Notre Dame's
'Mendoza Line'
No matter the era, a strong running
game is essential to the Irish
T
By Lou Somogyi
he definition of what constitutes
"Notre Dame football" can sometimes be vague.
Nevertheless, head coach Brian
Kelly knew it when he saw it during
the 23-13 victory against BYU Nov. 23:
Overcoming weather conditions, no
whining, physically imposing attack
on both offense (235 rushing yards) and
defense (13 points allowed), and mental toughness in adverse circumstances.
"This is Notre Dame football," Kelly
said afterwards. "This is the way we
need to play. We're capable of playing
a much more physical brand of football
… our team did that."
A popular criticism of Kelly during
his four seasons with the Fighting Irish
is he is too much of a "finesse coach" —
even though the 2012 edition displayed
its physical mettle on both sides of the
ball. He abandons the run too quickly,
and the "team doesn't impose its will"
on opponents consistently enough with
the run.
The most important phrase in Kelly's statement after the BYU game was
"more physical brand of football."
Dan Devine is one of three Hall of Fame Notre
Dame coaches the past 50 years whose teams
averaged more than 200 yards rushing during their
careers.
photo courtesy notre dame media relations
