Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/89043
needed to get Atkinson more involved in the game plan and did so against BYU by lining him up as a wide re- ceiver and motioning him into the backfield. Atkinson lined up split wide nearly a dozen times against the Cou- gars and got four of his five carries out of that formation, including a two-yard touchdown run that gave Notre Dame a 17-14 lead in the final quarter. Wood and Riddick took over from there, carrying the team to a win while combining for 257 yards on the ground. Their matching 100-plus yard performances gave Notre Dame a pair of tri- ple-digit rushers for the second time this month. Prior to the Miami game at Soldier Field, the Irish hadn't had two players run for more than 100 yards in the same game since 2002. from an injury that looked like it might end his football career, junior Danny Spond is proving too good to take off the field. The outside linebacker SPOND RESPONDS Eight weeks removed made five tackles and broke up a pair of po- tentially lethal passes against BYU before fin- ishing the game with his first career interception as time expired. Spond started fall camp on equal footing with soph- omore Ben Councell at the drop linebacker spot. That pair planned on splitting reps on the field with a fifth defen- sive back who could do a better job in pass cov- erage. Against BYU, Spond did all three of those jobs, even splitting out as a 248-pound corner- back at times when the Cougars flooded the field with wide receiv- ers. "He's been so con- aches left him temporar- ily paralyzed in a hos- pital bed in the middle of training camp. Spond said he wasn't sure at the time if he would play again, but he hasn't been the least bit hesi- tant since getting back on the field in Notre Dame's 20-3 win over Michigan State in East Lansing Sept. 15. "Danny is a great player and also a great person off the field as well," fifth-year senior defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore said. "With his whole ordeal that happened at the be- ginning of the year, it's just awesome to see him out there having fun and playing." sistent we don't even take him off the field in our nickel," head coach Brian Kelly said. "He has been physical at the point of attack. Teams that have wanted to get outside … I could go on and on. The kid has been tremendous." Spond has started all five games since return- ing from a severe health issue in mid-September. He fell out of the Irish lineup in August after a series of migraine head- trolled the line of scrim- mage on offense and de- fense against BYU, but special teams continues to be a soft spot for the 7-0 Fighting Irish. The lack of a punt Notre Dame con- SPECIAL TEAMS STRUGGLES return game continues from Notre Dame's dis- appointing 2011 season. The Irish entered the BYU game ranked 105th in the country with an average of 3.7 yards per