Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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CHALK TALK BRYAN DRISKELL • The 2,699 rushing yards and 29 rushing touchdowns were the most since 1996. • The offense's 5.6 yards per carry set a modern record, slightly passing the 1992 average. Of course, former Irish greats Jerome Bettis and Reggie Brooks occupied that backfield. Running back Josh Adams — who began the season as the third back — set a school record with a 98-yard touchdown run against Wake Forest. Converted wide receiver C.J. Prosise led the way for the season, rushing for 1,032 yards and 11 scores. Despite major personnel losses, the 2016 offense has an opportunity to be just as good — if not better. EFFICIENCY MUST IMPROVE In order for Notre Dame to equal its numbers from the 2015 season — and ideally surpass them — the run game must become far more efficient. For all of its statistical success, Notre Dame's ground game relied far too heavily on the big play. The Irish offense had seven runs of at least 50 yards last season compared to just three in 2014. Notre Dame also had 11 runs of 30-plus yards after just four the previous year. Inefficiency on the ground was a key factor in Notre Dame's red- zone woes (ranked 88th nationally) and third-down offense, which went from 14th nationally in 2014 to 39th in 2015. While its overall numbers im- proved from the previous season, Notre Dame had far too many nega- tive plays in the run game. During the 2015 season, 18.8 per- cent of Notre Dame's run plays went for zero or negative yards. Runs such as these are called "stuffs." A total of 64.1 percent of the offense's carries went for three yards or less. During the 2014 season, just 14.2 percent of its run plays were stuffs, and 61.8 percent of the offense's car- ries went for three yards or less. Having a primary ball carrier that had never played the position — Prosise — was a major factor in the inefficiency. Prosise was stuffed on 21.6 percent of his runs this past sea- son and 67.1 percent of his carries went for three yards or less. Prosise thrived on the big play, ripping off 12 runs (7.2 percent of his carries) of at least 21 yards. Adams was stuffed on 15.8 percent of his carries and 57.5 percent of his total attempts went for three yards or less. He was not quite as explosive as Prosise — gaining at least 20 yards on 6.6 percent of his carries — but he was far more efficient. KEYS TO IMPROVEMENT Limiting the number of negative plays is instrumental to being a more efficient running team and offense overall. Losing yards often puts the offense in tougher conversion situ- ations. It is no surprise that with a less efficient run game, the explosive Notre Dame offense fell off on third- down success (42.5 percent) from the previous season (47.4 percent). Its explosive ability resulted in