Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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I 2011: Too Much And Too Little THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI f there is one statistic that best summarizes why Notre Dame finished the regular season only 8-4, it's turnovers — but not for just the reason you might believe. With our research dating back to the 2-8 season in 1956, this is the first time an Irish team had twice as many turnovers (26) than its opponent (13). Consequently, among 120 Foot- ball Bowl Subdivision schools, Notre Dame's minus-1.08 turn- over ratio per game ranked tied for 117th in the country. The easy part is pointing out the 16 giveaways the Irish committed in their four losses, or an average of four per game. More revealing is the low number generated by the defense the entire year. It is probably safe to say the 13 was 50th last year (357.25 yards per game) and 34th this season (349.25). However, last year's Irish de- fense generated 25 turnovers in 13 contests, while this year's had only 13 in 12 so far. While there is immense lamen- tation about the 96- and 80-yard fumble returns by South Florida and USC, respectively, it's over- looked that neither the Bulls nor the Trojans committed a turnover against the Irish. Just one at the right time could have switched the game's momentum. It's not a coincidence that top- turnovers forced by Notre Dame this year (five fumbles and eight interceptions) are the fewest in school history in the modern era. • From 2000-10, the fewest turn- Senior linebacker Darius Fleming's interception against Stanford was a rare occurrence for the Irish defense, which generated only 13 turnovers this year. PHOTO BY AARON SUOZZI seven (in 335 attempts) by Holtz's 6-5-1 team in 1994. Two other Notre Dame teams had overs Notre Dame induced were 19 by the 2009 and 2006 teams of head coach Charlie Weis. The most it gen- erated during that time was 33 in 2002, when the defense propelled an 8-0 start, the only time in the last 18 seasons the Irish won their first four games. • From 1990-99, the fewest turn- overs forced by Notre Dame were 16 by Lou Holtz's 1990 team that fin- ished the regular season 9-2. • From 1980-89, the fewest turn- overs Notre Dame forced were 21 in Holtz's 5-6 debut campaign in 1986. • From 1964-80, the Ara Parseghian and Dan Devine eras, the Irish often forced 30-40 turnovers per year in an era where protecting the ball seemed more precarious. For example, Notre Dame's 1977 national champions had 39 turnovers on offense — but gen- erated 52 (not including six more in the 38-10 Cotton Bowl versus No. 1 Texas), or about five per game. What also stands out about this year is Notre Dame recorded only eight interceptions in 378 attempts, or one per 47.2 tries. Based on our research, that is the second fewest since at least 1956, behind only the 62 JANUARY 2012 only eight interceptions to tie this year's unit for the second lowest. One was the 2-8 team in 1960, but that was in 10 games, not 12 like this year — and the opposition attempted only 111 passes all year. That's an average of 11.1 attempts per game, which many teams today average in a quarter. The other was, surprisingly, Par- seghian's final team in 1974, during a 9-2 regular season. However, in the 13-11 victory versus 11-0 Alabama in the Orange Bowl, Notre Dame picked off two late passes, one by John Dube- netzky and the other by Reggie Bar- nett, to clinch the victory. So if you included bowl games back then as you do now, the total would be 10. Interceptions by linebackers have become almost non-existent in recent years. In the seven seasons from 2005- 11, Irish linebackers have combined for nine interceptions — the same as the career record held by John Pergine (1966-67) for Notre Dame linebackers. Current defensive coordinator Bob Diaco's unit finished the regu- lar season a respectable 28th in scor- ing defense (20.92 points per game), close to last year's 20.23 average that placed them 23rd. The overall defense 10 teams usually place near the top in turnover margin, and of the eight teams that had less than three losses and are playing the BCS bowls, none ranks lower than 29th in that category. No. 1 LSU is also No. 1 in turn- over margin with plus-1.69 per game, while No. 3 Oklahoma State is No. 2 with a plus-1.67 average. No. 2 Alabama is tied for a relatively low 24th at plus-0.50, but that's still a good figure. Once you fall to 117th in this cat- egory, as Notre Dame did, it's a won- der you even finished 8-4. Among the teams that finished 97-120 in turnover margin, only the Irish, Utah State (7-5) and SMU (7-5) finished with winning records. In tight victories against Pitt (15-12), Wake Forest (24-17) and Boston Col- lege (16-14), the Irish defense forced only one turnover — with that com- ing on a fumble by Wake Forest inside Notre Dame's 10-yard line. Just that one proved to be a huge difference, while gaining none against the Pan- thers and Eagles made those games nail-biters to the finish. The Notre Dame defense has made significant strides the past couple of years, both on the field and in the re- cruiting circuit. However, generating far more turnovers will be a necessity if the program is to reach the level everyone aspires toward. ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED