Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 21, 2016 29 Notre Dame used two-tight-end sets often during the early going, and the staff called nine runs on the team's first 13 offensive snaps. The Irish coaches also used the pass early to help the run game. "We were able to throw the ball over their heads, and it backed them off," head coach Brian Kelly said af- ter the game. "It gave us some op- portunities to run the ball. I think any time that you get the ball vertically down the field, it's going to open up your running back because they certainly weren't going to play their safeties down." On Notre Dame's second offensive play of the game, junior quarterback DeShone Kizer threw a deep post route to sophomore slot receiver C.J. Sanders. It fell incomplete, but it drew a pass interference penalty on Army. Kizer ended that drive by hitting freshman wideout Kevin Stepherson on another post route off play action, resulting in a 37-yard touchdown. Army had a difficult time defend- ing both the deep ball and the run game, and once Notre Dame made it obvious they were more than willing to stretch the field, the Army staff had to make some tough decisions. "They were very much interested in staying over the top," Kelly said of the Army adjustments that called for the safeties to protect against the deep ball, "which gave us the oppor- tunity to get some pretty good looks to run the football." Notre Dame finished with 261 rushing yards and averaged 6.1 yards per carry. Both marked season highs for the Irish. DESHONE KIZER SHOWS IMPROVEMENT Evaluating redshirt sophomore quarterback DeShone Kizer's season has been difficult. Several NFL mock drafts continue to list him as a poten- tial No. 1 overall pick in April's draft, but Kizer 's on-field play has been inconsistent. One of Kizer's struggles has been his bad habit of locking into receivers at the snap and not properly reacting to the defense's post-snap drops. Against Army, Kizer showed ma- jor improvement in this part of his game. He stayed in the pocket, kept his eyes downfield and took what the defense gave him. Army's defensive staff put together a game plan that often took away Kizer's initial read, but he was able to make them pay. His ability to go through progres- sions resulted in him twice finding senior tight end Durham Smythe wide open in the end zone. The first time Kizer read to his left, saw his primary receiver cov- ered and then came backside to find Smythe alone on an in route. The second time he looked outside to his left, but saw that Army had turned Smythe loose up the seam, so he hit his tight end in the end zone for a 31-yard touchdown. Kizer 's willingness to go through his progressions also resulted in him spreading the ball around much bet- NOTRE DAME VS. ARMY QUARTER-BY-QUARTER COMPARISON Notre Dame 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Total Time of Possession 6:29 10:01 9:01 8:51 16:30 17:52 34:22 Third-Down Conversions 2-2 2-4 3-4 3-3 4-6 6-7 10-13 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 1-1 0-0 0-0 1-1 0-0 1-1 Average Field Position ND-42 ND-40 ND-41 ND-3 ND-41 ND-28 ND-36 Army 1st Qtr. 2nd Qtr. 3rd Qtr. 4th Qtr. 1st Half 2nd Half Final Time of Possession 8:31 4:59 5:59 6:09 13:30 12:08 25:38 Third-Down Conversions 1-3 0-3 1-3 1-2 1-6 2-5 3-11 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 1-2 0-0 0-1 1-2 0-1 1-3 Average Field Position ARMY-28 ARMY-21 ARMY-19 ARMY-0 ARMY-24 ARMY-19 ARMY-23 PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards ND ARMY (-) Yards 4 6 0-5 Yards 34 32 6-9 Yards 17 6 10-19 Yards 12 3 20-29 Yards 3 0 30-39 Yards 2 2 40-49 Yards 0 1 50 or more Yards 0 0 RED ZONE EFFICIENCY (INSIDE 20-YARD LINE) No Poss. TD FG Score Notre Dame 5 3 1 1 Army 3 1 0 2 BIG PLAYS (25 YARDS OR MORE) Notre Dame • 1-10 ARMY37 Kizer pass complete to Stepherson for 37 yards and a touchdown • 2-10 ND47 Kizer rush le for 27 yards to the ARMY26 • 3-14 ARMY30 Kizer pass complete to St. Brown for 25 yards to the ARMY5 • 3-8 ARMY31 Kizer pass complete to Smythe for 31 yards and a touchdown Army • 2-4 ND42 Asberry rush right for 37 yards to the ND5 • 2-1 ARMY34 Woolfolk rush up middle for 40 yards to the ND26 • 2-6 ND43 McGue rush le for 32 yards to the ND11 Junior quarterback DeShone Kizer played a strong game versus Army, accounting for 281 yards of total offense and three touchdowns while directing a unit that amassed its best rushing output of the year. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA