Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 9, 2015 Issue

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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along the way. But I think the quar- terback and the running game are the two reasons why those drives were ef- fective." This goes back to the spring when Irish associate head coach Mike Den- brock said the victory over LSU was a template to how the staff wanted to structure the attack this season. "It's the way Notre Dame should play football every Saturday: Line up, physicality, leaning on the big boys up front to create space for the running backs and getting the ball in space to some skilled receiver," Denbrock said. "Playing sound, fundamental football. When I think of Notre Dame football, that's what I think of and that's really what we're trying to get to. "We definitely want to enter every week and every game with the mental- ity that we're going to physically take the fight to our opponent. We're going to match ourselves up and see what good can come of it." During the three-year Tyrone Will- ingham era (2002-04), the rushing av- erage dipped to 146.3 yards per game before he was ousted. Under Charlie Weis (2005-09), the ground game plummeted even more with a measly five-year rushing aver- age of 117.2 yards per game. His best season was his first with a 147.1 figure during a 9-3 campaign. It was the only time in history Notre Dame finished in the Associated Press top 10 (No. 9) while averaging less than 190 rushing yards during the regular season. It became a decade when Notre Dame became labeled as more finesse than physical. Over the past 10 years, every national champion but one rushed for more than 200 yards per contest during its march to No. 1 (as did most in the ma- jor bowls). In last year 's final AP top 10, nine of the teams rushed for more than 200 yards per contest, most notably national champion Ohio State with a 264.5-yard average. The lone excep- tion in 2014 was Florida State with an average of 138.1 yards per game. (The Seminoles, however, averaged 203.1 yards rushing per game en route to the national title in 2013.) A 200-yard rushing average isn't the elixir or silver bullet to football pros- perity. It takes more: Defense, special teams, passing balance, coaching, re- cruiting to a system … Yet it's not a coincidence that the pat- tern in the past, present and most likely in the future supports Denbrock's con- tention that "Notre Dame football" is much more often at its best with rush- ing excellence. No matter how much more "mod- ern" football becomes with the pass, a powerful, productive ground attack never goes out of style. ✦ "WE DEFINITELY WANT TO ENTER EVERY WEEK AND EVERY GAME WITH THE MENTALITY THAT WE'RE GOING TO PHYSICALLY TAKE THE FIGHT TO OUR OPPONENT. WE'RE GOING TO MATCH OURSELVES UP AND SEE WHAT GOOD CAN COME OF IT." ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH MIKE DENBROCK

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