Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 6, 2017 5 FAN FORUM DELIGHTFUL SEASON … BUT HISTORY REPEATS Having been out of the country for much of the early season, I am catching up on the Blue & Gold Illustrated is- sues that came while I was gone. I was delighted to read on page 12 of the Sept. 25 issue, your note on "Late Hit Another Learning Lesson." I was at the Pitt game in 2008 when Harrison Smith committed the personal foul you mention, and imme- diately said, "Pitt is going to score and we will lose this game." I was also at the Connecticut game in 2009 when Sergio Brown made the late hit, and I made the same prediction. When I saw Julian Okwara's penalty in a similar situ- ation against Georgia, I knew the outcome would be the same as the other two games. Fortunately, this time I was at home and didn't have to suffer through the end of the game. Other than that, it has been a delightful season. Joe Dickmann St. Louis BE HEARD! Send your letters to: Letters Blue & Gold Illustrated P. O. Box 1007, Notre Dame, IN 46556 or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com After Notre Dame's 49-14 victory versus USC elevated the Fighting Irish to No. 9 in the nation, the fan base was beyond pleasantly surprised, especially after last year's 4-8 season. Adding to the pleasure were two stats: Notre Dame was sixth nationally in rushing with an average of 317.9 yards per game — even though eighth year head Brian Kelly often has been la- beled "pass happy." Meanwhile, the oft-maligned defense was 12th nationally in points allowed per game, giving up only 16.6 per contest. That prompted us to ask our subscribers on BlueandGold.com which of the two was the big- ger surprise, rushing offense or scoring defense. The responses varied, but the first 34 replies had 18 vote for the offense and 16 for the defense. Here were some samples: Ryno 1134: Definitely the running numbers. I expected defensive coordinator Mike Elko to have a big impact, but I didn't have much faith that a Brian Kelly-coached team would dedicate itself to the run like this. It has been a sea change in that regard. Jtelel1: This team was a train wreck last season on defense. We all knew coming in the offense would be good, especially the OL but everyone (in- cluding myself) was very suspect on the defense. Twalsh: If you would have told me we were av- eraging over 300 yards rushing per game I would have assumed we must have hired (Georgia Tech head coach) Paul Johnson as our offensive coor- dinator. I thought we had a lot more talent on defense than our results were showing, so that's not as big a surprise. Benko's Army: The rushing numbers, for sure. 318 yards per game is outrageous for a non-op- tion offense. We've played some decent teams, too. I expected around 225 per game (shameless optimist, me). Irishvan: Absolutely the defense. No one could have known that Jerry Tillery was going to mature as he has and play as well as he has, or that the sophomores would develop as quickly as they have or that Jay Hayes would come alive etc. etc. etc. First time in years that we get pressure with just 4 rushing on a regular basis. ODommer: This '17 team's collective perfor- mance is reminiscent of Ara's very best teams. If we go 11-1, look out, we will be a very powerful opponent for ANY postseason opponent. Irishrunt: The defense is a bigger surprise, spe- cifically the sophomore ends and how depth is used. Bus7: If Elko isn't national assistant coach of the year, I don't know who is. Dude's a flat-out wizard. 42perch: With these two statistics so improved, is it the strength conditioning that explains both? Dhenders: We all knew we had a great O-line and that with the stable of backs and Wimbush we should be a force rushing the ball. The ques- tion there might have been would we commit to it. The ability of the D-line to control the line of scrimmage and create pressure was a huge ques- tion mark. We knew the DBs were vulnerable if the QB was given a lot of time. So the most surprising of the options has to be the almost unbelievable turnaround of the defense. Irishcliff: We've seen great defense under Kelly before, and it was only 5 seasons ago. We haven't seen a rushing attack like this in more than 4 decades. Doug's Dad: The rushing attack is really the key to the defensive improvement. First, regardless of the few long runs, each run eats up about 30 seconds. Two first downs will give you 4-5 minutes rest time for the defense. This allows the defense to play harder and faster while on the field and thus turn it back over to the offense for another use of time. It melds together, and that's what it's supposed to do. Part of being a team game. 2581: Elko has done a tremendous job, but I'm tired of hearing people say he has done it with "the exact same players." Julian Okwara, Khalid Kareem, Daelin Hayes, Jay Hayes, Julian Love, etc., are all a year older and more experienced than last year. That has played a role, too. First-year coordinator Mike Elko's defense ranked 12th nationally, allowing only 16.6 points per game through Oct. 21. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA FROM THE WEBSITE