Blue and Gold Illustrated

3 Consecutive games, dating back to last Decem- ber's Music City Bowl victory versus LSU, that Notre Dame has not committed a turnover. Brian Kelly is now 18-0 with the Fighting Irish in games when they did not have a giveaway. 4 Starters on offense or defense lost by Notre Dame before the third game of the season. During the August preseason, senior nose guard Jarron Jones and freshman nickel back Shaun Crawford were sidelined with injuries. In the BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI What Worked • Big Plays. Virginia was able to control the mid- dle of the Irish line, leading to Notre Dame going 0 of 4 on its first four third- and fourth-down situa- tions of two yards or less. It was not until DeShone Kizer converted a fourth-and-two on the final drive that Notre Dame found success in short-yardage. The Irish, though, were able to use big plays to move the football against UVa, racking up nine runs of 15 yards or more, including a 24-yard TD scamper by senior running back C.J. Prosise and a 39-yard run from junior quarterback Malik Zaire. Prosise had six of those nine carries, which ac- counted for 117 of his 155 yards. Notre Dame's pass game was inefficient (15 of 30), but it also produced big plays when needed, hitting on five completions of at least 16 yards. • Fuller Is Clutch. Will Fuller's stat line (five re- ceptions for 124 yards and two touchdowns) was not indicative of his overall performance. The ju- nior was erratic and had a rough time consistently getting open against the UVa secondary. When it mattered, however, Fuller made winning plays. With the offense struggling in the third quar- ter, head coach Brian Kelly dialed up a go route for Fuller, who pulled in a 59-yard TD to put the Irish ahead. On the game's final drive, Fuller beat a UVa defender on a slant-and-go for the game-winning reception. On that drive, Fuller had twice run a slant route, but Virginia jumped both routes. Kelly used that aggressiveness to his advantage on the final play, and Fuller got it done. • Successful Fake. On Notre Dame's first drive the offense stalled at the UVa 7-yard line. After the Cav- aliers declined a delay of game penalty, which would have given kicker Justin Yoon a better angle to kick, Kelly called for a fake that worked to perfection. After receiving the snap, Kizer shoveled the ball to tight end Durham Smythe, who made the catch and hit a crease for the TD. What Didn't Work • Pass Game Out Of Sync. Virginia's pressure packages were able to get to Zaire, forcing him to rush throws and throwing off his footwork. Zaire missed a wide-open Torii Hunter Jr. on a first- quarter throw and followed with an off-target pass to Fuller, forcing a Notre Dame field goal. Before his 59-yard strike to Fuller, Zaire was 5-of- 14 passing for just 38 yards. His early inability to beat UVa with his arm allowed the Cavaliers de- fense to crowd the box and slow down the ground game. • Failure To Adjust. Virginia threw a number of different looks at the Notre Dame defense, and the Irish struggled to adjust. The Cavaliers emptied the backfield and used motions and shifts to get wide receiver Canaan Severin into favorable matchups, and he responded with a career-high 11 receptions for 153 yards. Virginia effectively used its running backs on sweeps and used its screen packages to keep the Irish off balance for much of the game. In the sec- ond quarter, a reverse to quarterback Matt Johns resulted in a 42-yard TD pass to Keeon Johnson to put Virginia up 14-12. — Bryan Driskell TAKING A CLOSER LOOK

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