Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/373357
TURNING POINT With Notre Dame ahead 21-10 and about 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Rice had the ball near midfield. Redshirt junior quarter- back Driphus Jackson's intermedi- ate pass was picked off by senior defensive back Matthias Farley, who returned it six yards to Notre Dame's 47. After senior quarterback Ever- ett Golson's first-down pass deep down the right sideline was mis- handled by sophomore Will Fuller, Golson evaded a strong second- down rush, scrambled to his left, and launched another deep pass that traveled about 55 yards in the air and hit junior slot receiver C.J. Prosise in stride just past the goal line with five seconds left. In a span of 20 seconds, Rice went from threatening to score to end the half and regain some momentum to yielding a demoralizing touch- down in the closing seconds to fall behind 28-10. STAT OF THE GAME For the first time in Brian Kelly's five seasons, Notre Dame eclipsed 250 rushing yards (281) and 250 passing yards (295) in the same game. It averaged 9.0 yards on its 64 overall plays (42 rushing and 22 passing). The beauty was the run was able to set up the pass. Notre Dame rushed 10 times for 38 yards in the first quarter while passing five times, ran eight times for 70 yards in the second quarter while pass- ing nine times, and ran 11 times for 47 yards in the third quarter while passing seven times. In the fourth quarter it milked the clock with the run while holding a huge lead. The zone-read option and threat of a running quarterback helped make the play-action passing much more effective, especially with se- nior Everett Golson's ability to ex- tend plays. TACKLING THE JOB While the Everett Golson-led of- fense stole the show, the Fighting Irish defense quietly went about doing what first-year defensive co- ordinator Brian VanGorder wanted: confusing the opposing offense. "They did a good job of chang- ing their fronts from a four-down to three-down, what we're calling a 'big 50,'" Rice head coach David Bailiff said. "It led to some prob- lems just for us identifying what they were doing." Maybe the most heartening as- pect was how well Notre Dame tackled in space against a team that spreads out a defense. "With all the concerns with head injuries, you don't tackle quite as much in practice," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "I thought our guys did a great job tackling today." THREE OBSERVATIONS BY LOU SOMOGYI