Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/601719
OFFENSE: JOSH ADAMS With senior C.J. Prosise out, the freshman running back stepped into the lineup and carried the Irish of- fense. Adams rushed for 141 yards on 17 carries, topping the 140-yard mark for the second straight game. With Notre Dame struggling offen- sively, the Irish defense stepped up and stopped Wake Forest on fourth- and-goal at the 1-yard line. Two plays later, Adams ran right, broke a tackle and then out-ran the Demon Deacons defense for a 98-yard touchdown to put the Irish up 21-0. DEFENSE: ROMEO OKWARA The senior defensive end had ar- guably the best performance of his career in his final game inside Notre Dame Stadium. Okwara racked up a career-high three sacks and tied his career best with three tackles for loss. He also set a career mark with five solo tackles. Okwara's first sack resulted in a fumble and put Wake Forest in a long-distance situation from which it could not recover. On his second sack, he hurdled over a Wake Forest blocker to bring down quarterback John Wolford on third-and-nine, forc- ing a punt. His third sack also came on third down and again forced a Demon Deacons punt. SPECIAL TEAMS: TYLER NEWSOME Fifth-year senior Matthias Farley was good in punt coverage, but the top performer for the Irish special teams was the sophomore punter, who averaged 44.0 yards per punt on his five boots. Newsome pinned the Deacons in- side their own 20-yard line on three occasions, including twice at the 6-yard line. Wake Forest was able to manage just 16 return yards on his five punts. TOP PLAYERS OF THE GAME BY BRYAN DRISKELL Freshman running back Josh Adams scored on a 98-yard touchdown run, which ranks as the longest play in Notre Dame history. It also tied the Football Bowl Subdivision freshman record. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA