Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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9-0-1 Notre Dame's all-time record in games where both the Fighting Irish and their opponent are at least 6-0. For the 11th time in history, Notre Dame will play such a game this weekend against Florida State, with both teams sporting 6-0 ledgers. The last time such a game oc- curred was a 21-14 Irish win at Air Force in 2002 when both teams were 6-0. The one prior to that was 1993 — when 9-0 Notre Dame defeated 10-0 Florida State 31-24. The lone tie occurred at Michi- gan State in 1966 (10-10). 11 Tackles recorded by senior linebacker Joe Schmidt, a career high, with eight of them solo. It topped his previous personal best of eight this season versus Rice and Purdue. Schmidt also forced a fumble, broke up a pass and had a quarter- back hurry versus the Tar Heels. 12-0 Notre Dame's home record against North Carolina, which remains the best against any opponent who has played in Notre Dame Stadium at least 10 times. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI What Worked • A legitimate run game. We're not talking refer- ring to quarterback Everett Golson escaping poor pass protection and ad-libbing for positive yardage on his own, although that continued (12 carries for 71 yards). Rather, for the first time since the Aug. 30 opener versus Rice, the Irish ran physically between the tackles, most notably sophomore Tarean Folston (18 carries for 98 yards and two touchdowns), and mixed in some effective jet sweeps and QB draws en route to 219 yards on the ground. • YAC attack. The yards after catch were excep- tional with a plethora of slants, middle screens and check downs on a day when the vertical game's best weapon was three pass interference calls against North Carolina while trying to cover sophomore wideout Will Fuller. The middle was open pretty much all day for Folston (five catches for 71 yards), senior slot Amir Carlisle raced 21 yards on a slant, and Fuller navigated efficiently through traffic on a short middle screen that resulted in a 35-yard score. • Red-zone is gold. Notre Dame penetrated North Carolina's 20-yard line six times, and all six resulted in touchdowns. The Tar Heels also reached the red zone six times and fared fine with four touchdowns — but they had to settle for a 19-yard field goal for a fifth tally and missed a 32-yard field goal attempt early. Those two misses proved to be the difference. • Got it covered. Irish special teams coverage lim- ited game-breaker Ryan Switzer to zero, minus-one and minus-12 yards on his three returns. Six of senior kicker Kyle Brindza's eight kickoffs were touchbacks, and the two returns gained only 15 and 20 yards. What Didn't Work • Containing Marquise Williams. The 6-2, 220-pound Tar Heels QB looked like the 2010 rein- carnation of Heisman Trophy winner Cam Newton with his passing (303 yards) and physical running (132 yards), especially through the middle, and he added in a 23-yard scoring reception for good measure. He gave the Tar Heels a legitimate hope to win, while the Irish defense had huge difficulties corralling him. • Ball security by Everett Golson. Turnovers by Golson — four lost fumbles and five interceptions the past three games — have reached an unset- tling level. At FSU, he will need to be in control and as poised as he was in the 30-13 win at Oklahoma in 2012. • Safety measures. Head coach Brian Kelly ex- pressed dismay again with the lack of communica- tion at safety, especially minus an injured Austin Collinsworth. The last time that happened the Irish responded with a shutout versus Michigan. — Lou Somogyi TAKING A CLOSER LOOK