Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/598383
UNDER THE DOME BRIAN KELLY REGRETS SIDELINE INCIDENT WITH DAVID GRIMES In the heat of a tight football battle, tempers can rage on the sidelines as they do on the field of play. It boiled over on the Notre Dame sidelines during the third quarter of the 24-20 Fighting Irish victory at Temple Oct. 31. Irish strength and conditioning assistant coach David Grimes, who played wide receiver at Notre Dame from 2005-08 and was a team captain as a senior, was verbally protesting some of the officiating decisions by the referees. Strength and conditioning coach Paul Longo stepped in front of Grimes when head coach Brian Kelly came rushing in and grabbed Grimes near the collar to push him away from the official. Longo and senior defensive lineman and team captain Sheldon Day stepped in to break up the minor skirmish. CHARTING THE IRISH RED ZONE CONVERSIONS The Irish ranked 16th nationally in total plays of 20-plus yards from scrimmage with 51 through eight games, showing an affinity for big plays. In addition, head coach Brian Kelly's squad ranked 24th nation- ally in efficiency moving the ball and staying ahead of the chains, boasting a 46.4 percent success rate according to Bill Connelly and SB Nation. However, when it comes to finishing drives the Irish have really struggled. Notre Dame ranked 99th nationally in red zone scoring percentage, only converting 78.8 percent of its red zone opportunities for scores. The Irish also were tied for just 85th nationally in red zone touchdown percentage with a rate of 57.6 percent — trailing, among others, Rutgers and Arkansas, which were tied for 83rd, while slotting just ahead of Buffalo (86th) and Boston College (87th). The issue came to the forefront in Notre Dame's 24-20 win over Temple. The Irish snapped a first down in the Owls' red zone on three first-half drives, with two of those trips resulting in interceptions — allowing Temple to hang around down just 14-10 at halftime. Notre Dame eventually emerged with the victory, but it could have been playing from much further ahead late instead of having to make a comeback. "With better red zone efficiency, I think that's a two-touchdown game against a very good Temple team," Kelly said following the game. "Cleaning up our mistakes in the red zone and scoring opportuni- ties is key." Struggles in punctuating drives have been consistent the last few years under Kelly. The best effort since 2011 was last year's team, which ranked 82nd nationally with an 80.7 percent scoring rate. NOTRE DAME IN THE RED ZONE Year Scoring Percentage Touchdown Percentage 2011 77.0 66.7 2012 80.0 48.3 2013 80.0 53.3 2014 80.7 64.5 2015* 78.8 57.6 * Through eight games