Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1418303
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 23, 2021 27 Well, it was 4.2 yards per carry, but that's still a move in the right direction. Notre Dame hadn't averaged more than 3.5 in any game this season. Williams averaged 4.3 on his own against Virginia Tech, which still wasn't anywhere close to his 2020 season-long average of 5.3, but this isn't 2020. That offensive line is gone. Williams has to work with what he has this year, and he did that to the tune of 100 yards from scrimmage — 81 of which came on the ground — and two crowd-silencing touchdowns. "We found runs that were produc- tive, and we stuck to them," Williams said. "Shout out to the coaches and the O-linemen for doing what they do best, which is giving us running backs a chance." Kelly quipped it was Notre Dame's "coming out party" in terms of the run- ning game. Gone are the sub-4.0 yards per carry averages, perhaps? He hopes so. Any coach would. "We want to play more physical, es- pecially on the offensive line. Tonight we did," Kelly said. "We played more physical. We were better at the point of attack. There was movement and that's what has to continue to move forward for us with the assortment of guys that we have in the lineup." If Notre Dame keeps at it in that way, this season — one very much still on pace for double digits in the win column and a fruitful landing spot in the postseason — will be more than salvageable after all. But first, Williams is going to lay low himself and save any trash talk for after the bye week. He's earned the right. "As soon as we get done Thursday, I'm kicking my feet up and I'm done," he said with a laugh. "I'm chilling until Monday comes, then we're back at it." ✦ NOTRE DAME INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Williams 19 81 0 81 4.3 1 10 Buchner 12 67 0 67 5.6 1 11 Diggs 6 29 0 29 4.8 0 10 Tyree 3 14 0 14 4.7 0 6 Coan 3 1 12 -11 -3.7 0 1 Total 43 192 12 180 4.2 2 11 Passing Att. Com. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Buchner 14 6 42.9 2 113 1 46 Coan 12 9 75.0 0 108 1 23 Total 26 15 57.7 2 221 2 46 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Williams 5 26 1 8 Austin 3 70 0 46 Davis 3 64 1 37 Lenzy 2 31 0 20 Diggs 1 15 0 15 Takacs 1 15 0 15 Total 15 221 2 46 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long None Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long None Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Bramblett 6 48.8 55 0 1 0 2 2 Total 6 48.8 55 0 1 0 2 2 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Doerer 1 1 48 0 Total 1 1 48 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Bertrand 5 5 10 0.5-1 0-0 0 0 0 Lewis 6 0 6 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Foskey 4 2 6 1.5-10 1-10 0 0 1 White 3 3 6 2-3 0-0 0 0 0 Ja. Ademilola 1 5 6 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Bracy 1 4 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hamilton 1 4 5 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Hinish 1 4 5 1.5-3 0-0 0 0 0 Brown 0 4 4 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Griffith 3 0 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Mills 1 2 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Tagovailoa-Amosa 2 1 3 1-3 0-0 0 0 0 Watts 1 2 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ju. Ademilola 1 1 2 0.5-2 0-0 0 0 0 Bauer 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hart 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Kiser 0 2 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Alt 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Osafo-Mensah 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Pryor 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Sherwood 0 1 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long Bracy 1 0 0 0 Total 1 0 0 0 VIRGINIA TECH INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Rushing Att. Gain Lost Net Avg. TD Long Burmeister 10 59 10 49 4.9 1 19 Blackshear 8 35 0 35 4.4 1 8 Blumrick 5 29 0 29 5.8 0 16 Turner 2 11 1 10 5.0 0 11 King 4 8 0 8 2.0 0 3 Thomas 3 5 1 4 1.3 0 3 Holston 5 6 7 -1 -0.2 0 4 Total 37 153 19 134 3.6 2 19 Passing Att. Com. Pct. Int. Yards TD Long Burmeister 30 15 50.0 1 184 0 25 Blumrick 4 2 50.0 0 3 0 6 Total 34 17 50.0 1 187 0 25 Receiving Rec. Yards TD Long Turner 6 80 0 18 Robinson 5 53 0 23 Blackshear 2 22 0 25 Smith 2 19 0 10 Gallo 2 13 0 15 Total 17 187 0 25 Punt Returns No. Yards TD Long Robinson 2 15 0 12 Total 2 15 0 12 Kick Returns No. Yards TD Long King 2 64 0 33 Blackshear 2 44 0 27 Holston 1 15 0 15 Thomas 1 14 0 14 Total 6 137 0 33 Punting No. Avg. Long Blk. TB FC 50+ In 20 Moore 6 49.0 64 0 1 3 2 1 Total 6 49.0 64 0 1 3 2 1 Field Goals Made Att. Long Blk. Romo 3 3 52 0 Total 3 3 52 0 Defense Solo Ast. Total TFL Sacks PD FF FR Peoples 6 6 12 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Conner 4 4 8 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Hollifield 3 5 8 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Barno 4 2 6 1-8 1-8 0 0 0 Fuga 1 5 6 0.5-2 0.5-2 0 0 0 Tisdale 2 4 6 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Jenkins 3 2 5 0-0 0-0 1 0 0 Waller 4 1 5 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Daley 2 1 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Garbutt 1 2 3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Griffin 0 3 3 0.5-2 0.5-2 0 0 0 Kendricks 1 1 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Pollard 0 2 2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Ferguson 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Strong 1 0 1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Int. Returns No. Yards TD Long Waller 1 26 1 26 Peoples 1 14 0 14 Total 2 40 1 26 MISCELLANEOUS NOTES • Notre Dame now leads the all-time series with Virginia tech 3-1, and has won both games played at Lane Stadium. • Head coach Brian Kelly awarded the game balls to graduate student quarterback Jack Coan and graduate student kicker Jonathan Doerer. • Freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner con- nected with senior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. for a 46-yard pass in the second quarter. It marked a career-long reception for Austin and was Buchner's second-longest pass comple- tion (but longest through the air). His longest was a 55-yard touchdown pass to Chris Tyree in the Sept. 11 win versus Toledo on a short wheel route completion. • Buchner became the first true-freshman quarterback to record a rushing touchdown for the Fighting Irish since Brandon Wimbush had a 57-yard rushing touchdown against UMass in 2015. • Junior running back Kyren Williams fin- ished with 107 all-purpose yards (81 rushing, 26 receiving), his fourth game this season with 100 all-purpose yards or more. He also scored a rushing and a receiving touchdown in the same game for the third time in his career. • Junior linebacker JD Bertrand tallied a team-high 10 tackles, marking the fourth game this season he has had double-digit tackles. • Senior defensive tackle Jayson Ademilola set a career high with six tackles, and gradu- ate student nose tackle Kurt Hinish also set a personal best with five stops.