Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 7, 2016 27 TAKING A CLOSER LOOK What Worked • Third-Down Offense Comes Through. Notre Dame has been poor on third down throughout the 2016 season, but against Miami the Irish were able to get the job done. Notre Dame had a season-high eight third-down conversions for a season-best 50.0-percent rate. Notre Dame needed a fast start against Miami, and it got just that, converting its first three third downs and four of its first five while jumping out to a 17-0 lead. On the opening drive, junior quarterback DeShone Kizer converted a third-and-one with his legs and then hit senior wide receiver Torii Hunter Jr. with a 24-yard strike to set up the opening touchdown. Later in the first quarter, Kizer connected with sophomore wideout Equanimeous St. Brown on a post route for a 14-yard touchdown with the offense facing a third-and-11. After falling behind 27-20, sophomore running back Josh Adams raced 41 yards for a game-tying touchdown with the offense facing a crucial third-and-one. • Pass Rush Comes Through. Notre Dame entered this contest with just six sacks in its first seven games, but it al- most matched that against the Hurricanes, racking up five QB takedowns and constantly harassing Miami junior quarterback Brad Kaaya. It started in the trenches, with the Notre Dame defensive line attacking the Miami front all game long. Kaaya had a very hard time getting settled into the pocket due to that pressure. Even when Kaaya wasn't getting pressured early, he was unwilling to step into throws, which is exactly what happened on the first-quarter throw he made on an out route that Notre Dame senior cornerback Cole Luke picked off, setting up an Irish touchdown. The final pressure was the biggest. Miami was just 13 yards away on its last drive from being in kicker Michael Badgley's range. Facing a third-and-two, defensive coordinator Greg Hudson brought Nyles Morgan on a delayed blitz, and the junior Mike linebacker brought down Kaaya for a sack. Miami would not get off another snap. What Didn't Work • Third Quarter Third-Down Struggles. A big reason for Mi- ami's comeback was the inability of the Notre Dame defense to get off the field on third down. Miami converted a third-and-15 on the opening drive of the third quarter and then picked up a third-and-six. That set up a one-yard Mark Walton touchdown run. A third-and-nine pass from Kaaya to sophomore wide receiver Dayall Harris helped Miami keep a drive alive that led to the field goal that tied the game 20-20 early in the fourth quarter. Those third-down struggles helped Miami rack up 141 yards and 10 points in the third quarter. Notre Dame did eventu- ally answer, stopping Miami on its final four third-down opportunities. • Defending Miami's Tight Ends. Notre Dame had some problems covering Miami's talented tight ends, who came into the matchup with 33 catches and 573 receiving yards. Junior tight end David Njoku beat senior linebacker James Onwualu for a two-yard touchdown reception to open the scoring for the Hurricanes in the second quarter. Njoku got by Onwualu again in the third quarter for a 15-yard gain to convert a third-and-six, keeping a drive alive that ended with a Miami field goal. The Hurricane tight ends finished the game with nine catches for 75 yards. — Bryan Driskell Sophomore kicker Justin Yoon went 3 of 3 on field goal attempts against the Hurricanes, including a 23-yard game-winner with 30 seconds remaining. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA 1-9 Record by Miami in Notre Dame Stadium, with the first visit by the Hurricanes coming back in 1972. Their lone victory occurred in 1984 (31-13), the season after winning their first of five na- tional titles from 1983-2001. 3 Field goals in as many attempts ver- sus Miami by Fighting Irish sopho- more JUSTIN YOON, highlighted by the game-winner from 23 yards with 30 sec- onds remaining. That matched his career high set in last year's 38-36 loss at Stanford. His 12 total points against the Hurricanes also matched his career high achieved against the Cardinal in 2015 and matched against Syracuse this season. 4 Straight victories by the Fighting Irish against Miami, dating back to 1990, and thereby extending their advantage in the series to 18-7-1. With the win, Notre Dame also avoided a four-game losing streak at home this year, which would have put it in the same company as the 2-8 team in 1960 and the 3-9 outfit in 2007. 6 Consecutive wins Notre Dame needs to close out the 2016 campaign with an 8-5 record and extend head coach Brian Kelly's streak with the Irish to seven straight seasons with at least eight wins. Since Kelly's debut season in 2010, only nine other teams have posted a mini- mum of eight victories each of the last six years. Alphabetically, they are: Alabama, Boise State, Florida State, LSU, Northern Illinois, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford and Wisconsin. 8-1 Record for Kelly at Notre Dame the week after a regular season bye, including seven in a row since 2012. Two of them have been against Miami, the first in 2012 (41-3). Overall, Kelly is 19-2 in his coaching career the week after a bye. 12 Tackles for loss by the Notre Dame defense, six of them by fifth-year senior nose guard Jarron Jones. Miami en- tered the game No. 1 in the nation in most tackles for loss per game (10), but finished with only four against the Irish. Five of Notre Dame's tackles for loss were quar- terback sacks. Notre Dame had recorded only six QB sacks during its 2-5 start. 182 Carries by Notre Dame running backs this year through eight games — without losing a single fumble. The Irish have lost eight fumbles this sea- son, including two on special teams ver- sus Miami (the second resulting in a direct touchdown), but none have come from running back coach Autry Denson's crew. 1991 Had Notre Dame lost the 20-point lead it built in the first half (20-0) it would have been the larg- est advantage squandered in a game since the infamous 35-34 loss to Tennessee at home 25 years ago. Notre Dame was ahead by 24 (31-7) right before halftime before losing to the Volunteers. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI