Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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30 JUNE/JULY 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY PATRICK ENGEL N otre Dame head coach Brian Kelly rolled out a new for- mat for this year's Blue-Gold Game. There was no more defense versus offense or first team versus second team — as has been the norm in the past. This time, he and his staff split the roster into two teams, Blue versus Gold. Players who are entrenched as starters dotted both rosters. The same goes for players who are competing to start and players who likely won't start or play much this year. As a result, there's not as much to take away from a depth-chart stand- point when looking at the person- nel on each squad. Neither offensive line, for example, should be viewed as the first-team unit, because the most frequent first-team units from the second half of spring were split across both teams. Kelly wanted to put new faces to- gether up front, roll out new groups of receivers, defensive backs, line- backers and so on. This exhibition was all about creating challenges. "We purposely split these teams up equally and tried to balance them," Kelly said. "We wanted to not lever- age either team. "We really wanted to put guys out there and force them to compete in some of the more difficult situations they'd be in. That's why you saw some sacks or not as many points. It was all calculated, and we got exactly what we wanted out of it from that perspective." The result was a low-scoring af- ternoon that had little rhythm. The defenses held firm. The offenses looked like two groups derived from an overall unit that is undergoing an identity shift and key losses at nearly every position. Blue won 17-3, sparked by a pair of second-half touchdown drives with freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner at the helm. Wisconsin graduate trans- fer Jack Coan and sophomore Drew Pyne, the two presumed contenders for the starting quarterback job, were on separate teams and did not lead a touchdown drive. Buchner came in for Pyne in the second half. Coan played all but one drive for Gold. There were nine sacks, four of which came on third down, and 18 tackles for loss. There were just five third-down conversions on 21 tries. At times, it felt like the offense was playing in a phone booth. Despite all that, the teams combined to average 13.7 yards per completion. All told, there were 109 plays run — 68 in the first half. Each quarter was 15 minutes, but the second half had a running clock. At some posi- tions, starters were taken out mid- way through the second half. At oth- ers, starters or players competing to be starters played the entire game. That's interesting usage in an intra- squad scrimmage, but Notre Dame left it largely in good health. The only injuries sustained were a hip pointer to freshman safety Justin Walters and a minor hamstring issue to sopho- more wide receiver Jay Brunelle. There were no kickoffs, most new possessions started on the 25-yard line and all punts were fair caught. No contact was permitted on Coan or Pyne, who donned red jerseys, but Buchner was allowed to take hits. Here is the breakdown of each se- ries and the scoring. FIRST QUARTER Gold Offense From Own 25, 15:00 The drive began with fireworks when Coan found senior wide re- ceiver Joe Wilkins Jr. downfield for a 32-yard gain. Then it went backward. A two-yard completion to senior tight end George Takacs was wiped out with a two-yard loss on a catch by freshman wide receiver Lorenzo Styles Jr. Coan was then sacked by senior defensive end Justin Ademi- lola to force a punt. Blue Offense From Own 25, 12:23 Like its counterpart, the Blue of- fense sputtered after a promising start and two first downs. Senior wide receiver Lawrence Keys III had a 12-yard reception just shy of mid- field. The drive tanked right after that with a first-down sack by junior linebacker Marist Liufau that set Blue back eight yards and a third-down sack by senior defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa that cost six more yards. Gold Offense From Own 25, 8:42 The same script as before. Coan hit Takacs for 25 yards out to midfield, then nothing. Wilkins dropped a pass on a hitch route. Senior cornerback TaRiq Bracy broke up a short one intended for Styles. Junior defensive tackle Howard Cross sacked Coan on third down. Blue Offense From Own 25, 7:11 An 11-play, 66-yard march started with a pass interference penalty com- mitted by sophomore corner Ramon Henderson on a downfield throw to senior receiver Braden Lenzy. Blue chipped its way across midfield and then fed sophomore running back Chris Tyree. He had a 16-yard run and an 18-yard catch to set up a first down at the Gold 14. A third-and-two handoff to Tyree, though, went for a two-yard loss when Henderson wrapped him up. Fifth-year senior kicker Jonathan Doerer made a 27-yard field goal. SCORE: Blue 3, Gold 0 Gold Offense From Own 25, 2:59 Three straight completions — in- cluding a 24-yarder to fifth-year senior wide receiver Avery Davis — pushed the Gold offense across CLAMPING DOWN Blue beats Gold 17-3 in defensive-dominated spring game Freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner led both the touchdown drives in the Blue-Gold Game. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME ATHLETICS INJURY REPORT These offensive players did not dress for the spring game: senior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr., sophomore tight end Kevin Bauman, junior quarterback Brendon Clark, sophomore wide receiver Griffin Eifert, senior wide receiver Greg Mailey, sophomore tight end Michael Mayer, senior offensive lineman Jarrett Pat- terson, sophomore long snapper Alex Peitsch, junior offensive lineman Hunter Spears. These defensive players also were out: ju- nior safety Kyle Hamilton, junior defensive tackle Jacob Lacey, senior linebacker Paul Moala, freshman defensive tackle Gabe Rubio, freshman defensive end Will Schweitzer, fifth- year senior linebacker Drew White. — Patrick Engel