Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/750885
26 NOV. 21, 2016 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT Army West Point needed a good start to believe it could hang with the Fighting Irish, but Notre Dame imme- diately established control in the first five minutes with a 14-0 advantage. Sophomore C.J. Sanders returned the opening kickoff for a 92-yard touchdown when originally it looked like he would be pinned inside the 20-yard line along the right sideline. Then after a three-and-out open- ing series for the Black Knights, Notre Dame crossed the end zone again with a 37-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback De- Shone Kizer to freshman wideout Kevin Stepherson with 10 minutes still left in the first quarter. By the end of the first quarter Notre Dame led 21-0, and the Black Knights, for all intents and pur- poses, had no chance of rallying or mounting any form of a threat. STATS OF THE GAME Notre Dame dominated the third- down conversions on both sides of the ball, finishing 10 of 13 (76.9 percent) on offense and 3 of 11 (27.2 percent conversion rate allowed) on defense. The latter was more important because unlike the week prior at Navy when Notre Dame had only six possessions on offense while the Midshipmen were 12 of 18 overall on third- and fourth-down conver- sions, the Fighting Irish defense was consistently able to get off the field versus the Black Knights. That enabled them to have a sig- nificant 34:22 to 25:38 advantage in time of possession, a stat not easy to achieve against a triple-option attack. Army West Point also was only 1 of 3 on fourth-down conversions, notably getting stopped on fourth- and-one near midfield in the closing minutes of the first half. GOING FOR TWO A final flicker of hope to rise out of the 2016 rubble remains for 4-6 Notre Dame after the 44-6 blowout of Army West Point. Against Vir- ginia Tech it will attempt to avoid becoming the first Fighting Irish team since the 2-8 unit in 1960 un- der head coach Joe Kuharich to not win back-to-back games in a season. Even the 3-9 edition in 2007 closed the campaign with victories versus Duke and Stanford. The only other Fighting Irish teams not to win two games in a row in one season were 1933 (3-5-1) and 1956 (2-8). Virginia Tech dropped to 7-3 after losing at home to Georgia Tech, 30-20. The Hokies also lost 31-17 to Syra- cuse, who the Irish defeated 50-33 on Oct. 1. A two-game winning streak at least provides something on the line heading into the regular-season finale at 7-3 and red hot USC. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY LOU SOMOGYI OFFENSE: QB DESHONE KIZER Notre Dame needed a strong performance from the junior quarterback, and that is exactly what it received. He finished the game 17-of-28 passing for 209 yards with three scores. Kizer hit freshman wideout Kevin Stepherson on a post route for a 37-yard score on Notre Dame's first offensive pos- session, and twice found senior tight end Durham Smythe wide open in the end zone in the first half. When he could not find anything downfield, he was able to make plays with his legs, adding another 72 yards on the ground. DEFENSE: DB JULIAN LOVE Several Notre Dame defenders had strong games against Army — senior linebacker James Onwualu had 13 tackles and a sack, while junior linebacker Greer Martini posted nine tackles and a sack — but none were tasked with a tougher job than the freshman defensive back, and he responded with an outstanding game. Love started at free safety for the first time all season, and he responded with three tackles, one tackle for loss, one pass bro- ken up and an interception. He played disciplined football and kept Army from getting outside on the option, and his fourth- down interception of Black Knights quarterback Malik McGue ended one of the few long drives Army was able to put together. SPECIAL TEAMS: KR C.J. SANDERS Thanks to the dynamic return skills of the sophomore slot receiver, the Fighting Irish were able to jump out to a quick lead. He took the opening kickoff back 92 yards for a touch- down, his second scoring return of the season. Army voided Sanders on its only other kickoff by booting a high and short kick that tight end Durham Smythe fair caught at the Notre Dame 29-yard line. TOP PLAYERS OF THE GAME BY BRYAN DRISKELL Junior quarterback DeShone Kizer completed 17 of 28 passes for 209 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions, and also rushed for 72 yards on seven carries. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA