Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/204831
Taking A Closer Look What Worked • The Irish running attack. Notre Dame may have given up a ton of rushing yards, but its ground game was just as impressive as Navy's. Led by freshman Tarean Folston, the Notre Dame backs carried the ball 36 times for 264 yards (7.3 yards per carry) and scored three touchdowns. Folston set a career high with 140 yards on 18 rushes and scored the game-winning touchdown for the Irish. Junior George Atkinson III carried the ball seven times for 74 yards and got the scoring started with his 41-yard touchdown in the first quarter, while classmate Cam McDaniel added 52 yards on seven carries and scored from four yards out in the fourth quarter. According to Folston, the success carrying the football wouldn't have been possible without the play of the offensive line. "Credit goes to my linemen … I had big holes because of them," the freshman back said. "They were making things really easy for me." • Red zone scoring. In a game like this, it's essential to take advantage of your chances in the red zone and that's exactly what the Notre Dame offense did. Throughout the game, the Fighting Irish had five opportunities inside the Navy 20yard line and scored four times. Folston and McDaniel both scored touchdowns from inside the 5-yard line, quarterback Tommy Rees hit tight end Ben Koyack for a 17-yard touchdown and kicker Kyle Brindza connected on a 26-yard field goal on the four successful trips. The only failed attempt came on an interception thrown by Rees on a pass where senior wide receiver TJ Jones slipped on the grass and was unable to properly run his route. What Didn't Work • Forcing Navy into mistakes. Irish head coach Brian Kelly described Navy's offense as flawless in his post-game press conference, and his assessment was close. The Midshipmen did not commit any penalties and did not have any turnovers. However, sophomore quarterback Keenan Reynolds' errant pitch, which was recovered by slot back Demond Brown for a loss of nine yards, hampered Navy's final drive. The Midshipmen averaged 3.14 penalties per game coming into the game, the fewest of any team in the country. And they have turned the ball over eight times all year, also well below the national average. Notre Dame's defense is at its best when it's forcing other teams into mistakes, and the Irish failed to create enough pressure to get Navy away from what it does well. • Slowing down the triple option. It could be argued that Notre Dame faced the top two triple-option teams in the entire country in backto-back weeks. The Irish struggled to stop the Air Force rushing attack Oct. 26, surrendering 290 yards on 65 carries (4.6 yards per rush). Against Navy, the Irish allowed the Midshipmen to rack up 331 yards and four scores on 70 attempts (4.7 yards per carry). — Tom Loy by the numbers 0 Punts by Notre Dame, the fifth time that has happened in its last nine meetings with Navy. The Irish also did not punt against the Midshipmen in 2005-07 and 2009. In the nine meetings since 2005, Notre Dame has punted a total of seven times versus Navy. By lou somogyi 2 Notre Dame players who made their first career starts, junior left guard Conor Hanratty and sophomore Cat linebacker/defensive end Romeo Okwara. Hanratty made his debut in place of fifth-year senior Chris Watt (knee), who had started 34 straight games. With injuries to junior Cat linebacker Ishaq Williams