Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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28 NOV. 7, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED IRISH DEFENSE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE For a third game in a row, the Notre Dame defense allowed fewer than 10 points, and Georgia Tech's lone offensive score came in the fourth quarter, when the Fighting Irish were well on their way to a comfortable victory. In fact, much of the Yellow Jackets' offensive production came near the end of the game. Notre Dame held them to 233 yards of total offense (3.9 yards per play), including just 88 on the ground (2.7 yards per carry). But at halftime, Georgia Tech had just 66 yards of total offense (2.75 yards per play) and didn't sniff the red zone until the third and fourth quarters. Still, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly knows there's another level that his defense can get to, especially with the top-ranked Clemson Tigers trav- eling to South Bend next weekend. "It's a really good defense, there's no doubt. [Georgia Tech] has a good offense," Kelly said. "They've got some skill players. They've put up a lot of points this year against a num- ber of different opponents. I think if you ask [defensive coordinator] Clark Lea and me how we played, there are some things that we've got to clean up going into next week against a better opponent. That's how we feel about our defense." One of the defense's main short- comings is that it was flagged four times for a total of 40 yards, includ- ing a targeting call on second-string Buck linebacker Marist Liufau in the second half. This means he will have to sit out the first half on Nov. 7. The Notre Dame defense also had a handful of missed tackles and a couple of assignment mistakes. The Fighting Irish defensive players agree with their head coach: they can be much better. "We go out and we play for each other," fifth-year senior defensive end and team captain Daelin Hayes said. "We love each other. We take that personally. Honestly, the six points that we gave up is six points too many in our minds. "We're going to go back, we're go- ing to watch the film and what mis- takes to clean up, because we can't make any mistakes against Clemson next week. We want to be perfect." DEFENSIVE ENDS APPLY PRESSURE In the first five games of the season, the entire Notre Dame defensive end rotation accumulated a total of seven sacks (1.4 per game), and a significant portion of pressures came from line- backers and safeties blitzing. The Fighting Irish defensive coaches knew such an uninspired pass rush could not cut it against the better teams on the schedule, and so the they challenged defensive ends Daelin Hayes, Ade Ogundeji, Isaiah Foskey, Ovie Oghoufo and Justin Ademilola to rachet up their production. Those five players exploded for a combined four sacks and a quarter- back hurry, albeit against an over- matched Georgia Tech offensive line. Foskey and Ogundeji—the team leaders now with 3.5 and 3.0 sacks, re- spectively — each took down Yellow Jackets quarterback Jeff Sims, but the star of the defensive line was Hayes. He recorded five tackles on the day, with two sacks, two forced fumbles and a quarterback hurry that resulted in an errant throw on fourth down. Prior to the game, Hayes had heard plenty of the criticism outside the program for his inability to record sacks or pressures. "I feel like a lot of people have been making a big deal about my produc- tion as far as being a pass rusher," Hayes said. "A lot of times, I've been winning. There's been wins. There's been times where I've been close to the quarterback or I've had good rushes. Sometimes those plays don't come to you. "That's just a part of being one of the one of 11. As long as we're win- ning, we're playing great defense and guys are making plays, there's nothing more you can ask for." But the criticisms of Hayes weren't completely unwarranted. As a five- star recruit in the class of 2016, he enrolled at Notre Dame with much fanfare. However, coming into the matchup with Georgia Tech, Hayes had just three sacks in his previous 20 games, dating back to 2018. His last sack game on Sept. 2, 2019, in the season opener at Louisville. Given his reputation, most wanted to see him be more than a disciplined and capable run defender. And after his performance against Georgia Tech, there's hope he can continue to be a menacing pass rusher, especially now that the pro- verbial monkey that is his first sack of the season is off his back. GEORGIA TECH GAME NOTES BY ANDREW MENTOCK AND PATRICK ENGEL Sophomore defensive end Isaiah Foskey recorded one of Notre Dame's five sacks versus Georgia Tech, and now has a team-high 3.5 on the season. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS