Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 31, 2020 7 UNDER THE DOME 20 of 31 throws for 203 yards when throwing at tight ends this year. He's averaging 8.6 yards per attempt on 22 play-action throws, per SIS. In 12 and 13 personnel last season, Book connected on 78 of 118 passes for 829 yards (7.03 yards per attempt) with 12 touchdowns and one intercep- tion. If Notre Dame plays 12 games this year, he's on pace to complete and attempt more passes in those sets. Among the passing highlights in 13 personnel: • A 25-yard completion to Tremble against South Florida on play action. • An eight-yard touchdown to Mayer against Florida State. Notre Dame's tight ends are good receivers. At this point in the season, with junior wide receiver Kevin Aus- tin Jr. still easing back in from injury, they may be Notre Dame's best receiv- ers. Tremble, Mayer and Wright had 19 catches through four contests, with 17 from the first two. Tremble's speed makes him an intriguing deep threat. Mayer has proven to be a mismatch for everyone who has tried to cover him. "If we had no tight ends, you'd see four of five wide receivers on the field," Kelly said. "We didn't recruit that way. We're going to take advan- tage of our personnel." Notre Dame has done so and has encouraging early results — and a question to something Kelly evalu- ated during training camp. "We can certainly make the case we're better suited with two tight ends on the field than we are with a slot," Kelly said before the season. The snap distribution says so, too. Notre Dame's primary slot receivers, senior Avery Davis and junior Law- rence Keys III, have a combined six catches for 60 yards in 116 snaps. Trem- ble and Mayer have lined up in the slot a combined 85 times, per PFF, meaning traditional 12 or 13 set can morph into 11 or 12 without a substitution. "Every one of our guys has dif- ferent skill sets, and those come in motion when we have those 13 and 12 personnel," Tremble said in Sep- tember. "We all can block downhill and next thing you know, we'll beat you over the top with speed." There's comfort in multiple-tight- end sets. There's effectiveness, too. Perhaps that says something about the still-evolving and inconsistent state of Notre Dame's receivers. And perhaps Notre Dame would rather have a few game-changing wide receivers than difference-maker tight ends. But one way or another, an offense's goal is to create mismatches. So far, it seems Notre Dame's most ef- fective mismatch players in the pass- ing game are tight ends. "All those guys are really good at different things," Book said. "Having Tremble out there, and Brock, and Michael Mayer and all those guys allows us to open up our playbook more. You can run different forma- tions with them. "To me, it's great. Those are guys who can all run-block and go down- field and make a play." ✦ Our life plan community for those over the age of 62, provides residents with exceptional personalized services, a secure atmosphere and carefree luxury lifestyle – while making it possible to ease into further healthcare levels as needs change throughout retirement years. "You can run different formations with them. To me, it's great. Those are guys who can all run-block and go downfield and make a play." NOTRE DAME FIFTH-YEAR SENIOR QUARTERBACK IAN BOOK ON THE IRISH TIGHT ENDS