Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/181992
Under the Dome Charting The Irish Irish Third & Shortcomings Notre Dame's offense finished its fourth game of the season with a respectable 53.7 percent conversion rate on third-down plays, including drives extended by penalties. That's good for a No. 28 ranking nationally. But the Irish could be dominant in that department if they had a little more success when they put themselves in "third-and-manageable" situations. The team's average when needing three yards or less to convert a third down (58.6 percent) is only slightly better than its overall average on third downs (53.7). The offense actually has more success when it has to go farther, somewhere between four and seven yards, to move the chains. Outside of seven yards the success rate drops significantly as one would expect. Part of the reason for the drop is Notre Dame's predictability in third-and-long situations. The Irish ran the ball only once in the 38 times they faced a third-and-four or longer. In more manageable situations they could keep defenses guessing. They ran the ball 60 percent of the time and passed it the other 40 percent. Total: 36 of 67 (53.73 percent) < three yards to go: 17 of 29 (58.6 percent) passing: 6 of 11 70 yards rushing: 11 of 18 52 yards four to seven yards to go: 9 of 14 (64.3 percent) passing: 9 of 13 136 yards rushing: 0 of 1 -1 yards > eight yards to go: 10 of 24 (41.67 percent) passing: 10 of 24 158 yards rushing: 0 of 0, 0 yards Francis Peay: 1944-2013 Former University of Notre Dame assistant football coach Francis Peay died Sept. 21 in St. Louis. He was 69. A first-round NFL pick in 1966 for head coach Dan Devine at Missouri, Peay played nine years in the pros and was hired by Devine as the Irish junior varsity coach in 1976 and 1977. He went on to become head coach at Northwestern (1986-91), the second black man in the Big Ten conference to serve in that role, succeeding predecessor Dennis Green. Peay