Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1418303
22 OCT. 23, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT After Virginia Tech quarterback Braxton Bur- meister scrambled for a 19-yard touchdown run on a third-and-15 play, Notre Dame trailed 29-21 with just 3:55 remaining in the game and Lane Stadium was rocking. Enter Jack Coan. The graduate student quarterback hadn't played since the first quarter, when his three drives produced just 27 yards on 13 plays. How- ever, freshman Tyler Buchner injured his ankle on the Irish's previous possession, so Coan was called on to try to rally Notre Dame. Coan proceeded to lead the Irish on a seven-play, 75-yard drive in just 1:34. He capped the impressive march with a four-yard scoring toss to graduate stu- dent wide receiver Avery Davis, then connected with senior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. for the two- point conversion after improvising from the original play call and scrambling away from the pass rush. After the Notre Dame defense forced a quick three-and-out by the Hokies, Coan guided the Irish 45 yards on seven plays to set up graduate student Jonathan Doerer's 48-yard game-winning field goal with 17 seconds left in the game. It was a clutch performance by Coan, who con- nected on 7 of 9 throws for 93 yards on the two drives. STAT OF THE GAME Running the ball has been a struggle for the Fighting Irish this season, and at times it has been an exercise in futility. They entered the matchup with Virginia Tech ranked 124th out of 130 FBS teams with an average of just 80.8 rushing yards per game. So, it is quite noteworthy that they outrushed the Hokies 180-134. The Irish averaged 4.2 yards per rush, a marked improvement from their sea- son average of 2.4 yards per carry through their first five contests. The 180 yards were by far a season high for Notre Dame (132 vs. Toledo was the previous best), and were more than double their ground output (87) in the previous two contests against Wisconsin and Cincinnati combined. The insertion of freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner into the game in the second quarter allowed the Irish to implement the read-option, which breathed some life into the ground attack. Buchner had 12 carries for 67 yards and one touchdown, but perhaps more importantly his presence created some space for junior running back Kyren Williams to operate. Williams com- piled 81 yards and a score on 19 carries. It was an encouraging performance that the Irish can build on. IMPRESSIVE STREAKS Notre Dame's comeback victory over Vir- ginia Tech extended a pair of underappreciated streaks. The Irish have now won 21 consecutive regu- lar-season games against ACC opponents, with their last defeat coming all the way back in 2017 against a top-10 Miami team on the road. Of those 21 wins, 15 came by 10 points or more. Perhaps even more impressively, though, the Irish have now won 36 straight matchups against unranked foes — easily outpacing the previous school standard of 29 set by Lou Holtz's teams from 1990-94. And with Alabama's 100-game streak coming to an end with its 41-38 loss at unranked Texas A&M, Notre Dame now owns the longest streak in the country. The last time the Fighting Irish lost to an un- ranked opponent was in 2016 when they fell 34-31 to Hokies in South Bend. That season also marks the last time the Irish lost back-to-back regular-season contests, with the defeat to the Hokies followed by a 45-27 setback at USC to close out that disastrous 4-8 campaign. Since then, had coach Brian Kelly has created a culture of winning that permeates the program. There is something to be said about being able to win games even when you're not at your best. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY STEVE DOWNEY CB TARIQ BRACY The senior cornerback stepped in front of an out route and secured the first intercep- tion of his career. The pick set Notre Dame up on the Virginia Tech 29-yard line late in the third quarter, and the Irish punched the ball into the end zone four plays later to regain their lead. Bracy also recorded five tackles in the game. QB TYLER BUCHNER Notre Dame wouldn't have won without the spark its true freshman quarterback provided in the first half. Buchner came off the bench and completed 6 of 14 throws for 113 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. He also scored a touchdown on the ground, though, and ignited a Notre Dame offense that was stagnant under Jack Coan in the first quarter. QB JACK COAN You won't see a quarterback who gets benched get a game ball very often, but QBs who get benched don't lead comeback victories very often either. Coan's 9-of-12 pass- ing for 108 yards with one touchdown were modest statistics. But Notre Dame wouldn't have won without the two scoring drives Coan led in the final four minutes of the game. DE ISAIAH FOSKEY The junior defensive end didn't lead Notre Dame in tackles, but that's a slot reserved for junior linebacker JD Bertrand anyway. Bertrand had a team-high 10 tackles, and Fo- skey tied for second with six. Four of them were solo stops. He upped his team-leading sack total to 6.0 this season with one quarterback takedown, and he had 1.5 tackles for loss and a quarterback hurry as well. RB KYREN WILLIAMS The junior running back ran for 81 yards and a touchdown on 19 rushing attempts and added a team-high five catches for 26 yards and a score through the air. The Irish needed every one of his 107 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns. It has been especially hard for Williams to get going this season behind Notre Dame's shaky of- fensive line, but he ran hard and out together one of his better games of the season. GAME BALLS BY TYLER HORKA Junior defensive end Isaiah Foskey upped his team-leading sack total to 6.0 with one quarterback takedown against Virginia Tech. PHOTO BY KEN MARTIN