Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 NOV. 20, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT In essence, this game was decided during the pregame warm-ups. Virginia's stellar junior quar- terback Brennan Armstrong spent about 10 min- utes on the field. He tested his rib injury — suf- fered at BYU Oct. 30 — with a handful of light tosses, but reportedly was in obvious pain. Not long after that, Armstrong was officially ruled out. Once the game began, it became painfully clear just how important he is to the Cavaliers' high-powered offense. With him in the lineup, Virginia averaged 38.9 points and 545.2 yards of total offense per game during its 6-3 start. He was responsible for 77.1 percent of the Cavaliers touchdowns (34 of 44) and ranked second in the country in total offense (425.3 yards per game). With Armstrong an innocent bystander on the sidelines, the Cavaliers turned to Jay Woolfolk — the first true freshman to start at quarterback for a UVA team since Bryan Shumock in 1977. With Woolfolk at the helm, all Virginia could muster was three points and 278 total yards. STATS OF THE GAME Notre Dame defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman took full advantage of the Cavaliers hav- ing to go with true freshman Jay Woolfolk at quar- terback. He mixed pass coverages brilliantly and often brought pressure on the young signal-caller. As a result, the Fighting Irish finished the game with seven sacks for 34 yards and a pair of inter- ceptions. The seven sacks were the most recorded by Notre Dame since the last time they played Vir- ginia, when they had eight for 55 yards in a 35-20 victory in South Bend on Sept. 28, 2019. The Fighting Irish now have 32 sacks and 14 in- terceptions on the season. When the dust settles on Week 11 action, both figures will most likely rank among the top 20 nationally. Those numbers also already eclipse their 2020 season totals of 31 sacks and seven interceptions. Despite being without its best player — junior safety Kyle Hamilton — Freeman's unit has put together arguably its two best performances of the season the past two weeks. NEXT MEN UP After Notre Dame easily dispatched of a Virginia team playing without its best player, head coach Brian Kelly disclosed that the Irish had a "tough week" themselves while dealing with a flu bug that hit about a dozen players. Just another day at the office for the Fighting Irish. Dealing with attrition and chugging right along without missing a beat. From junior JD Bertrand stepping in at Will line- backer for Marist Liufau, who was lost for the year due to injury at the end of August, to freshman Joe Alt stabilizing the left tackle position after classmate Blake Fisher went down with an injury in the season opener, it has been next man up for the Irish. Against the Cavaliers, Notre Dame was without — among others — graduate student defen- sive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa. No problem. Sophomore Rylie Mills slid over from tackle to end and posted a career day with four stops, two tackle for loss and two sacks. This may not be Kelly's best Irish team, but it just may be his best coaching job yet. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY STEVE DOWNEY LB BO BAUER In the first start of his career, the senior linebacker was arguably Notre Dame's best defensive player. He led the team with nine tack- les, plus logged 1.5 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss. He even broke up one pass. Bauer seemed to live in the opposing backfield, and he always had a nose for where the football was going. S RAMON HENDERSON Also making the first start of his career, the sophomore safety came away with his first career interception with 1:16 remaining in the first half. He ensured Notre Dame would take a 21-0 lead to the locker room. Henderson, normally a cornerback, was moved to safety at the beginning of the week. The position change worked out for him and the Irish. TE MICHAEL MAYER The sophomore tight end put forth his best performance of the last month or so with seven catches and 84 yards, both of which were team highs. Mayer had not recorded that many receiving yards since Oct. 2 against Cincinnati. He also hadn't scored a touchdown since Sept. 11 against Toledo. Mayer got Notre Dame on the board first with his first-quarter touchdown, and it was all Irish from there. DL RYLIE MILLS The sophomore defensive lineman made a position swap himself. With graduate student defensive end Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa un- able to play due to an illness, Mills moved to the edge. He rewarded the coaching staff — and himself — with two sacks. He had three in his entire career going into the game. There might be a permanent position change in store for Mills' future. RB KYREN WILLIAMS The junior running back has been a usual customer in the game balls department in the second half of the season. He had 70 rush- ing yards and a touchdown in addition to two catches for 15 yards. It wasn't his most prolific game from a statistical standpoint, but his 22-yard touchdown to make it 21-0 late in the second half let all the air out of the Scott Stadium balloon. GAME BALLS BY TYLER HORKA Sophomore defensive lineman Rylie Mills notched career highs in tackles (four), tackles for loss (two) and sacks (two) against the Cavaliers. PHOTO BY KEITH LUCAS/SIDELINE MEDIA