Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1414190
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 2, 2021 23 NOTRE DAME PASSING OFFENSE: B+ Notre Dame went into the game tied for 126th nationally in sacks allowed per game at 5.00. The Fighting Irish were even worse in that re- gard against Wisconsin. The Badgers sacked Notre Dame quarterbacks six times. Graduate student quarterback Jack Coan has protected the football well nonetheless, and he did a nice job of that against Wisconsin. He con- nected on 15 of 29 throws for 158 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. When he was injured and replaced by sophomore Drew Pyne, the passing offense didn't miss much of a beat. Pyne passed for 81 yards and a touchdown in just over a quarter of play. Sophomore tight end Michael Mayer was the sure-handed safety valve Notre Dame expects him to be in grabbing seven catches for 61 yards, and senior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. had six catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns. NOTRE DAME RUSHING OFFENSE: D Or F. Whatever you want to call it, it wasn't pretty. That said, it went about the way most imagined it would. Wisconsin brought the nation's best rushing defense into the game. Notre Dame brought in a running game that has struggled mightily. It was a recipe for disaster, and disaster it turned out to be indeed. The Irish rushed 32 times for a net of three yards. And no clouds of dust, either. Junior running back Kyren Williams had 18 car- ries for 33 yards. Sophomore Chris Tyree had two attempts for six yards. Coan and Pyne lost a com- bined 39 yards in sack yardage. They netted a loss of 35 yards. Notre Dame's longest rushing play of the game was an eight-yard scramble from Coan. When that's the case, close your eyes and turn away. NOTRE DAME PASSING DEFENSE: A+ Four interceptions, two of which were returned for touchdowns? Yes, that'll do. The Notre Dame defense gave up a few long passing plays, but it was never beaten deep for a touchdown. Junior linebacker Jack Kiser let his man slip by for a 43-yard catch in the first quarter, but he was one of the Irish players who had a pick-six. That more than made up for the early misplay. The Badgers also gained 35 yards on a shovel pass. That's just getting bested by solid play calling, which happens. Overall, Notre Dame made Wisconsin redshirt sophomore quarterback Graham Mertz miserable. He only completed 18 of 41 passing attempts. His fourth-quarter meltdown might have had as much to do with frustration as anything else, and it was the Notre Dame defense causing that frustration in the first place. NOTRE DAME RUSHING DEFENSE: A+ Junior running back Chez Mellusi ran 18 times for 54 yards. The rest of Wisconsin's team was credited with 10 attempts for 18 yards. Wisconsin went into the game averaging 266.0 rushing yards per game. Notre Dame held the Badgers to 74. And as much as Mertz's turnovers were the differ- ence in the end, Notre Dame does not get the game to that point without dominating defensively along the line of scrimmage. The Wisconsin offensive line couldn't get any push. The Irish played without graduate student nose tackle Kurt Hinish, but soph- omore Howard Cross III did just fine in his stead. It was without a doubt the Notre Dame front sev- en's most impressive performance of the season. NOTRE DAME SPECIAL TEAMS: A Two words: Chris Tyree. His 96-yard kick return touchdown gave the Irish the lead for good early in the fourth quarter. It was undoubtedly the play of the game. Graduate student kicker Jonathan Doerer missed his first field goal attempt, a 39-yarder, but made his next one from 51 and his last one from 37. The 51-yarder tied the score at 3-3 at the time. Junior punter Jay Bramblett punted seven times for an average of 46.3 yards per punt. That was greatly aided by a booming 72-yard kick that pinned Wisconsin at its own 9-yard line in the second quarter. NOTRE DAME COACHING: A Notre Dame seemed to know what it was get- ting into, which is a sign of solid coaching. Hart and Austin were made available to the media after the game, and they both seemed to be incredibly aware that this was going to be a game that, as proved to be true, was going to be a low-scoring slugfest for most of the day. For Notre Dame to stay engaged and locked in during what was essentially a quintessential Wis- consin style of game and end up on the right side of the scoreboard in lopsided fashion signified that this team gets it. And a team can only get it when that confidence and understanding is passed down from the coaching staff. Head coach Brian Kelly and company had to have pushed all the right buttons. REPORT CARD BY TYLER HORKA Junior cornerback Cam Hart recorded the first two interceptions of his career against Wisconsin. The Fighting Irish picked off Wisconsin redshirt sophomore quarterback Graham Mertz four times, two of which were returned for touchdowns. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER