Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM NOV. 5, 2022 29 ENGEL'S ANGLE PATRICK ENGEL Patrick Engel has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since March 2020. He can be reached at pengel@blueandgold.com M arcus Freeman, standing be- hind a dais in a JMA Wireless Dome closet masquerading as an interview room, forgot home many points Notre Dame scored in the game that ended not 30 minutes prior. But he knew it was a lot. "We scored, I don't know how many points," Freeman began, before being informed of the total. "If we can score 41 points the way we just did," Freeman said, "we're going to continue to do that." Technically, Notre Dame's offense scored only 34, but that won't change his thinking. Because in a way, he doesn't have a choice. The method by which Notre Dame beat No. 16 Syra- cuse 41-24 is who they are, for better or worse. If Notre Dame is going to win — especially by three scores — this is probably what it has to look like. What is that method? Allow one of the lead actors to describe a core principle. "We're going to run at you," sopho- more running back Audric Estime said. "You're going to have to stop us. If you're not stopping us, we're going to do it until the game is over." Syracuse didn't stop the Irish, who hung 246 yards on the Orange and never trailed. Take out sacks and kneel- downs, and that rises to 249 — on an astounding 53 attempts. The Irish possessed the ball for 37:40 in their latest instance of a ground-based attack. They have gained at least 47 per- cent of their yards on the ground in each of their last four wins and more than 50 percent in their last two. They have cleared 220 rushing yards in those four victories. A sturdy offensive line and a skilled trio of running backs once again were at the center of a winning effort. "Been the plan since probably Cal," Freeman said. To say they leaned into their ground game vs. Syracuse, though, is as big an understatement as calling Michael Mayer good at football. Because they took leaning to another level. Notre Dame gave two running backs at least 20 carries in a game for the first time since a win at Pittsburgh on Oct. 11, 2003, per Sports Reference. Estime turned his 20 attempts into 123 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sophomore Logan Diggs rushed 20 times for 85 yards and 1 touchdown. Junior running back Chris Tyree had 8 carries for 23 yards. All told, only four FBS games in the first eight weeks featured more than 48 running back carries. The 56 total carries (including sacks and kneel-downs) were the Notre Dame's most in a game since an Oct. 7, 2017 win at North Carolina. But it wasn't just that Notre Dame ran the ball a lot. It's how far the Irish have pushed into it as their identity and how unashamed of it they are. They began the game in 22 personnel in the I-formation with Estime as the fullback and gave him the ball on the first two plays. They had 25 rushing attempts by halftime. No possession exemplified it more than a 7-play, 54-yard drive early in the fourth quarter after senior linebacker Marist Liufau's interception ended Syr- acuse's attempt at a game-tying drive. Notre Dame began it in 13 personnel, a run-heavy set that's most often found on first down. But the Irish stayed in 13 for the next play. And the next one. And six more on that drive, which ended with Estime's 11-yard touchdown run (in 13 personnel, of course). Common in this age of spread of- fense and pass-heavy attacks? Not at all. Effective enough to get a needed win against a ranked team? Yes. The latter is Freeman's only concern now. "I'm not looking to have a certain amount of passes or a certain amount of runs," Freeman said. "I want to score points." There is, of course, a caveat. Notre Dame has to lean hard into the run be- cause its passing game remains unreli- able outside of Mayer and the protection. Junior quarterback Drew Pyne has not exceeded a 50 percent completion rate in the last three games. Notre Dame wide receivers have a combined 55 catches for 704 yards and 5 touchdowns. Five indi- vidual FBS receivers had more catches and 14 had more yards entering Week 9. A middling at best passing attack means everything else has to hit for the Irish to win by three scores or to beat formidable opponents. Notre Dame's checklist for overcom- ing it has three key pieces. The run game has to be a consistent source of yards. The defense has to hold serve, create negative plays and produce takeaways. Finally, special teams must be a legiti- mate weapon, as it was for the second straight game. The Irish blocked their fifth punt of the season and had an 18- yard advantage in starting field position. If it sounds like a lot, it is. The margin for error is small. A bumpy passing out- put cost Notre Dame against Stanford because it didn't do enough elsewhere to offset it. That's an unfair standard, but it's where Notre Dame finds itself. And the Irish have delivered the past two games. Can it continue against a top-five Clemson team that entered Week 9 ranked eighth in tackles for loss per game? Skepticism is warranted. But all the Irish could do at Syracuse was prove it works against a one-loss team on the road and grow more comfortable who they are. ✦ Against the Orange, Notre Dame gave two run- ning backs — sophomores Audric Estime and Logan Diggs (above) — at least 20 carries in a game for the first time since a win at Pittsburgh on Oct. 11, 2003, per Sports Reference. PHOTO BY JOSHUA BESSEX Irish Show Winning Formula Against Syracuse