Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/216396
on paper revisited 235 yards this year after pounding for 270 last season. Freshman Tarean Folston (13 carries for 78 yards) has continued to impress with his ability to make yards after the initial contact. Particularly noteworthy was the Irish stayed with the run all four quarters, carrying nine times for 42 yards in the first, 14 for 84 in the second and 14 for 92 in the third before getting limited to 17 yards on 10 attempts in the fourth. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame Notre Dame Passing Game vs. BYU Pass Defense Because the running game was functioning, the play-action pass with Tommy Rees (15-of-28 passing for 235 yards) was often successful. The Irish opened the game with four straight runs for 23 yards — and then junior wide receiver DaVaris Daniels hauled in a 61-yard touchdown over the top once the safety crept in. Pass protection remains A-plus level. Senior wideout TJ Jones (five catches for 95 yards) made a couple of clutch grabs on fades to keep drives alive, and it was good to see freshman wide receiver Corey Robinson, whose routes have been mainly confined to outside the hash marks, catch a well covered slant for 17 yards on third-and-four. Another end-zone interception and scoring only two touchdowns is why we call this even. ADVANTAGE: Even Special Teams Notre Dame converted all three of its field goal attempts, highlighted by Kyle Brindza's 51-yarder to provide the always-cherished two-score advantage halfway through the fourth quarter. Sophomore Jarron Jones' block of a BYU field goal on the ensuing possession helped cripple the Cougars' final hopes. Kick coverage remained a bit spotty for the Irish, and TJ Jones came within a trip from going the distance on a punt return. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame Third-Down Conversions Both teams did pretty well, with BYU converting By lou somogyi 11 of 20 attempts (55.0 percent) and Notre Dame finishing 8 of 16 (50.0 percent). On its first-quarter touchdown drive, BYU was 4 of 4 on third down, highlighted by a 15-yard completion on third-andnine. Notre Dame followed with a 30-yard completion to Jones on third-and-10, the crucial play to help put the Irish back up at 14-7. Conversions on third-andseven and third-and-11 set up a short Irish field goal to expand the lead to 17-7. Although the Cougars had the better percentage, Notre Dame was more productive in the second half, especially by stopping BYU on three separate occasions in the red zone to force three field goal attempts. Notre Dame's final field goal to make it 2313 was set up by a 17-yard slant to Corey Robinson on third-and-four. ADVANTAGE: Even Turnovers A "Hail Mary" pass by BYU into the end zone on the last play of the first half resulted in an inconsequential interception by safety Austin Collinsworth (though football purists might say it should have just been batted down). Rees' interception toss into the end zone in the fourth quarter with the Irish leading could have had severe ramifications, but BYU gained only 13 yards on that ensuing series. ADVANTAGE: Even Summary The physical home wins this year against Michigan State (17-13), USC (14-10) and BYU (23-13) were vintage 2012. The defeats to Michigan, Oklahoma and Pitt were straight out of the roller coaster 2010 and 2011 campaigns. Will the real Notre Dame team of 2013 stand up at Stanford? The Irish are capable of defeating the Cardinal for the second year in a row, as long as the Notre Dame team that played with the same physical force on both offense and defense against BYU is the one that shows up in Palo Alto, Calif., as well.