Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 NOV. 27, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT Much like the previous week at Virginia, Notre Dame wasted little time establishing its superior- ity to Georgia Tech. Within in the first five min- utes, the Fighting Irish came up with big plays in all three main phases. It started with sophomore running back Chris Tyree's 51-yard return of the opening kickoff. Then, on the very first play from scrimmage, graduate student quarterback Jack Coan found senior wide receiver Kevin Austin Jr. with a 38- yard pass that set the Irish up at the Yellow Jack- ets' 10-yard line. That drive ultimately stalled out, and the Irish had to settle for a 41-yard field goal by graduate student kicker Jonathan Doerer. On Georgia Tech's ensuing possession, the Yel- low Jackets moved the ball to the Irish 45-yard line and had a second-and-two play when quar- terback Jordan Yates dropped back to pass. Junior defensive end Isaiah Foskey beat his man off the edge and pressured Yates, who attempted to get rid of the ball but instead threw it right into the waiting arms of Jack Kiser. The junior rover turned it into a 43-yard pick-six and a 10-0 Notre Dame lead, and the Irish were off and running. STATS OF THE GAME Coming into the game, it was apparent Georgia Tech's struggling pass defense was an area Notre Dame could exploit. The Yellow Jackets surren- dered 339.3 passing yards per game in their pre- vious six outings, and entered the game ranked 117th in pass defense (271.9 yards allowed per game) and 126th in team passing efficiency de- fense (166.78 rating). The Fighting Irish came out firing, with Coan finding Austin wide open for a 38-yard connec- tion on the first play from scrimmage. That was the first of nine "explosive" pass plays, which are considered receptions of 15 yards or more, in the first half. Coan also had a 51-yard completion to Austin in the second quarter and had scoring tosses of 52 yards to sophomore tight end Mi- chael Mayer and 20 yards to freshman running back Logan Diggs. The Irish only put the ball in the air 26 times but racked up 302 passing yards, all but 17 of which were amassed in the first half when they built a 45-0 lead. Notre Dame averaged an impres- sive 11.6 yards per attempt and 16.8 yards per completion. PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME Even the most ardent Notre Dame fan couldn't have envisioned an 11-1 season after watch- ing the Irish squeak by both Florida State and Toledo the first two weeks of the season. Wins over Purdue and Wisconsin were nice, but Notre Dame came crashing back down to earth after a deflating 24-13 home loss to Cincinnati. The offensive line was a mess, three quarter- backs had taken meaningful snaps with none seizing the job and injuries continuing to pile up. Seven weeks later, though, the Irish sit at 10-1, are playing their best football and, amazingly, are in the conversation for a College Football Playoff berth. The offensive line has been stabilized by a couple lineup changes, and both that unit and Coan have been aided by an adjustment to the Irish's of- fensive approach. After scoring a season-high 55 against Georgia Tech, the Irish have averaged 37.3 points per game during their six-game win streak. The defense is also hitting its stride, limiting its last three opponents without a touchdown despite being without its best player (Kyle Hamilton). Brian Kelly simply could not have asked for much more than what he's gotten from his team. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY STEVE DOWNEY QB JACK COAN The Irish graduate student quarterback played arguably his most efficient game of the season, completing 15 of 20 passes for 285 yards with two touchdowns and no intercep- tions. Coan led Notre Dame to five touchdowns on his first six offensive drives, and at one point he completed 11 straight passes. DE ISAIAH FOSKEY The talented junior defensive end set up Notre Dame's two defensive touchdowns — the first on a quarterback pressure that led to an interception that Irish junior Jack Kiser returned 43 yards for a score, and the second when Foskey forced a fumble on his 10th sack of the season that graduate student Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa scooped and scored on. TE MICHAEL MAYER The sophomore tight end hauled in a career-long 52-yard touchdown in the first quarter and finished the game with three receptions for 86 yards. That score moved him into sec- ond all time for most touchdown receptions in a single season by a tight end (five). Mayer also moved into second all time for most receptions by a tight end in a single season (55). LB ISAIAH PRYOR The graduate linebacker stands out on a balanced Irish defense that held freshman running back Jahmyr Gibbs — an ACC Player of the Year candidate — to 122 all-purpose yards, 46 below his ACC-leading 168.0-yard average. Pryor finished with seven tackles and his first career sack. DT MYRON TAGOVAILOA-AMOSA Definitely playing his final game at Notre Dame Stadium, the graduate student enjoyed a memorable performance with a 70-yard fumble return for his first career touchdown, and he also a blocked field goal to end the first half that helped to preserve the eventual Irish shutout. RB KYREN WILLIAMS Likely playing in his final home game for Notre Dame, the junior tailback led the Irish with 120 all-purpose yards that included 56 rushing (with two touchdowns), 31 receiving and 33 more yards on punt returns. He has now tallied at least one rushing score in seven straight games and has a team-high 15 touchdowns. GAME BALLS BY TODD D. BURLAGE Graduate student linebacker Isaiah Pryor stood out with seven tack- les and a sack as the Irish defense pitched a shutout against the Yellow Jackets. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER