Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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20 OCT. 2, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI T hroughout most of head coach Brian Kelly's first seven sea- sons from 2010-16, Notre Dame hovered in the 70s nationally in red-zone scoring efficiency (the percentage of times it scored once it reached the opponent's 20-yard line). Last year it was 72nd at 83.3 percent, and the year prior — despite a 10-3 record — it was 88th at 81.1 percent. One of the reasons for the ineffi- ciency was turnovers. In 2014-15, the Fighting Irish led the nation in red- zone turnovers with 14 (eight in 2014 and six in 2015). Through three weeks this year, Notre Dame was one of 20 teams (out of 129) tied for No. 1 in red-zone ef- ficiency with 15 scores in 15 attempts. The 15 represented the most tallies overall among the 20 teams — and so did the 13 touchdowns. Notre Dame was not only 6 of 6 against both Temple and Boston Col- lege in scoring once it reached the opposition's 20-yard line, all 12 of those drives resulted in touchdowns. In the 20-19 loss to Georgia, the Irish were 3 of 3, although only one of them was a touchdown. Why the improvement? There were at least two reasons. First, among the 13 touchdowns scored from the red zone, eight began in the "low red" area, or anywhere from the 10-yard line in. Against Temple, three of the red- zone scores started from the Owls' 9-, 8- and 7-yard lines. The lone TD versus Georgia was set up with a long pass and penalty down to the 2-yard line. At Boston College, four of the tal- lies came from having long plays that set up first downs at the 2-, 9-, 6- and 3-yard lines. "We've been in low red, which helps in that scoring efficiency," Kelly said. The second reason is about a more pronounced commitment to "power football." For much of Kelly's tenure, a bread- and-butter play in red-zone territory has centered on fades — some might call them "jump balls," or back-shoul- der passes into the end zone. That will remain a staple — junior Equanime- ous St. Brown caught one versus Tem- ple — but there is a different mindset this season because of a veteran offen- sive line, big backs and a quarterback in Brandon Wimbush who also can smell the end zone once he is near it. Wimbush's six rushing touchdowns during the 2-1 start was second na- tionally, behind only Oregon running back Royce Freeman's nine. Inside the 10-yard line under new offensive coordinator Chip Long, Wimbush has even taken conven- tional snaps under center with fresh- man Brock Wright inserted as a lead blocker at fullback — a memory from the past for the Irish. "We've been run-first down there, which was a commitment that we were going to make, and that has helped us down there," Kelly said. "We've been able to really draw defenses into being pretty clear on what their intent is, and it's helped us in our play calling. "Maybe the right word would be insistence — persistence of wanting to run the football down there. We've taken away a lot of the exotic looks that we've gotten in the past down there and have a pretty good idea of what we're going to get." In a dramatic about-face during the Kelly era, Notre Dame ranked No. 5 nationally in rushing yards per game (330.7) and 114th in passing yards per game (163.3) after the first three con- tests. Junior running back Josh Adams was fifth in rushing yardage with 443 (147.7 yards per game) while Wim- bush was 23rd with 314 (104.7), which made them the lone two teammates among the top 25 in the country. The only two quarterbacks ahead of Wimbush in the rushing category run the triple option, Navy's Zach Abey and Army's Ahmad Bradshaw. The season is young, and whether such data is sustainable over the course of 12 regular-season games remains to be seen. Nevertheless, with a new quarterback trying to get comfortable with the pass attack, and a veteran line and numerous running options, the attention this year centers more on ac- centuating the ground game. "We try to look at inside-outside zones, pins and pulls, misdirection — then attacking the perimeter," Kelly explained. "On our board, if you were going into our offensive staff room, we have a heading for each one of those elements of our running attack. Each piece is addressed when we're putting together our running game from week to week." One area where Kelly wants to di- versify more with the ground game is implementing more counter or misdirection plays. "There may be some weeks where we feel like the trap — which is a quick-hitting play (that Adams thrived with against Boston College) — may be more effective against two wide three techniques [defenders] that are going up the field. If you feel you have two guys that are more locked down, inside guys that are not penetrators or deep backers, maybe you're not into trap." What goes into building an offen- sive game plan each week is gener- ally determined by the style of play of the opponent. "If you have edge players that are re- ally on the ball, you don't try to get the ball outside as much," Kelly explained. "You'd rather try to run zone and read. It really just depends on the defense from week to week. What we try to do is attack the defense in all those areas on a wide front, and have all of those available to us each and every week out of our running game library." There is an elementary reason why Notre Dame placed a greater empha- sis on the run this year: It's what the team excels at best for now. "We can't appease people in terms of what looks good as much as what we're going to be good at," Kelly noted. "If running the football is what is going to be the common de- nominator for wins, then that's what we're doing." ✦ POWER PLAY The Irish have made a commitment toward running effectively inside their opponent's 20-yard line Junior running back Josh Adams — who ranked fifth nationally with 147.7 rushing yards per game — has spearheaded an Irish ground game that produced 330.7 yards and 13 touchdowns the first three weeks of the season. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA