Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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36 OCT. 19, 2024 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED GAME PREVIEW: GEORGIA TECH BY JACK SOBLE GEORGIA TECH RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE The raw numbers paint Notre Dame as a fine, if a little bit underwhelming, run defense. The Irish were tied with Utah for 46th in the nation at 3.60 yards per carry allowed through Week 6. That seems fine, but the devil is in the details. We can point to two things that show why Notre Dame's run defense has been more frustrating than its yards-per-carry average indicates: one statistical and one anecdotal. The key number here is stuff rate, or percent- age of carries that result in zero or fewer yards. Notre Dame's stuff rate (according to Sports Info Solutions) was 15.1, sandwiched between West- ern Michigan and UMass for 119th in FBS, which means the Irish have done a poor job at creating havoc and preventing second- and third-and-man- ageable situations. The key anecdote is simply that while Notre Dame hasn't defended the run all that poorly overall, it's defended the run really poorly in spe- cific stretches. These include the loss to Northern Illinois and the first half of wins over Miami (Ohio) and Louisville. These rough patches make the run defense look worse than it has been on balance, but they're no less concerning as a result. Georgia Tech's run game is similar to Notre Dame's, in that it features a shifty running back in redshirt junior Jamal Haynes and a big (6-foot-3, 215 pounds) quarterback in redshirt junior Haynes King who is an effective high-volume rusher. They both averaged 4.8 yards per carry on a combined 192 attempts in the Jackets' first six contests. Irish fans might still remember Georgia Tech's offensive line taking it to Florida State in college football's season opener. The Yellow Jackets have significant experience up front, returning four of five starters from a successful 2023 offense, and that success has carried over into 2024. Advantage: Georgia Tech GEORGIA TECH PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Here's a wild stat: Through Week 6, King has been sacked only once this year. That sack lost, wait for it, 1 yard. King is excellent at avoiding sacks, and Georgia Tech has done a great job pro- tecting him. The ex-Texas A&M signal-caller has been pressured only 31 times, which is tied for 177th in college football. When he has a perfect pocket, King has been terrific. His completion percentage was 80.1 and his yards per attempt was 9.1, going 113 of 141 for 1,280 yards so far when kept clean. When pres- sured, though, King had completed 12 of 29 passes (41.4 percent) for 151 yards (5.2 yards per attempt). Georgia Tech recently made a change that should help it be even better up front, too. Red- shirt junior left tackle Jordan Brown is out; red- shirt junior Corey Robinson II has come in. In around the same number of reps, splitting time at left tackle, Brown had allowed 7 pressures and Robinson had allowed 0. This is another big game for Notre Dame gradu- ate student nickel back Jordan Clark, as Georgia Tech's top receiver, redshirt junior Malik Ruther- ford, makes his living in the slot. Rutherford paced the Yellow Jackets with 37 catches for 474 yards and 2 scores, and not far behind is sophomore Eric Singleton Jr. with 27 for 380 and 2. On PaPer Redshirt junior Malik Rutherford paced the Yellow Jackets with 37 receptions for 474 yards and 2 touch- downs through six contests. PHOTO COURTESY GEORGIA TECH ATHLETICS