Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/783750
8 MARCH 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI S tatistics do not always tell the full story of a football game or season, and often can be misleading. Unfortunately, they were all too ac- curate for Notre Dame in 2016. Amidst the dismal 4-8 result, the Fighting Irish numbers on offense, defense and spe- cial teams revealed many of the prob- lems that led to the outcome. Here are the final numbers on how Notre Dame stacked up nationally in the three phases of the game among the 128 Football Bowl Subdivision teams: OFFENSE Rushing Offense: 80th, 163.3 yards per game Passing Offense: 48th, 254.3 yards per game Pass Efficiency Offense: 36th, 142.11 rating Total Offense: 62nd, 417.6 yards per game Scoring Offense: 53rd, 30.9 points per game Red Zone Offense: 72nd, 83.3 per- cent Third-Down Conversions: 65th, 40.5 percent (68 of 168) Turnovers Lost: 47th (tie), 18 (nine fumbles and nine interceptions) Noteworthy Data: • The rushing averaged dropped 44 yards from last season. Typically, when Notre Dame is in the 120- to 165-yard range in that category — as it has been for the most part this century — it isn't a contender, and sometimes not even at .500. The only year ever in which Notre Dame finished in the Associated Press top 10 while averaging less than 185 rushing yards per game was the 9-3 campaign in 2005 (147.1 yards per game). • In the red zone (at or inside the opponent's 20-yard line), Notre Dame scored 40 times in 48 posses- sions. Thirty of them were touch- downs (16 passing and 14 rushing), and there were 10 field goals. • Not one of the nine fumbles were lost by a Notre Dame running back, who totaled 321 carries this year. The fumbles were lost either by a quar- terback, a wide receiver or on special teams. • Per the advanced metric S&P+, Notre Dame ranked No. 1 at the end of the regular season in offense effi- ciency in the first quarter, but No. 96 in the fourth quarter. • Tying in with the fourth-quarter woes compared to the first quarter were two other stats. In the first quar- ter, Notre Dame averaged 5.28 yards per carry, whereas in the fourth it was 3.53. Meanwhile, quarterback DeShone Kizer completed 72.3 percent of his passes in the first quarter, but only 48.2 in the fourth. DEFENSE Rushing Defense: 72nd, 182.4 yards per game Passing Yards Defense: 21st, 196.4 yards per game Pass Efficiency Defense: 79th, 134.56 rating Total Defense: 42nd, 378.8 yards per game Scoring Defense: 62nd, 27.8 points per game Red-Zone Defense: 45th, 81.0 percent Third-Down Conversions: 60th, 39.0 percent (67 of 172) Quarterback Sacks: 117th (tie), 14 Turnovers Forced: 104th (tie), 14 (six fumbles and eight interceptions) Noteworthy Data: • For the first time in its history, Notre Dame allowed at least 170 rushing yards per game for three consecutive seasons. In 2015, it was 175.6 — which also ranked 72nd and was deemed "unacceptable" by Kelly. The 2016 figure also was the most since the 195.4 average during the 3-9 campaign in 2007. • The passing yards per game av- erage, the best statistical figure — at least on paper — is generally ren- dered meaningless if the rushing yards stat is high. What it usually means is if teams can run effectively and control the line of scrimmage, less passing often is required. For example, Notre Dame's 1977 national champs with luminaries such as defensive end Ross Browner, linebacker Bob Golic and cornerback Luther Bradley finished 104th in passing defense (yardage allowed). That's because it was third in the country against the run — and op- ponents often racked up window dressing passing numbers by trying to play catch up. That's why in later years the "pass efficiency defense" stat was cre- ated to go beyond just raw passing numbers and instead into efficiency. There, Notre Dame was 79th in 2016, compared to 21st in yardage allowed. • Opponents reached the Notre Dame red zone 42 times and scored 34 times. Of those 34 scores, 26 were UNDER THE DOME THE FINAL DATA Not surprisingly, Notre Dame's rankings in team stats were uninspiring Despite the presence of sophomore running back Josh Adams, the Irish ranked 80th in the country in rushing offense (163.3 yards per game). PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA