Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Under the Dome Charting The Irish Year-Over-Year Returns In its most recent home game, Notre Dame surrendered returns of 34 and 49 yards to Navy on its first and last kicks. The long runbacks boosted the Irish average to 26.05 yards allowed per return, which ranks 117th nationally. That's a long way from 2008 when the Irish led the nation in kickoff coverage. Part of the problem is simply working with a smaller sample size. The number of returns attempted by opponents has plummeted in the past two seasons as touchbacks have become far more routine. A new rule that moved the kickoff spot up five yards has had a major effect, as has junior Kyle Brindza's strong leg. Brindza kicked 30 touchbacks through nine games this year compared to just one in 2008. The team is on pace to face 32 returns, half of the number it stopped in 2008. A smaller sample size means one or two long returns can skew the average. Still, Notre Dame has work to do in stopping returns. Brian Kelly's team is one of eight teams in the country that rank below 100th in both kick coverage and punt coverage (106th) this season. That much can't be blamed on the touchbacks. opponent Kick Return Average 30 26.05 25 22.13 19.69 16.47 15 2008 20092010 201120122013 69 70 60 22.43 21.98 20 number of opponent Kick Returns 80 62 63 61 50 40 30 45 32* 2008 20092010 201120122013 * Projection based on 22 returns through nine games. Notre Dame-Purdue No Longer To Be Annual Game The long-standing Notre Dame-Purdue in-state rivalry will no longer be an annual meeting after 2014, according to Purdue athletics director Morgan Burke in an interview with the Lafayette Journal-Courier's Mike Carmin. "We're going to play on a periodic basis, but we're not going to play every year," Burke told Carmin Nov. 4. Since 1946, Notre Dame has played Purdue, USC and Navy every season. The Trojans remain the archrival on the schedule, while the series with Navy — uninterrupted since 1927 — is sacred to the two schools because of their bond back to World War II. With Notre Dame joining the Atlantic Coast Conference and scheduled to play five ACC teams on a