Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 28, 2016*

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 28, 2016 27 TAKING A CLOSER LOOK What Worked • Fast Start Trend Continues. Notre Dame has been a strong first-quarter team for much of the season. Dating back to its Sept. 24 matchup against Duke, Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 102-37 in the opening quarter. Since its Oct. 15 matchup against Stanford, the Irish have outscored opponents 65-7 in the game's first quarter. The Irish got off to a 17-0 start against Virginia Tech thanks to an offense that came out on fire, and a defense that took advantage of some Virginia Tech mistakes. Notre Dame junior quarterback DeShone Kizer completed seven of his first eight passes for 134 yards, and the offense moved the ball at will, even converting a pair of third-and-long plays during the first quarter. The defense did its part early as well, forcing a punt after four plays on the opening series and a three-and-out on Virginia Tech's second posses- sion. • Big Plays Carry The Offense. Big plays were a major part of Notre Dame's fast start. The Irish had six plays of at least 20 yards on its first three drives, with six of those plays coming through the air. Back-to-back 18-yard pass receptions by junior Corey Holmes and sophomore Miles Boykin in the second quarter resulted in the Irish jumping to a 24-7 lead. Notre Dame's offense stalled in the second half, with a 67-yard touchdown run by Josh Adams serv- ing as its only serious scoring threat in the final 30 minutes. What Didn't Work • Defense Can't Adjust. Following its poor start, Virginia Tech followed a relatively simple plan the rest of the game, running between the tackles, quickly getting the ball out to the perimeter and attacking Notre Dame strong safety Drue Tranquill in coverage. The Hokies averaged just 3.2 yards per rush, but it chipped away at the defense, which kept the Irish off balance. Notre Dame's soft perimeter coverages left the quick hitch and quick out routes wide open, help- ing Evans complete an incredible 75.8-percent of his passes against the Irish. • Irish Lose The Field Position Battle. Virginia Tech started seven drives at its own 39-yard line or more, while the Irish had just two such drives. Notre Dame scored on each of those series. The Irish started inside its own 20-yard line three times. Much of that poor field position was a result of the Irish special teams, which continued its season-long struggles. Notre Dame's first three kickoffs gave Virginia Tech the ball at its own 44, 43 and 39. The Hokies' first two possessions of the fourth quarter started at the Irish 49 and its own 47 after 35-yard and 22-yard punts by junior Tyler Newsome. Virginia Tech got 10 points on those two drives, turning a 31-24 fourth quarter deficit into a 34-31 victory. — Bryan Driskell The Irish won the rushing battle the Hokies 200-152 yards — led by sophomore running back Josh Adams' 100 yards and two touchdowns — but still could not hold on for the victory. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA 1 The Virginia Tech game was the first one out of 11 this season for 4-7 Notre Dame where the winning team had less rushing yards. The Irish finished with 200 yards on the ground, highlighted by sophomore running back JOSH ADAMS' 67-yard touchdown, compared to the Hokies' 152. 4 Losses at home this year by Notre Dame: Michigan State (36-28), Duke (38-35), Stan- ford (17-10) and Virginia Tech (34-31). Since the opening of Notre Dame Stadium in 1930, the only three times the Fighting Irish lost four times at home were 1960 (1-4), 2007 (1-6) and 2016 (2-4). 4-7 Record for Notre Dame, the first time it has ever had that mark. It finished 5-6 several times and 5-7, too, but it has never been 4-7 at any time. It also has never been 4-8. 5 Times Notre Dame has lost to a first-time visitor in Notre Dame Stadium since 2009: Connecticut (2009), Tulsa (2010), South Florida (2011), Louisville (2014) and now Virginia Tech. The last four were under Brian Kelly, with no other Irish head coach losing more than twice to a first-time visitor. The Irish are 59-14-1 overall against teams making their debut in Notre Dame Stadium, including 5-4 under Kelly. 7 Games this season where Notre Dame has scored a touchdown on its first drive, includ- ing against Virginia Tech while building a 17-0 lead. The Irish have scored first in all but one of the 11 games this season, but to little avail. 17 Points Notre Dame led by twice (17-0 and 24-7) before losing, 34-31. It was the largest deficit an opponent came back from to win at Notre Dame since Tennessee's 35-34 victory on Nov. 9, 1991. The Volunteers trailed by 24 (31-7) at one point. 30 Career losses for Kelly in seven seasons at Notre Dame, while posting 59 wins. The loss figure ties the most in a career with the Fighting Irish as the head coach. Lou Holtz also had 30, but that was in 11 seasons from 1986-96. Holtz compensated with a school-record 23-game winning streak in 1988-89, including a national title, and a 17-game winning streak in 1992-93. 509 Rushing yards this year by Notre Dame junior DeShone Kizer, who to- taled 520 on the ground last year. He joins Tony Rice (1987-89) as the only two quarterbacks in school history to eclipse 500 rushing yards in two separate seasons. Kizer also is now the only sig- nal-caller in Fighting Irish annals to pass for more than 5,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000. 1960 The most recent season until this year where Notre Dame failed to string together a two-game winning streak. Sec- ond-year head coach Joe Kuharich's team that season won its opener versus Cal and the finale at USC, but lost all eight games in between for a final 2-8 mark. The 3-9 team in 2007 finished with two straight victories, while the 2-7 squad in 1963 won consecutive games at home against UCLA and USC to improve to 2-2 at one point. BY THE NUMBERS BY LOU SOMOGYI

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