Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 13, 2017 35 BY BRYAN DRISKELL MIAMI RUNNING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME RUN DEFENSE Miami began the campaign in impressive fash- ion, rushing for 317 yards in a season-opening win over Football Championship Subdivision opponent Bethune-Cookman and 254 yards in a victory over Toledo. The Hurricanes' ground attack began to falter when it faced better competition. Miami rushed for 120.2 yards per game over its next five outings, all against ACC opponents. The loss of junior Mark Walton in the fourth game was a severe blow. Walton rushed for 1,117 yards and 14 touch- downs in 2016, and had 428 yards (7.6 per rush) in the first four games before going down with an ankle injury. Sophomore Travis Homer ran for 170 yards in his first start, a 25-24 rain-soaked victory over Georgia Tech Oct. 14. In his next two games, Homer totaled only 135 yards. Miami had just 59 rushing yards in its 24-19 win at North Carolina Oct. 28, the same team Notre Dame shredded to the tune of 341 rushing yards in its victory over the Tar Heels Oct. 7. Notre Dame's ground defense has been trending in the opposite direction. The Irish gave up an aver- age of 151.5 yards per game its first four contests, including back-to-back 185-yard performances by Georgia and Boston College. Over its next four outings, Notre Dame held op- ponents to averages of just 81.8 yards per game and 2.8 yards per rush. Through eight contests, Notre Dame ranked 16th nationally, giving up 116.6 yards per game. Opponents averaged 3.4 yards per rush, which ranked 21st. In his three starts after moving into the opening lineup against UNC, junior linebacker Te'von Coney, a native of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., registered 26 tackles and 3.5 tackles for loss. Advantage: Notre Dame MIAMI PASSING GAME VS. NOTRE DAME PASS DEFENSE Redshirt junior quarterback Malik Rosier has thrived in his first season as a starter, passing for 2,087 yards and 17 touchdowns through seven games. Miami ranked 19th in the land in passing GAME PREVIEW: MIAMI (FLA.) On PaPer Despite missing three of Miami's first seven games, sophomore wideout Ahmmon Richards had hauled in 14 passes for 284 yards and one touchdown. PHOTO COURTESY MIAMI ATHLETICS