Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/871976
www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 18, 2017 25 GEORGIA RUNNING GAME VERSUS NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE All things considered, the Fighting Irish defense acquitted itself relatively well against one of the elite running back duos in college football. The senior tandem of Nick Chubb and Sony Michel combined for a hard earned 136 yards on 26 carries. The jet sweep hurt Notre Dame a few times, most notably freshman running back D'Andre Swift's 40-yard scamper to set up the touchdown that put Georgia ahead 17-16. Some damage was going to be inevitable from the Georgia running attack, but Notre Dame overall held its own while limiting the Bulldogs to 185 yards and 4.3 yards per carry. ADVANTAGE: Even GEORGIA PASSING GAME VERSUS NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Freshman quarterback Jake Fromm did not have to carry the team and played a relatively controlled game. The Irish defense would take 4.9 yards per 29 pass attempts and 8.8 yards per completion any day. The two game-changing completions for Georgia were a spectacular one- handed grab in the end zone by Terry Godwin on third-and-goal from the 5-yard line, and then a leaping 31-yard catch by Javon Wims to set up the game-winning field goal. In both cases, you couldn't ask for much better coverage by either sophomore Julian Love (on the first) and senior Nick Watkins (on the second). Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the opposition for making a remarkable play. ADVANTAGE: Notre Dame NOTRE DAME RUNNING GAME VERSUS GEORGIA RUN DEFENSE After the 422-yard outburst on the ground in the opener against Temple, the Irish never came close to getting untracked against much better competition, finishing with 10 carries for 12 yards in the first quarter, eight carries for 15 yards in the second, 10 attempts for five yards in the third and nine attempts for 23 yards in the fourth. None of junior Josh Adams 19 carries (for 53 yards) gained more than seven yards, and sophomore quarterback Brandon Wimbush (16 carries for one yard, after three sacks were factored in) showed his inexperience on numerous reads. The most conspicuous and fateful was with the Irish leading 19-17 and fac- ing third-and-three at their 34, Wimbush was on a clear path to a first down on an inside run. But when he tried to kick it outside for a bigger play, the net gain was two, forcing a punt that set up Georgia's game-winning points. The Bulldogs clearly won the battle up front. ADVANTAGE: Georgia NOTRE DAME PASSING GAME VERSUS GEORGIA PASS DEFENSE In addition to Georgia's pass pressure and a dozen third-and-eight or longer situations, the Bulldogs took away prime receiving weapon in junior Equanime- ous St. Brown (two catches for 16 yards). No viable second wideout option emerged until junior Chris Finke caught all three of his passes for 36 yards in the fourth quarter. Wimbush's own inconsistency (20-of-40 passing for 210 yards, only 5.3 yards per attempt), made the Bulldogs more effective. Georgia defenders harangued Wimbush far more than the three-sack total would indicate, and two of the takedowns resulted in lost fumbles. ADVANTAGE: Georgia SPECIAL TEAMS Both punters — Notre Dame senior Tyler Newsome and Georgia fifth-year senior Cameron Nizialek — put on a clinic overall with a combination of hang time, power and placement. Newsome's nine punts averaged 47.1 yards, and a 57-yarder deep in his own territory in the first half flipped the field. Nizialek's eight punts averaged 44.0 yards, with four of them downed inside the 20. On the Notre Dame kickoff after moving ahead 3-0 in the first quarter, sophomore Elijah Holyfield's return inside Notre Dame's 10 was nullified by a holding call. After missing both of his field goal attempts in the opener, junior Justin Yoon responded with a 4-of-4 effort. Georgia's Rodrigo Blankenship was 2 of 3, but drilled the winner from 30 yards with 3:34 left. ADVANTAGE: Even THIRD DOWN CONVERSIONS Notre Dame was 0 of 8 in the first half, and didn't convert its first until a Geor- gia penalty in the second half. It finished 3 of 17 (17.6 percent). The Bulldogs were almost equally inefficient at 4 of 17 (23.5 percent), but a crucial difference was Godwin's sensational grab for a touchdown on third-and-goal from the 5-yard line in the first half. ADVANTAGE: Even TURNOVERS Both teams forced two, with a first-half Georgia fumble setting up Notre Dame's lone touchdown, a 32-yard march. The Bulldogs didn't score on either of Wimbush's fumbles on strip sacks, but the second iced the game on the final Irish possession. ADVANTAGE: Even ANALYSIS Popular preseason projections saw the 2017 Notre Dame offense needing to carry the defense. Instead, the Georgia game displayed that the Irish offense might have been overrated and the defense underrated. The Irish played physically, aggressively and mostly sound overall on defense, and performed well enough to win. Unfortunately, the Notre Dame offense has shown that it can excel against lesser foes while putting up gaudy numbers, but against prime-time opposition it wasn't able to seize the day and assert itself. ON PAPER REVISITED BY LOU SOMOGYI The Irish did a good job of containing the potent rushing tandem of Sony Michel (above) and Nick Chubb, limiting them to 136 yards on 26 carries. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA