Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/894058
18 NOV. 6, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI D uring Notre Dame's 6-1 start to the 2017 season, it would be difficult to list what has been the most impressive team sta- tistic. The program has not seen some of the figures in numerous decades. • The 41.3 scoring average follow- ing the 49-14 win versus USC Oct. 21 was on pace to top the 36.7 standard that was set 50 seasons ago under head coach Ara Parseghian in 1968. • The 317.9 rushing figure — while averaging 7.1 yards per carry —was the highest since the school-record 350.2 by the 1973 national champs. • For the first time since the 1966 national champions, Notre Dame won five straight games by at least 20 points. The 24.9-point differential through the first seven contests also would rank among the highest in 40-plus years. • With junior Brandon Wimbush at quarterback, the Fighting Irish have advanced to the red zone (posses- sion at or inside the opponent's 20- yard line) 26 times and scored touch- downs on 24 of them. • In turnover margin, Notre Dame was No. 4 nationally with a plus-1.43 per game, committing only seven while forcing 17. The 17 forced turn- overs were more in seven games than the 14 apiece in 13 and 12 games the past two seasons. Yet if there is one piece of that which was most satisfying to head coach Brian Kelly in the control of the line of scrimmage, it was that the Irish had scored 28 rushing touch- downs compared to the opposition's one. A subset of that is maybe the most underrated or overlooked stat by the 2017 Irish team: red-zone de- fense, specifically the low percentage of touchdowns allowed once the foe reaches Notre Dame's 20-yard line. Overall in NCAA rankings through the first seven games, the Irish were tied for 18th among 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams while allow- ing 17 scores in 23 tries (73.9 percent). Far more pertinent is only nine of those scores were touchdowns and Notre Dame was the only team that permitted less than two on the ground (one to be exact). The 39.1 touchdown percentage allowed in the red zone ranked No. 6 overall — and No. 3 among the 65 Power Five schools, with Wisconsin and TCU the only two teams ahead of them, per CFBstats.com. For context, consider that the last three Notre Dame defenses finished No. 71 (2016), No. 95 (2015) and No. 116 (2014) in preventing touch- downs in the red zone. Also consider that the dominant 2012 Irish defense that led the Irish to the national title game finished No. 3, permitting only 13 touchdowns in 38 attempts (34.2 percent). An example of this stinginess was on display versus USC Oct. 21. Al- though the Irish led 14-0, the game still hung in the balance midway through the second quarter when the Trojans faced a third-and-one at the Notre Dame 3-yard line. A USC touchdown could have changed the game's com- plexion, but the Irish defense threw running back Ronald Jones for a loss. After a delay of game penalty by the Trojans, a missed 27-yard field goal kept them with a goose egg. It's a sequence that can easily be forgotten in the euphoria of the vic- tory, but proved vital in the blowout. Kelly attributed some of the im- provement to not necessarily trying to out-scheme the opponent with "exotics" under first-year defensive coordinator Mike Elko, but keep the look relatively basic. "We were keeping regular person- nel on the field," Kelly said the week before the USC showdown. "A lot of that is matching your ability to play coverage when coverage is needed, and short yourself in the box in the run game. "It's really important to do a great job of matching personnel, and I think we've done that. Our ability to get personnel in and out of the game to match personnel groupings has really helped us." An example he used is remaining in nickel even if a second tight end or a second running back is in the game on offense. Logic might dictate get- ting another bigger player on defense in, but a comfort level remained with keeping 5-8 junior nickel Shaun Crawford in the lineup. In fact, probably the most notable red-zone defensive play this season came at Michigan State when Craw- ford stripped the football from Spar- tans running back LJ Scott near the goal line and then also recovered the loose ball in the end zone for a touch- back. Thus, instead of Michigan State cutting its deficit to 21-14, the Irish maintained a two-score lead and par- layed the momentum change into a 28-7 halftime cushion. What's overshadowed again is Michigan State failed two other times to score when it reached the red zone — one of them after running 19 consec- utive plays — in the 38-18 Irish victory. Such ability is a testament to en- durance and resilience on defense, although some might also refer to it as "bend but don't break." Vital to the effectiveness in red- zone defense is winning on first down, which then can sometimes put the offense in a defensive stance. "We've been really good on first down," Kelly added about the red-zone defense effectiveness. "The leverage has been with us in down and distance in the red zone, and the leverage has been with us in personnel matching." In a year — or at least through seven games — where Notre Dame has been compiling some outstand- ing numbers not seen in decades, red-zone defense has helped put the opposition in the red. ✦ RED HOT Notre Dame's data inside the 20-yard line — on both sides of the ball — through seven games has been startling Through seven games, the Irish had surrendered only nine touchdowns and eight field goals in 23 red-zone opportunities for their opponents. The touchdown percentage (39.1) ranked sixth nationally — and third among Power Five schools. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA