Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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weapon at tight end. However, the 6-5, 261-pounder had only five career receptions prior to the game with the Falcons. He caught his first touchdown pass against Arizona State in early October and has made more regular appearances in the lineup the rest of the month. He and Niklas both started against Air Force. Midway through the second quarter, Notre Dame got Koyack matched up with linebacker Jared Jones and capitalized on his three-inch height advantage. Rees tossed a fade pass toward the sideline, which Koyack hauled in for a 22-yard score that gave the Irish a bit of breathing room for the first time in the game. That was the junior's last reception of the contest, but his presence on the field set up long strikes to wide receivers throughout the game and eventually a steady rushing attack in the second half. Freshman wide receiver Will Fuller 's first career score came out of a tightly bunched formation that forced the Falcons to move more bodies near the line of scrimmage. Fuller blew past his man-to-man defender for a wide-open, 46-yard scoring play. "We wanted to run two-tight-end sets so we could run and pass the ball," Fuller said "It made them have to stack the box a little bit, so whenever we made a catch it seemed like it was one-on-one. That was great." With a comfortable lead in the second half, the two tight ends helped Notre Dame stretch Air Force's 3-4 defensive front and create gaps for its running backs. Junior Cam McDaniel and freshman Tarean Folston chipped away at the clock, and Notre Dame ran the ball 20 times for 90 yards in the half. The Irish have long had a gamechanger at the tight end position. Having two of them that can hamstring a defense creates extra options for Kelly and play caller Chuck Mar- Miscellaneous Notes • Senior linebacker Danny Spond served as an honorary captain in his home state. The Littleton, Colo., native wore his No. 13 jersey out to midfield for the opening coin toss. He stayed with the team as a coaching assistant after migraine headaches forced him to stop playing in August. • Notre Dame's offense doesn't have problems getting the ball moving at the start of a game, but scoring has been an issue. In each of their last three games, senior quarterback Tommy Rees and the Irish offense have held the ball for at least 10 plays on their first possession of the first quarter. None of those drives resulted in a touchdown. • Air Force started freshman Nate Romine at quarterback. He is the fourth quarterback to begin a game for the Falcons this season, which is more than any other team in the country. Romine is the 15th true freshman in the nation to start under center this season. • Senior wide receiver TJ Jones continued his streak of getting into the end zone this season. He's now scored in five straight games, dating back to his spinning reception on the end line in a 17-13 win over Michigan State. Former AllAmericans Jeff Samardzija and Golden Tate are the only Irish players who have caught touchdown passes in more consecutive games. Samardzija had eight in 2005, and Tate matched that total in 2009.