Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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32 NOV. 7, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED T he best thing Notre Dame could do on its Halloween road trip to Georgia Tech was make it easy to forget. Go to Atlanta. Put up a win with little doubt of the out- come. Stay healthy. Get it over with. Avoid regression and the creation of any new themes that would bring concern. To borrow and alter a Bill Belich- ick line, just cruise to a win and say, "We're on to Clemson." Cross all of those off the to- do list. Up now is the test this team looked forward to taking. "We don't have to beat around the bush anymore," fifth-year senior defensive end Daelin Hayes said. "It's Clemson week, baby." There wasn't much the Irish could do against the now 2-5 Yellow Jackets that would increase the confidence level heading into perhaps the first visit by a top-ranked team to Notre Dame Stadium since 2005. Delivering a wire-to-wire win was the expecta- tion, and a 31-13 suffocation of Geor- gia Tech fits the description. Indeed, it was hardly memorable and felt transactional. That's OK. No Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah destruc- tions of a hapless ball carrier or Isaiah Foskey harassments of the opponent's punters. Safety Kyle Hamilton was superhuman in his return to his home- town, but you've come to expect that already. The offense was effective but not sexy. All told, this game won't be brought up when discussing the 2020 season months and years from now. All Notre Dame had to do was en- sure pessimism didn't grow. Maybe you've already decided Notre Dame won't hang with Clemson, but if not, holding Georgia Tech to 3.9 yards per play and zero offensive touchdowns until garbage time and putting up 237 sack-adjusted rushing yards didn't provide many opportunities to form such a conclusion. "I wouldn't say it was our best per- formance today," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "But we did some good things." The biggest storyline that came out of the game happened one state over and during halftime, when Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney announced quarterback Trevor Lawrence won't play this week at Notre Dame. Law- rence tested positive for COVID-19. He missed the Tigers' 32-28 comeback win over Boston College and won't be ready in time for next weekend ac- cording to ACC protocols. "It's too bad he's not playing," Kelly said. "You want the best play- ers to play." Clemson won't be light on quar- terback talent, though, with five-star freshman D.J. Uiagalelei. And Notre Dame's not thinking about whatever diminished credit it would get for a win. The Tigers stand between the Irish and their championship goals. They'll need to topple Clemson at some point, no matter who's at quarterback. "We've been preparing for this op- portunity to play the best team in the country," Kelly said. "They're excited about this opportunity to play the gold standard in Clemson." If nothing else, the game affirmed how Notre Dame will go about the attempt to hand Clemson just its third regular-season loss since 2015. Run the ball, early and often. Throw it efficiently and effectively. And just get stops. Notre Dame's opening drive chewed up nearly nine minutes and featured zero incomplete passes. Pull out the sacks, and Notre Dame averaged 5.6 yards per carry, which is remarkably its third-lowest sack- adjusted rushing average this year. Fifth-year senior quarterback Ian Book didn't shred Georgia Tech's defense, but he was more than good enough. He connected on 18 of 26 passes for 199 yards with a touchdown. The downfield throws were rare, though plac- ing too much emphasis on those (or the lack thereof) would over- look a sharp outing throwing mid-range passes. Through five games, Book was 14 of 31 for 237 yards on throws between 10 and 20 yards downfield. Notre Dame was 10 of 15 on third down, its third straight game converting at least half of them. Book was responsible for six, five on passes and one on a scramble. He averaged 10.4 yards per pass on third down. "It was a really good day for him," Kelly said. The Irish will also build off a break- out performance from Hayes, who had gone sack-less through five games. He notched two against the Yellow Jackets, forcing fumbles on both. He appeared to have a third, but it was overturned. He also made five tackles and agitated true freshman right tackle Jordan Wil- liams for much of the game. One of Hayes' sacks came one play after a 39-yard completion that gave Georgia Tech a jolt. Hayes stomped on those flames by strip-sacking Yel- low Jackets quarterback Jeff Sims. Senior defensive tackle Myron Ta- govailoa-Amosa snatched the loose ball, and Notre Dame turned it into a touchdown to take a 24-7 lead. "Elevating the play of Daelin Hayes might be singularly as impor- tant as anything that happened to- day," Kelly said. Maybe that's the only happening from this nondescript, tune-up win that has any long-term significance. The Irish pass rush has been fine, but a step below its 2018 and 2019 levels. Hayes turning pressures into sacks can help it get there. Notre Dame will begin game prep Sunday, earlier than normal because of a mandatory day off for Election Day. Finally, what's important next is also what's important now. "Now," Book said, "it's time to go." ✦ Transactional Win At Georgia Tech Feels Right ENGEL'S ANGLE PATRICK ENGEL Patrick Engel has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since March 2020. He can be reached at pengel@blueandgold.com Notre Dame and Brian Kelly were quick and efficient in dusting Georgia Tech, just the way it was desired. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS