYREN WILLIAMS, Chris Tyree, C'Bo Flemister, Jafar Armstrong WR: JAVON MCKINLEY, Joe Wilkins Jr., Jordan Johnson TE: TOMMY TREMBLE, Kevin Bauman TE: MICHAEL MAYER, George Takacs TE: BROCK WRIGHT LT: LIAM EICHENBERG, Andrew Kristofic LG: AARON BANKS, Dillan Gibbons C: JARRETT PATTERSON, Zeke Correll, Colin Grunhard RG: TOMMY KRAEMER, John Dirksen RT: ROBERT HAINSEY, Josh Lugg WR: Avery Davis, Kendall Abdur-Rahman, Matt Salerno WR: Braden Lenzy, Xavier Watts DEFENSE SDE: ADE OGUNDEJI, Justin Ademilola, Alexander Ehrensberger DT: MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA, Howard Cross III, Rylie Mills NT: KURT HINISH, Jacob Lacey, Ja'Mion Franklin, Aidan Keanaaina Vyper: DAELIN HAYES, Isaiah Foskey, Jordan Botelho Mike: DREW WHITE, Bo Bauer, JD Bertrand Buck: JACK KISER, Jack Lamb, Osita Ekwonu Rover: JEREMIAH OWUSU-KORAMOAH, Paul Moala, Isaiah Pryor Stud: HOUSTON GRIFFITH, KJ Wallace Whip: SHAUN CRAWFORD, DJ Brown Boundary CB: NICK MCCLOUD, Cam Hart, Caleb Offord Field CB: CLARENCE LEWIS, Isaiah Rutherford Nickel: DJ Brown SPECIAL TEAMS Kickoff Coverage: Paul Moala, Bo Bauer, Jack Kiser, Jack Lamb, Isaiah Pryor, Houston Griffith, Clarence Lewis, Osita Ekwonu, Isaiah Foskey, Jordan Botelho, JD Bertrand, KJ Wallace, Ramon Henderson, Reed Gregory Kick Return: Bo Bauer, JD Bertrand, Isaiah Foskey, Colin Grunhard, Cam Hart, Osita Ekwonu, Jack Lamb, Isaiah Pryor, Brock Wright Punt Coverage: Bo Bauer, Paul Moala, Isaiah Pryor, Jack Lamb, Brock Wright, Dillan Gibbons, John Dirksen, Houston Griffith, Osita Ekwonu Punt Return: Cam Hart, KJ Wallace, Jack Lamb, Isaiah Foskey, Bo Bauer, Jordan Botelho, Clarence Lewis, JD Bertrand, Houston Griffith, Isaiah Foskey, Isaiah Ruther - ford, Marcus Thorne Kickoff: Jonathan Doerer, Dawson Goepferich Placekicker: Jonathan Doerer, Dawson Goepferich Punter: Jay Bramblett Long/Short Snapper: Michael Vinson Holder: Jay Bramblett Kick Returner: Jafar Armstrong, Chris Tyree Punt Returner: Matt Salerno