Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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line on a halfback pass prevented Rutgers from taking the lead minutes before halftime, and he also broke up a pair of passes in the end zone. "As far as coverage-wise, this is the best game I've had this year," Russell said. "Going into the offseason, I'm going to watch this film. I personally think I'm going to be the best corner next year in the country. It just shows the development in this game I've had from the start of last year to where I've progressed. "My man-to-man skills have gotten a lot better this year. The sky's the limit for me, and it shows I can be the best corner in the country. It just takes a lot of work to do that." Notre Dame's defense forced a threeand-out to begin the second half, and its offense pulled the Irish ahead on the ensuing drive. Notre Dame stalled in Rutgers territory, and on a 31-yard field goal attempt Brindza slipped on the field — the natural field surface gave players on both sides issues throughout the game — but connected on a second chance from 26 yards out following a running-into-the-kicker penalty. The playing surface was hardly the lone pregame issue Notre Dame faced. Hours before the game, the program suspended junior running back George Atkinson III and junior cornerback Jalen Brown for a violation of team rules. Atkinson then tweeted, "For those of you who are wondering I was suspended from today's game for texting friends and family during team meal, as I did all season." It was quickly deleted, and Kelly said after the game he does not know how the incident affects Atkinson's future in the program. On top of missing those two athletes, Kelly said 16 Irish players came down with the flu during the days leading up to the Pinstripe Bowl. Junior tight end Troy Niklas and fifthyear senior inside linebacker Dan Fox said they have never played more ill than they did against Rutgers. "[Head trainer] Rob Hunt and our training staff got the game ball," Kelly said. "It was a pretty good effort on their part. It took a lot of guys to pull through. We had a lot of guys out here who were not at 100 percent, but did a great job of battling through it." In the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, Brindza added his fourth made field goal to put the Irish ahead 19-13. The drive began on Notre Dame's own 1-yard line and ended on the Rutgers 6-yard line, where Brindza converted. At that point, Notre Dame had outgained Rutgers 406 yards to 171, yet led by only six points. Notre Dame's poor kickoff coverage unit — ranked 122nd nationally in the regular season — allowed a 44yard kickoff return by freshman wide receiver Janarion Grant to the Irish 45-yard line. One first down moved Rutgers into field goal range, and Kyle Federico made a 47-yard field goal to once again pull the Scarlet Knights within three points. The Irish finally punched it in on a three-yard touchdown run by freshman running back Tarean Folston to seal the victory on the next drive. Niklas' 28-yard reception set up the scoring scamper. Fox intercepted a pass on the next drive to clinch the 29-16 win.