Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/440225
sity; a great career almost ended like that. It hurt me a lot the past couple weeks. "Going into this game it was just me and [holder Malik Zaire] clicking on all cylinders trying to figure ev- erything out. When I'm out there my mind is always clear as day, and I fi- nally shook off the cobwebs and was able to trust the guy next to me and was able to get it done." When asked about his performance, Zaire started by mentioning the im- portance of the late hold rather than starting at quarterback or leading the game-winning drive. "I think it was important today that we got the hold down. I know in pre- vious games I could take accountabil- ity for most of that, but I'm glad that when it came down to it we got the shot to prove we could [do it]." So much of kicking is confidence, and not every player would be able to recover from Brindza's November. But he did, and credited his teammates and Kelly with keeping his spirits high. "At the end of the day, it's how you have confidence in yourself," Brindza said. "These past couple weeks, with how hard they've been, Coach Kelly kept coming up to me and saying, 'We need you. Be confident.' "'To have that confidence in your- self when you came here and the past couple years, don't let it go to waste now.'" IRISH CONTROL GAME FLOW WITH LONG DRIVES Even as Notre Dame's defensive in- jury list became longer and longer in November, the offensive approach did not change: Score, and do it quickly. In the Music City Bowl, however, that game plan changed. Head coach Brian Kelly opted for a more con- trolled approach that required the Irish to maintain extended drives and • Freshman running back Leonard Fournette's 100-yard kickoff return in the second quarter set a Music City Bowl record and marked LSU's first such play since 2011. It was also the program's longest kickoff return since 1981. • Sophomore quarterback Malik Zaire, fresh- man tight end Tyler Luatua, sophomore right tackle Mike McGlinchey and freshman defensive end Andrew Trumbetti all notched their first ca- reer starts. • Three Irish offensive linemen — fifth-year senior Christian Lombard, senior Conor Hanratty and sophomore Hunter Bivin — were not in uni- form due to injuries. • LSU wide receiver John Diarse's 75-yard touchdown reception on the first play of the sec- ond half marked the longest play surrendered by the Irish defense in any of the last three seasons. Then later in the game, the Irish yielded an 89- yard touchdown run by Fournette. • Junior C.J. Prosise's 50-yard touchdown rush was the longest by a Notre Dame receiver since Raghib Ismail's 75-yard dash in 1990 at Pitt. It also marked the ninth game out of 13 that Pro- sise registered at least one play of 20-plus yards. • In holding LSU to 28 points, it marked the first time since Oct. 4 against Stanford that the Irish did not allow 30-plus points, ending a streak of eight straight games. The victory also snapped a streak of 10 straight games with a turnover. • The official paid attendance of the game was 60,419. MISCELLANEOUS NOTES