Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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8 DEC. 5, 2020 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED UNDER THE DOME Running Backs The Easy Answer By Todd D. Burlage Each summer before Notre Dame opens its pre- season football camp, all of us at Blue & Gold Il- lustrated fill out a questionnaire to make some preseason predictions. As part of that assignment this year, I chose Irish senior running back Jafar Arm- strong as my breakout player for 2020. I based my misguided pick on the fact that senior running backs have flourished under Irish head coach Brian Kelly, Armstrong was the only returning one with significant career experience, and we knew nothing or very little about what sophomore Kyren Williams, freshman Chris Tyree and junior C'Bo Flemister would provide. Now, eight contests into this season, we've learned plenty about Williams while he has become one of only five running backs in the ACC averaging more than 100 rushing yards in league games. Meanwhile, Tyree and Flemis- ter have also emerged as solid backups behind Williams — inspiring the move of Armstrong to wide receiver — while the 2020 Irish are one of only four ACC teams this season averaging more than 200 rushing yards per game. Additionally, Notre Dame's 233.5-yard rushing average through eight games rates as the program's second most productive ground attack since 1996, the last season Lou Holtz was the Irish skipper. Several position groups for Notre Dame have overachieved and outper- formed expectations this season. But for a group of unproven running backs who entered this season lacking experience, reliability, hype, production and name recognition, to become the cornerstone of the Irish offense clearly makes this unit the most surpris- ing of any on the team. Collectively, The Wideout Corps Has Overcome More By Lou Somogyi Sophomore running back Kyren Williams definitely has been Notre Dame's No. 1 individual break- through, most improved or top surprise. From a collective standpoint, though, the receiving corps has emerged far more than expected. Running back in 2020 still returned past big-game production with senior Jafar Armstrong and junior C'Bo Flemister to augment freshman Chris Tyree, who was expected to be a factor right away (and has been). Williams' quantum leap from last season has complemented the effectiveness of a veteran offen- sive line. However, look at three factors at wide receiver. One, quarterback Ian Book lost his two prime targets from the past two years in Chase Claypool (116 catches in 2018-19) and Chris Finke (90 catches in 2018-19). Two, the expected starting rotation in 2020 with juniors Kevin Austin (boundary), Braden Lenzy (field) and Lawrence Keys III (slot) has been mostly out of commission with health-related issues. Through eight games, they combined for eight catches for 85 yards, with Austin sidelined after foot surgery. A fourth wideout, graduate transfer Ben Skowronek, suffered a hamstring injury in the opener. After the 12-7 win versus Louisville Oct. 17, the wideouts were classified as the Achilles heel of the team with just 70 yards through the air in that game. Yet in the conquest of No. 1 Clemson, the trio of Javon McKinley, Skow- ronek and Avery Davis combined for 13 clutch grabs for 213 yards, and a week later they had 181 yards on 12 receptions. No position group has overcome more and emerged better than wide receiver. Point ✦ Counterpoint: WHICH POSITION GROUP HAS BEEN THE BIGGER SURPRISE? JAVON MCKINLEY KYREN WILLIAMS Senior linebacker Drew White has come a long way in a short period of time as the middle guard- ian of the Notre Dame defense. Considered a surprise choice to become the opening-day starter at Mike last season, after a nondescript beginning to his Irish career as a freshman in 2017 and a sophomore in 2018 out of St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lau- derdale, Fla., White shined in this vital role, tying fellow linebacker Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah in 2019 for the team lead with 80 total tackles, while adding 8.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks. This season has brought a different dynamic at linebacker for Notre Dame, but similar production for White. Even while becoming mostly a first- and second-down player this season with junior Bo Bauer taking the bulk of third-down reps at Mike, White remains among the most productive members of the Irish defense in total tackles and tackles for loss. Blue & Gold Illustrated and other media mem- bers recently spoke with White about the epic win over No. 1 Clemson, how far this defense has come from last year, and what lies ahead for his unit and this team. BGI: How difficult was it to move on and refocus after beating the top-ranked team in the country? White: "We have a rule, whenever you beat a team, you can celebrate as much as you want — but it's for 24 hours. So after that 24 hours, it's back to the next week. "In college football, when you have a game every week, it's a quick turnaround and you need to start game-planning and focusing on the next game." BGI: With the Clemson win behind the team, what's the ap- proach to staying on task and not looking ahead in order to reach and succeed in the postseason? White: "We talk about a faceless opponent. So each week, we're going into the Gug, we're going into practice with knowing there is no face to the opponent. It's our standard of play, it's our performance that we want to keep improving." BGI: Your defense has been among the best in the country all season at holding opponents on third down. What goes into that? White: "We talk about it all the time as a de- fense — you really win third down on first and second down to set up long third downs. Through the scheme and what [defensive coordinator Clark Lea] has done with the third-down packages — and then just the guys on the field — there is no better feeling than having a good first two downs, coming off the field, and the third- down team finishes it and closes it and we all rush to the sidelines. "It's a great feeling and those guys are do- ing a great job." BGI: Last season showcased mainly a two- or three-man show at linebacker. What has it meant to have a much deeper rotation this year? White: "Just as a collective linebacking unit, I really do think we have the best depth at the linebacking corps. It proves evident with me and Bo Bauer because we just fuel off of one another. "In the meetings, on the sidelines, we're in each others' ears and we're trying to improve for the defense as a whole." BGI: The game-changing defensive plays seem to be happening more frequently each week. What inspires that? White: "The big plays come from being fearless, not being scared to miss. We want everybody to be playmakers so it is no fear, fearless guys flying around, not overthinking anything and playing to their ability. "It's guys playing fearlessly, not being afraid to make a mistake when they're out on the field." — Todd D. Burlage Five Questions With … SENIOR LINEBACKER DREW WHITE WHITE