Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 19, 2020 29 Notre Dame's offense prepare for South Florida. But the morning of the game, Kiser learned he was elevated from third string to starter after sophomore Marist Liufau and junior Shayne Simon were out for undisclosed reasons. "I knew the game plan," Kiser said. "That's one thing Coach [Clark] Lea does a really good job of during the week is making sure every guy in the room knows the game plan, no matter if you're going to scout team or not. "So when I got the news, I was like, 'Alright, let's go. It's time to play.'" And play he did. Kiser led the team in tackles with eight, seven of which were unassisted. He also chipped in two tackles for loss and a quarter- back hit. After the win, Kelly gave him the game ball. "He's a remarkable young man that can help our offense get prepared for South Florida's defense, and then put himself in a position where he can lead our team in tackles," head coach Brian Kelly said. "I was kidding Clark. I was like, 'What are you doing? Why hasn't he been starting all year?' [I was being] tongue in cheek, but he's prepared himself very well." Kiser was not the lone first-time starter to make a difference. True freshman corner Clarence Lewis and junior safety Houston Griffith also received their first starts at their respective positions after TaRiq Bracy and Kyle Hamilton were unable to play against USF. Both had five solo tackles and one tackle for loss, while Lewis also had three passes broken up. "In our minds, those were guys that we felt all along when we came to camp that we wanted to get ready and felt would be down-the-road guys that we would need to count on," Kelly said. "They all stepped up, and I felt good with them on the field." TIGHT ENDS SET THE TONE Head coach Brian Kelly insisted in August Notre Dame could produce explosive plays out of its multi-tight-end sets. He was proven correct, and it turns out chunk yardage gains with heavy sets don't necessarily need to involve a tight end touching the ball. Notre Dame ran 14 plays on its first two drives, with at least two tight ends on the field for each snap and three on the field for the first three plays. A tight end touched the ball only twice in that span, though. Both drives produced touch- downs, and Notre Dame averaged 6.9 yards per play between them. So far, tight ends have been as impactful in the run game as they have been as receivers. "The tight ends are integral as you can see, by our formation sets at 12 and 13 personnel group- ings," Kelly said. "[Junior Tommy] Tremble, [senior] Brock [Wright] and [freshman] Mike Mayer, and even [junior] George Takacs. [Freshman Kevin] Bauman is not playing a lot, but he's going to play. We're really deep there. "Those guys are huge contributors to what we're doing at that position and in running the football." Tremble found himself all over the formation, from the slot to in-line to fullback. He was a lead blocker on some runs and an edge-setter on NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Flemister 13 127 0 127 9.8 1 31 Tyree 8 65 0 65 8.1 1 31 Williams 10 67 5 62 6.2 0 15 Book 4 9 0 9 2.2 3 4 Armstrong 7 13 6 7 1.0 1 5 Pyne 1 4 0 4 4.0 0 4 Tremble 1 4 0 4 4.0 0 4 Lenzy 1 3 0 3 3.0 0 3 Hainsey 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 Patterson 0 0 0 0 0.0 0 0 Total 45 292 11 281 6.2 6 31 Passing Att. Com. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Book 19 12 63.2 0 144 0 27 Pyne 2 1 50.0 0 5 0 5 Total 21 13 61.9 0 149 0 27 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Tremble 3 61 0 27 Lenzy 3 34 0 22 Armstrong 1 18 0 18 Williams 2 10 0 6 Flemister 1 9 0 9 McKinley 1 7 0 7 Bauman 1 5 0 5 Mayer 1 5 0 5 Total 13 149 0 27 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Ekwonu 1 54 0 54 Salerno 1 7 0 7 Botelho 0 1 1 1 Total 2 62 1 54 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Tyree 1 14 0 14 Total 1 14 0 14 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Bramblett 2 37.0 40 0 0 1 0 1 Total 2 37.0 40 0 0 1 0 1 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Doerer 1 2 22 0 Total 1 2 22 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Kiser 7 1 8 2-4 0-0 0 0 0 Griffith 5 0 5 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 Lewis 5 0 5 1-3 0-0 3 0 0 White 3 1 4 0.5-0 0-0 0 0 0 Bertrand 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Lamb 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Wallace 2 1 3 1-4 0-0 0 0 0 Bauer 1 2 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Brown 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ehrensberger 2 0 2 2-7 1-6 0 0 0 Ekwonu 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Foskey 2 0 2 1-9 1-9 0 0 0 TEAM 2 0 2 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 Botelho 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Cross 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Moala 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ogundeji 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Pryor 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Tagovailoa-Amosa 1 0 1 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 Hayes 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Lacey 0 1 1 0.5-1 0-0 1 0 0 Owusu-Koramoah 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hart 0 0 0 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long None SOUTH FLORIDA INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Ford 6 70 0 70 11.7 0 42 McCloud 5 27 6 21 4.2 0 14 Johnson 6 15 3 12 2.0 0 6 Battie 3 10 1 9 3.0 0 6 Joiner 8 11 5 6 0.8 0 5 Seriki 3 2 1 1 0.3 0 2 Williams 1 0 4 -4 -4.0 0 0 Evans 1 0 9 -9 -9.0 0 0 Total 33 135 29 106 3.2 0 42 Passing Att. Com. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long McCloud 14 8 57.1 0 64 0 14 Johnson 12 4 33.3 0 61 0 36 Evans 0 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 Marsh 3 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 Total 29 12 41.4 0 125 0 36 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Williams 2 48 0 36 Dukes 3 36 0 14 Brinkman 2 21 0 12 Dollison 1 17 0 17 Weaver 1 6 0 6 Carter 1 4 0 4 Joiner 1 -3 0 0 Horne 1 -4 0 0 Total 12 125 0 36 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long None Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Ford 4 53 0 20 Battie 2 38 0 26 Horne 2 38 0 20 Total 8 129 0 26 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 McCloud 1 35.0 35 0 0 0 0 0 Schneider 4 27.2 53 0 0 0 1 0 TEAM 1 0.0 0 1 0 0 0 0 Total 6 24.0 53 1 0 0 1 0 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. None Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Roberts 6 3 9 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Sails 4 3 7 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Vaughn 5 1 6 0.5-1 0-0 0 0 0 Grier 4 0 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Mims 4 0 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Sanders 3 1 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hampton 2 2 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Harris 2 2 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Bellamy 1 3 4 0.5-2 0-0 1 0 0 Evans 3 0 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 LaPointe 2 1 3 1-5 0-0 1 0 0 Davis 1 2 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Mangum 2 0 2 1-3 0-0 0 1 0 Grant 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Nichols 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Norris 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Pinkney 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Townsel 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Yates 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long None