Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/208902
Under the Dome Offensive Identity The Irish exploited their size advantage up front against Navy to run for a season-high 264 yards, including 52 on seven attempts by junior running back Cam McDaniel. photo by Bill Panzica Just because Notre Dame rushed for a season-high 264 yards against Navy, while attempting a season low 20 passes, did not mean head coach Brian Kelly and the offense are more committed to the run. The same applied to the 17-13 victory against Michigan State Sept. 21. In that game the Irish didn't necessarily have a "balanced offense" even though they ran 32 times (for only 82 yards) and passed 34 times. "Each and every week you're trying to establish who you are and what you know you can do well against your opponents," Kelly said. When the Spartans improved to 8-1 on Nov. 2 after a 29-6 dismantling of Michigan, suddenly the Irish win over MSU took on some value. Michigan State — ranked No. 1 against the run, in pass efficiency and total defense — held the Wolverines to minus-48 yards on the ground, their worst such performance in 134 years of football. "Everyone was talking about why you couldn't run the football," Kelly said of the hard-fought win against MSU. "Well, nobody has been able to run the football on Michigan State this year, so you try to do the things you can do. … We felt like we could run the ball against Navy and we did. [Next] week it might be something else." Assembling a weekly offensive game plan usually comes down to a couple of variables. "It's knowing what we can do well, based upon what we're going to get [from the defense]," Kelly said. "That's the ticket for me. … I think we know what we can do when afforded that opportunity." ✦ Gimme Five Tarean Folston's 140 rushing yards, on 18 carries, in Notre Dame's 38-34 victory versus Navy Nov. 2 were the third most by an Irish player since freshman eligibility was allowed by the NCAA in 1972. Jerome Heavens carried 18 times for 148 yards during a 1975 victory against Georgia Tech, and Julius Jones had 146 yards on 19 attempts in a 34-16 Irish victory against Navy in 1999. Heavens eclipsed the century rushing barrier four times as a freshman. Four other Notre Dame freshman backs surpassed 100 yards rushing more than once as freshmen: all-time Irish rushing leader Autry Denson in 1995 (three), No. 2 all-time rusher Allen Pinkett in 1982 (two), No. 4 all-time rusher Darius Walker in 2004 (two) and Robert Hughes in 2007 (two). Here are the five-best single-season rushing totals at Notre Dame — including bowl games — by a freshman: Player (Year) TC Yds. YPC TD 1. Darius Walker (2004) 185 786 4.2 7 2. Autry Denson (1995) 148 762 5.2 8 3. Jerome Heavens (1975)129 756 5.9 5 4. Randy Kinder (1993) 90 537 6.0 2 5. Allen Pinkett (1982) 107 532 5.0 5 Note: Heavens' 8-3 and Pinkett's 6-4-1 teams both rejected bowl opportunities and therefore did not have that extra game.