Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1322461
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JAN. 1, 2021 29 two possessions after the turnover on downs. Its only other first down of the quarter was an 11-yard catch by junior tight end Tommy Tremble. Wil- liams and junior running back C'Bo Flemister combined to gain just three yards on four carries. Notre Dame gave up as many sec- ond-quarter sacks (two) as it gained first downs. DUBIOUS STREAK CONTINUES One of the most pronounced blem- ishes on head coach Brian Kelly's ten- ure at Notre Dame is that each season his teams lose at least one game by a sizable margin. This is especially worrisome in more recent seasons, even as Notre Dame has regularly put itself in con- tention for the College Football Play- off. Every year since 2017, the Irish have produced a 10-win season, but also succumbed to an opponent by at least 24 points. Some of this is the result of regular- season success, which has earned Notre Dame postseason matchups with col- lege football powerhouse Clemson in the CFP (2018) and the ACC Champi- onship (2020). The Irish lost the pair of games by an average of 25.5 points. Still, the same Clemson team that de- feated Notre Dame 30-3 in 2018 also obliterated No. 1 Alabama in the na- tional championship by 28 points. But this four-year streak also in- cludes regular-season losses on the road to Miami (2017) and Michigan (2019) by 33 and 31 points. While cer- tainly quality teams, neither finished in the Associated Press top 12 at the end of the season. This has become somewhat of a trend since Kelly took over the pro- gram prior to the 2010 season. Every year since, the Irish have at least one loss by two touchdowns to a big- name college football program. BRIAN KELLY'S BIGGEST LOSSES EACH SEASON AT NOTRE DAME Year Opponent Score 2010 Stanford 37-14 2011 USC 31-17 2012 Alabama 42-14 2013 Oklahoma 35-21 2014 USC 49-14 2015 Ohio State 44-28 2016 USC 45-27 2017 Miami 41-8 2018 Clemson 30-3 2019 Michigan 45-14 2020 Clemson 34-10 CLEMSON'S DIFFERENCE-MAKERS On the Tuesday prior to the re- match with Clemson, several Notre Dame players were made available to the media via Zoom. After the players were repeatedly confronted with questions seemingly designed to hype up the abilities of Tigers quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who missed the first matchup on Nov. 7, Irish players began to crack jokes. At one point, unprompted, fifth- year senior defensive end Daelin Hayes laughed as he complimented Lawrence physically, head to toe. "Just great legs, great hair, great arm," Hayes said. "Just following up NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Williams 15 57 7 50 3.3 0 24 Tyree 1 21 0 21 21.0 1 21 Davis 1 18 0 18 18.0 0 18 Flemister 1 0 4 -4 -4.0 0 0 Team 2 0 6 -6 -3.0 0 0 Book 10 10 45 -35 -3.5 0 7 Total 30 106 62 44 1.5 1 24 Passing Att. Com. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Book 28 20 71.4 0 219 0 30 Total 28 20 71.4 0 219 0 30 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Mayer 5 51 0 15 Skowronek 4 54 0 26 McKinley 3 37 0 19 Williams 3 14 0 6 Tremble 2 41 0 30 Davis 2 15 0 16 Tyree 1 7 0 7 Total 20 219 0 30 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Salerno 1 0 0 0 Total 1 0 0 0 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Tyree 2 37 0 20 Total 2 37 0 20 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Bramblett 6 48.2 59 0 0 2 2 4 Total 6 48.2 59 0 0 2 2 4 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Doerer 1 2 51 0 Total 1 2 51 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Hamilton 6 4 10 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Crawford 6 2 8 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Owusu-Koramoah 6 1 7 2-5 0-0 0 0 0 Liufau 3 3 6 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Lewis 3 1 4 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 McCloud 3 1 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Foskey 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ja. Ademilola 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Cross 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Griffith 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hinish 1 1 2 0.5-2 0-0 0 0 0 Ogundeji 1 1 2 1-1 1-1 0 0 0 White 1 1 2 1-5 1-5 0 0 0 Ju. Ademilola 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Bauer 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Doerer 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Lamb 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Brown 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Tagovailoa-Amosa 0 1 1 0.5-2 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long Hamilton 1 14 0 14 Total 1 14 0 14 CLEMSON INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Etienne 10 124 0 124 12.4 1 44 Lawrence 14 100 10 90 6.4 1 34 Mayers 1 2 0 2 2.0 0 2 Mellusi 1 2 0 2 2.0 0 2 Rencher 1 1 0 1 1.0 0 1 Total 27 229 10 219 8.1 2 44 Passing Att. Com. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Lawrence 36 25 69.4 1 322 2 67 Team 2 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 Uiagalelei 1 0 0.0 0 0 0 0 Total 39 25 64.1 1 322 2 67 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Rodgers 8 121 1 67 E. Williams 4 80 1 33 Powell 4 59 0 26 Galloway 3 15 0 10 Etienne 3 12 0 9 Mellusi 2 31 0 23 Chalk 1 4 0 4 Total 25 322 2 67 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Rodgers 1 2 0 2 Total 1 2 0 2 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long Etienne 2 53 0 37 Total 2 53 0 37 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Spiers 3 37.3 39 0 0 2 0 3 Total 3 37.3 39 0 0 2 0 3 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Potter 2 2 37 0 Total 2 2 37 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR N. Turner 4 3 7 1-1 0-0 0 0 0 M. Greene 3 3 6 1.5-7 1.5-7 0 0 0 Skalski 2 3 5 1-5 1-5 0 0 0 Ba. Spector 2 3 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Charleston 2 2 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 T. Davis 2 2 4 1.5-3 0-0 0 0 0 Kendrick 2 2 4 1.5-4 1-2 0 0 0 Simpson 2 2 4 2-15 1-10 0 0 0 Goodrich 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Henry 2 1 3 1-10 1-10 0 0 0 Bresee 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 F. Davis 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 L. Williams 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Phillips 0 2 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Zanders 2 0 2 0-0 0-0 0 1 0 Br. Spector 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Bentley 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Jor. Williams 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 M. Jones 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Mascoll 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Murphy 0 1 1 0.5-5 0.5-5 0 0 0 Patterson 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Upshaw 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long None