Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1482992
24 NOV. 5, 2022 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED 1. Run Heavy Wins The Day Notre Dame followed Clemson's blueprint for coming back to beat Syracuse. The Tigers threw just four passes on their final four drives (excluding a kneel-down). Those drives totaled 183 yards and 17 points in a 27-21 Clemson win Oct. 22. One week later, the Irish hit Syracuse's defense with 25 rush attempts in the first half, a season high. Those netted 120 yards. Notre Dame's first touchdown drive was an 11-play, 55-yard march, and nine of those were designed runs. Notre Dame's offensive line moved Syracuse off the ball the entire half. After a third quarter in which they averaged 3.7 yards per carry, the Irish regained a two-score ad- vantage with a 7-play, 54-yard drive. All but one of those plays was in 13 personnel (three tight ends). All but two were runs, and sophomore running back Audric Estime's 11-yard touchdown carry capped it. Take out sacks and kneel-downs, and Notre Dame rushed 53 times for 249 yards. The efficiency (4.7 yards per carry) is solid. The volume is more impressive. 2. Run Defense Strong Too This game felt like it might be decided by which team could stop the run better and run the ball more effectively. Notre Dame and Syracuse came in with strong rushing offenses and sometimes leaky run defenses. And if one thing was certain, it's that Syracuse running back Sean Tucker would carry the ball way more than mere 5 rushes he inexplicably had against Clemson last time out. Notre Dame succeeded in running the ball, but won comfortably in part because it largely played assignment-sound defense against the Orange's run game. Tucker had 16 carries, but for only 60 yards and 1 touchdown. That's 3.75 yards per rush — 1.75 below his career average. His longest run was 21 yards, but that was his only carry over 10. Notre Dame tackled him at or behind the line of scrim- mage twice. He also had just 5 yards after the catch on his 4 receptions, one of which went for a loss. 3. JD Bertrand Stays Solid One reason for the sturdy run defense and sound overall effort? Senior linebacker JD Bertrand. Defensive coordinator Al Golden seemed sur- prised when he heard Bertrand was a target of the fan base's angst when asked about him earlier this month. Maybe it was because he never viewed Bertrand as anything other the player he has been the last three games, even if his first five didn't quite match them. Bertrand posted 5 tackles against Syracuse and played nearly every snap. He flustered Syracuse quarterback Garrett Shrader multiple times on blitzes where he didn't make a tackle, notching 2 quarterback hurries. He also pressured Shrader on a fourth-and-7 scramble, leading to an in- completion. In the last three games, Bertrand has 25 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and 1 pass broken up. He was the leading tackler in the Stanford and UNLV games. His 5 tackles vs. Syracuse were second. His 48 tackles are 13 more than any other Notre Dame player. He's a veteran linebacker play- ing like one. 4. Drew Pyne's Ups And Downs The volatility of junior quarterback Drew Pyne's season is best summed up with this stat: his season completion rate entering play against Syracuse was 63.7 percent. He either cleared 70 percent or was at 50 or below in his first five starts, though, with no single game in the 60s. That trend continued vs. the Orange. Pyne was up and down through the game. One play after finding sophomore receiver Deion Colzie while rolling out for 21 yards for one of his best throws, he sailed a pass over junior tight end Mi- chael Mayer that was intercepted. It was airmailed and a poor decision with three defenders under- neath Mayer and a safety over him. After that, he capped a 6-play, 61-yard touch- down drive just before halftime with a 37-yard deep ball to Mayer, an 11-yard throw to Mayer and a 3-yard touchdown to sophomore receiver Jayden Thomas — all in succession. Pyne was 9-of-19 passing for 116 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. He wasn't a source of many big plays. If that's going to be the case all year, which seems more likely than not, he has to limit the mistakes. Outside of the one intercep- tion, he did. He also took just 1 sack, and for only a 1-yard loss. 5. Takeaways And Havoc Increasing Notre Dame's defense was bound to have some bounces go its way at some point. Through seven games, the Irish had forced 5 fumbles and recov- ered 1 of them. None of their passes broken up or tipped balls had led to an interception. The ball bounced their way against Syracuse, and in a huge moment. Senior defensive tackle Howard Cross III deflected a pass that senior line- backer Marist Liufau snatched out of midair for an interception. It came with just less than 13 minutes left in the game and Notre Dame leading 24-17. The Irish scored a touchdown on the ensu- ing possession. It was Notre Dame's second takeaway of the game. The first was its first defensive touchdown of the year, a 29-yard interception return from senior safety Brandon Joseph on the opening snap. Notre Dame nearly had two more. Joseph inter- cepted a pass in the end zone in the fourth quarter, but it was called back due to an offsides penalty. Notre Dame also appeared to have a muffed punt in its grasp, but somehow did not hang onto it. The Irish also had at least 8 tackles for loss and 4 sacks for the second straight game. FIVE THOUGHTS BY PATRICK ENGEL In his last three games, senior linebacker JD Bertrand has compiled 25 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks and 1 pass broken up. PHOTO BY JOSHUA BESSEX