Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 7, 2020 23 GEORGIA TECH RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE Freshman Jahmyr Gibbs (14 carries for 61 yards) performed respectably well, but especially vital in the Irish game plan was limiting second-leading rusher, fellow freshman and quarterback Jeff Sims, to two yards, and not letting him attack the edge. A week earlier Pitt was missing a quarterback who could pressure the defense like that, but Georgia Tech possessed such a weapon and Notre Dame thor- oughly contained him. The 88-yard rushing total was well under the 181-yard season average. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame GEORGIA TECH PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE A 39-yard strike to wideout Jalen Camp and a 34-yard screen to Gibbs ac- counted for basically 50 percent of Georgia Tech's 150 passing yards, meaning the other 13 completions totaled 77 yards or a paltry six yards per catch. The Irish pass pressure produced five sacks, with both of fifth-year senior Daelin Hayes' sacks also resulting in fumbles at crucial junctures in the game. Holding a team to less than 7.0 yards per pass attempt is a good day's work. To limit Sims to a 5.8-yard average (15-of-26 passing for 150 yards), comple- mented by a season-high five sacks, was exceptional. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VS. GEORGIA TECH RUN DEFENSE Even though Notre Dame's emphasis has been on a physical identity with the ground attack, it once again came out firing with the pass to set up the run. The first six Irish plays, including a seven-yard scramble by fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book, were all passes or designed to be. After passing for 80 yards and rushing for 48 in the first quarter, Notre Dame ran for 93 and passed for 19 in the second. The result in the second half was creating enough of a balance and overall rhythm where the Irish finished at right about their 231-yard rushing average with 227 yards and 5.2 yards per carry. Nobody did the spectacular, with three runs between 19 to 21 yards by three different backs, but it was consistently efficient, and three power runs for scores inside the Tech 5-yard line showcased the unit's physicality. The black mark was the fumble by sophomore Kyren Williams (15 carries for 76 yards and two touchdowns) that resulted in a touchdown return. Mean- while, the jet sweep has been smelled out a little better by the opposition. Book's fairly typical 46 yards on scrambles augmented the designed runs. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VS. GEORGIA TECH PASS DEFENSE Mirroring the running attack, Book (18 of 26 for 199 yards with one touch- down and no interceptions) didn't do anything jaw-dropping and did not push the ball deep, but delivered several clutch third-down conversions on scoring drives. The wideouts continue to get more involved, with the pass distribution seeing them catch 11 for 138 yards, notably junior Joe Wilkins Jr.'s first career score. The tight ends grabbed five for 37 yards and Williams snared two for 24 yards out of the backfield. Book's escapability extended numerous plays into positive results. Whether such a relatively confined attack overall with the pass can be good enough to topple Clemson will be answered next weekend. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame SPECIAL TEAMS In addition to multiple touchback or fair-catch kickoffs by senior Jonathan Doerer, who also converted his lone field goal attempt (32 yards), the Irish cov- erage unit's once chance resulted in Georgia Tech starting from its 12-yard line. Georgia Tech missed its lone field goal attempt, and massive 255-pound Pressley Harvin III was below his standards when three of his four punts aver- aged 36 yards (none resulting in pinning the Irish inside the 20-yard line). Notre Dame did fail to recover an onside kick after the Yellow Jackets cut the deficit to 31-13 late in the game, but it proved inconsequential. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS Against a Notre Dame defense that ranked second nationally in third-down conversion percentage (21.2), Georgia Tech did well to go 5 of 12 (41.7 percent) — although it was only 1 of 5 in the second half. Meanwhile, the Fighting Irish repeatedly put themselves in manageable third- and-short situations, including 4 of 4 on the game's opening drive that resulted in a touchdown drive that took 8:44 off the clock. The 10 of 15 (66.7 percent) conversion rate was our Stat Of The Game (see page 24). ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame TURNOVERS Williams' lost fumble inside the Georgia Tech 10-yard line was Notre Dame's lone turnover, but it was a doozy when the Yellow Jackets returned it 93 yards to tie the score at 7-7. Fortunately, it was the only one. Georgia Tech's 18 turnovers (three per game) coming in were the second- worst figure in the nation. Although it had one only one versus the Irish, the game turned on Hayes' forced fumble in Irish territory that defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa recovered with a nice spin move. That resulted in a touchdown march to build a 24-7 cushion. ADVANTAGE: Even ANALYSIS This was as methodical as it gets, at least on offense. Notre Dame didn't do anything spectacular but consistently moved the chains by converting 10 of 15 third downs. Defensively, the veteran Fighting Irish had too much soundness, depth, strength at the point of the attack and closing speed for the fledgling Georgia Tech offense to handle. The pass rush coming off the edge was the team's best this year. The 14-point swing at the start of the second quarter on the 93-yard fumble return by the Yellow Jackets was the one play that kept them in the game in the first 35 minutes. Otherwise, the disparity was clear between an established playoff contender and a program in a state of flux. ON PAPER REVISITED BY LOU SOMOGYI The Fighting Irish defense contained Georgia Tech's rushing attack, holding it to 88 yards — 93 yards under its season average. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS