Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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22 NOV. 21, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY MATT JONES F rom the first play to the last, Notre Dame proved it was physically superior to Army. And unlike most of the Fight- ing Irish's games this season, that edge actually translated to the scoreboard. Sophomore C.J. Sanders returned the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown, and Notre Dame as- serted its will against the outmanned Black Knights, winning 44-6 in a Shamrock Series game played at the Alamodome in San Antonio. "I really don't know what to say after a tail whipping like that," Army head coach Jeff Monken said. In their olive and gold jerseys, Notre Dame ran for 261 yards on 43 carries and controlled the clock against the Black Knights, holding the ball for 34 minutes and 22 seconds. A week after the Irish were limited to just six possessions in a 28-27 loss to Navy, 45,762 spectators watched junior quarterback DeShone Kizer lead the Notre Dame attack up and down the field. Staked to a 7-0 lead just 12 seconds into the game courtesy of Sanders' elec- tric kick return — fielding a ball that bounced before cutting up the right sideline — the Notre Dame defense forced an early three-and-out and gave the offense the ball at its own 29. Kizer and the Irish needed just five plays to cover the 71 yards, capped by a 37-yard pass to freshman wide receiver Kevin Stepherson that in- creased the lead to 14-0 with 10 min- utes left in the opening quarter. The kick return touchdown made a statement, and Army could not recover. "To go down the first play of the game like that is tough, and it sets the tone," Monken said. "It doesn't mean you've got to lose the game be- cause they returned the opening kick for a touchdown. We weren't going to win if we didn't score. "We were going to have to score at some point, but obviously we didn't score enough." Notre Dame had 11 players catch at least one pass against Army, a season high. Stepherson led the way with five receptions for 75 yards, followed by sophomore Equanimeous St. Brown's three catches for 32 yards and se- nior tight end Durham Smythe's two catches for 41 yards, both touchdowns. The Notre Dame passing attack, which accounted for 215 yards, did its damage without senior wide receiver and team captain Torii Hunter Jr., who did not play due to a knee injury. For a team that has struggled to run the ball consistently this season, the big plays through the air — Notre Dame had five passing plays of 15-plus yards — helped open up the ground game. "We were able to throw the ball over their heads, and it backed them off, which gave us some opportuni- ties to run the football," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. "Any time that you get the ball vertically down the field, it's going to open up your running game because they certainly weren't going to play their safeties down. "They were much more interested in staying over the top, which gave us the opportunity to get some pretty good looks to run the football." When sophomore running back Josh Adams scored from two yards out to make it 21-0 with 3:44 left in the first quarter, the game was essentially over. Kizer finished 17-of-28 passing for 209 yards with three touchdowns. He found Smythe twice in the second quarter for scores — first on a 10-yard connection with 9:34 left and then again from 31 yards out with 37 seconds left. "We understood that we had to chal- lenge their DBs," Kizer said. "Unfortu- nately, they were down a couple guys, and they played some guys who were a little less experienced than most. And with that, we had to take our guys, and if they gave us a look, attack that." Monken, whose team fell to 5-5, said Army could not compete with the Irish. "That's a great-looking football team," he said. "There's just no comparison physically between the two football teams. Holy mackerel, they're good. Total Domination The Irish throttle the Black Knights from start to finish in 44-6 victory Strong support on the run by Notre Dame's secondary, including senior cornerback Cole Luke (36), helped hold Army 91 yards below its rushing average this season. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA