Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM SEPT. 30, 2023 11 UNDER THE DOME Notre Dame graduate student corner- back Cam Hart remembers times this season when defensive coordinator Al Golden's play call surprised him and his defensive back teammates. The surprising call was usually Cover 0, otherwise known as a zero blitz. Madden NFL game players can go to the "man blitz" section for a variety of options, but the concept is always the same: Five defensive backs find their man and stick to him, while everyone else hunts the quarterback. "There have been some tough mo- ments where we're like, 'Oh, Coach is gonna call Cover 0 here?'" Hart said after practice Sept. 19. Irish graduate student safety DJ Brown estimated Sept. 12 that in Week 2 against North Carolina State, Golden called man coverage 60-70 percent of the time. The data, on a whole-season basis, supports it — especially on pass- ing downs. According to Sports Info Solutions, Notre Dame played man coverage 21 times on third down or fourth down through Week 3, the third-highest total in the country. While the Irish have played one more game than most other teams, SIS dic- tates the Irish did not play man cover- age on third or fourth down at all in Week 0 against Navy. Given that a de- fensive strategy against Navy will be wildly different than against any other team, that game can be thrown out in this discussion. With the way Notre Dame played that afternoon Brown referenced against the Wolfpack, and the way its pass defense has played this season, it's hard to argue with the strategy. On a rainy day in Raleigh, N.C., North Carolina State graduate student quar- terback Brennan Armstrong threw 47 times for 260 yards, an average of 5.5 yards per attempt. Armstrong tossed 2 passing touchdowns — one with 2:03 to play in a 45-17 game — and 3 intercep- tions, grabbed by three different Notre Dame players. Brown was one of them, along with sophomore cornerback Benjamin Mor- rison and senior safety Xavier Watts. They lead a pass defense that ranked 12th in the country in opponent yards per attempt through Week 3. Brown said all that man coverage gives the secondary even more confi- dence than it already had. "It shows that the coaches are con- fident in us," Brown said. "We work on that. We go against our offense every day and play man. We have good DBs, good corners, good safeties and good nickels. It just shows how confident Coach Golden is in us to be able to lock down when the game is on the line." Another sign Golden trusts his defen- sive backs: the Irish are blitzing a lot on passing downs. Also according to SIS, Notre Dame blitzed 22 times on third or fourth down through Week 3, second-most in the country behind San Diego State. Pro- rated down to three games, the number becomes 16.5. That would have been No. 6 on the list, just behind Clemson at 17 and just ahead of Vanderbilt (also played four games), Georgia State, Missouri, South- ern Miss and Ole Miss. "Knowing that Coach Golden is trusting us, that's huge," Hart said. "That opens up a lot for the front seven that he can trust us to do what we have to do on the outside and the back end, and allow those boys to earn the right to rush the quarterback." —Jack Soble 1. Publication Title 2. Publication Number 3. Filing Date 4. Issue Frequency 5. Number of Issues Published Annually 6. Annual Subscription Price 8. Complete Mailing Address of Headquarters or General Business Office of Publisher (Not printer) 9. Full Names and Complete Mailing Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor (Do not leave blank) Publisher (Name and complete mailing address) Editor (Name and complete mailing address) Managing Editor (Name and complete mailing address) 10. Owner (Do not leave blank. 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Percent Paid (Both Print & Electronic Copies) (16b divided by 16c Í 100) PRIVACY NOTICE: See our privacy policy on www.usps.com. 9/22/23 677 8,539 8,539 100.0 680 8,831 8,831 100.0 Sept. 30, 2023 Editor X Notre Dame Shows Trust In Secondary Notre Dame has leaned heavily on its defensive backs — including graduate student safety DJ Brown (No. 2 above) — in 2023, and so far it has paid off. PHOTO BY LARRY BLANKENSHIP