Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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kicker Kyle Brindza, who kicked 19 red-zone field goals in 2012 and 12 in 2013. National champ Florida State was No. 1 in red-zone offense by tallying 71 times in 73 attempts — 58 of them touchdowns. FSU scored touchdowns 79.5 percent of the time compared to Notre Dame's 53.3 percent. 2. TURNOVERS FORCED/BIG-PLAY DEFENSE — The four takeaways generated in the 29-16 Pinstripe Bowl victory versus Rutgers elevated Notre Dame to 103rd with 17. (In 2012 it gained 23 turnovers to rank 46th.) The 13 turnovers forced through the first 12 games were the fewest in a season at Notre Dame. The Irish were tied for last in the country in fumbles recovered with four. The function of the defense was not so much to create big plays but prevent them — which did work marvelously in 2012. The 2013 Fighting Irish also ranked 107th in tackles for loss with 64 (4.9 per game). 3. KICK RETURN DEFENSE — A bane throughout the year because momentum often was squelched with a long kickoff return by the opposition that flipped the field. Only three teams finished lower than Notre Dame's 120th ranking, including BCS National Championship Game participant Auburn, which was 121st and surrendered a fourth-quarter TD to Florida State on a kickoff. 4. RUSHING OFFENSE — We've always targeted around 200 yards as the magic number for Notre Dame to be a bona fide top-10/national title aspirant (it was more than 200 during the 12-0 regular season in 2012). Eleven of the top 14 teams in 2013 averaged at least 198.5 yards rushing. The closest to Notre Dame among those 14 was Central Florida at 159.9. Notre Dame was 80th with a 151.3 average. 2013 TEAM STATS These were Notre Dame's final NCAA rankings among 123 Football Bowl Subdivision teams. Rushing Offense — 80th (151.3) Passing Offense — 39th (254.8) Total Offense — 67th (406.2) Scoring Offense — 74th (27.2) Note: More relevant is passing efficiency, where Notre Dame was 56th with a 132.26 rating. Rushing Defense — 70th (168.0) Pass Efficiency Defense — 39th (120.85 rating) Total Defense — 31st (366.2) Scoring Defense — 27th (22.4) Notes: The total and scoring defense numbers were the highest in the four-year Brian Kelly era … The Irish yielded only two rushing scores during that 2012 regular season, but that ballooned to 13 during the 2013 regular season. Kick Returns — 21st (23.76) Kick Returns Defense — 120th Punt Returns — 80th (7.07) Punt Returns Defense — 84th (9.47) Net Punting — 105th (34.69) Note: In punt returns Notre Dame finished 112th in 2011 (48 yards total, 3.69 yards per return) and 116th in 2012 (46 yards, 2.2 yards per return), so this year's 106 yards eclipsed the combined 94 from the last two. In Kelly's first year it totaled only 91 yards and 5.4 yards per its 17 attempts.