Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1414190
28 OCT. 2, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED nonexistent against a strong Wisconsin defense. Sacks were stalling drives. The Irish were searching for a spark. Polian offered a potential one: Hit Wis- consin's kickoff coverage team in the middle of the field. Notre Dame's primary return block- ing scheme to that point had been the sideline return, which is designed to create a crease between the hash marks and the sideline. Polian switched to a field return, which tries to set up a lane between the hashes. "We had been going sideline return," Kelly said. "Just didn't have enough working room. Brian, at half, said, 'Listen, we're going to try to go to the field. It's going to be an all-or-nothing situation.'" It wasn't just the former. It changed the tune of the game. Tyree's first returnable kick of the second half came not even a minute into the fourth quarter, after Wisconsin took a 13-10 lead on kicker Collin Larsh's 27- yard field goal. He caught Larsh's ensu- ing kickoff at the 4-yard line, just out- side the numbers, and ran toward the middle of the field. He cut behind senior receiver Matt Salerno's block at the 30, burst past an unblocked defender at the 33 and accelerated away from the rest of Wisconsin's return unit. "When you go to the field, you're stretching your blocking out longer," Kelly said. "That's where you tend to see a holding or something like that. But we were able to catch a crease. And the rest, obviously, he's a very fast and talented player." A 96-yard touchdown, all told. No flags. Thirteen seconds after Notre Dame fell behind, it had the lead back. And held it for good. Tyree's touchdown ushered in a fourth-quarter deluge of 31 unanswered points that turned a tense game into a blowout. "That was the game-changing play, honestly," junior cornerback Cam Hart said. "Putting the defense back on the field with a lot of energy and intensity, that changed a lot." WISCONSIN VS. NOTRE DAME QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Wisconsin 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 5:50 4:19 9:41 8:37 10:09 18:18 28:27 Third-Down Conversions 0-3 0-2 1-4 1-4 0-5 2-8 2-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0-1 0-0 0-1 Average Field Position WIS-33 WIS-21 WIS-33 WIS-30 WIS-27 WIS-32 WIS-30 Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 9:10 10:41 5:19 6:23 19:51 11:42 31:33 Third-Down Conversions 2-5 2-4 0-3 0-2 4-9 0-5 4-14 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 Average Field Position ND-26 ND-34 ND-29 ND-45 ND-30 ND-40 ND-35 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards WIS ND Nega ve 2 14 0-5 48 32 6-9 8 15 10-19 8 5 20-29 1 2 30-39 1 1 40-49 1 0 50 or more 0 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Wisconsin 3 1 2 0 Notre Dame 3 1 1 1 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Wisconsin • 2-6 WIS27 Mertz pass complete to Cundiff for 43 yards to the ND30 • 1-10 WIS44 Mertz pass complete to Mellusi for 35 yards to the ND21 Notre Dame • 2-9 WIS36 Coan pass complete to Aus n for a 36-yard touchdown • Tyree 96-yard kickoff return for a touchdown • 1-10 ND32 Kiser intercep on for a 66-yard touchdown • 3-3 WIS39 White intercep on for a 48-yard touchdown Sophomore running back Chris Tyree sparked a string of 31 unanswered points for the Fighting Irish with his 96-yard kick- off return touchdown early in the fourth quarter. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • After earning victory No. 106 at Notre Dame, head coach Brian Kelly was awarded the game ball by junior cornerback Cam Hart, sophomore quarterback Drew Pyne and Notre Dame director of athletics Jack Swarbrick. • The Irish are 4-0 to open the season for the third time in the last four years and the sixth time overall under Kelly. • The Fighting Irish's five takeaways versus the Badgers marked their first five-turnover game since a 35-20 win over Virginia on Sept. 28, 2019. • Sophomore tight end Michael Mayer led the team with seven receptions. It was the third game this season he has had seven or more receptions. • Senior defensive lineman Jayson Ademilola forced a fumble from Wisconsin signal-caller Graham Mertz in the third quarter that was recovered by junior defensive end/linebacker Isaiah Foskey. It was Ademilola's first career forced fumble and Foskey's first career fumble recovery. • Ademilola set a career high with 2.0 tack- les for loss and 1.0 sack, and he tied a personal best with five total tackles.