Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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52 NOV. 13, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI D uring his summer interview for the Blue & Gold Illustrated 2017 Football Preview, eighth- year Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly vowed that it would be a totally different look for the Fighting Irish after last year's 4-8 implosion. "Defensively, you will see a foot- ball team that plays with a focus to- wards fundamentals … eliminating big plays," Kelly said. "I think we will be opportunistic, and we'll be smart." Indeed, during the 7-1 start this sea- son the Irish were the lone defense in the country not to allow more than 20 points in a game, and ranked No. 7 in turnover margin (plus-1.38 per game). "Offensively, I think there will be a physicality to the way we play," Kelly concluded — a statement heard often over the past couple of decades. Yet, too often, when push came to shove, it was Notre Dame that was pushed around while gradually be- coming known more for finesse than physicality. Only once from 1999-2016 did the Irish finish with an average of more than 200 rushing yards in a season when including the bowl game (207.6 in 2015). Under new offensive coordinator and play caller Chip Long, the mis- sion was to utilize the team strength — a powerful offensive line and a deep running back corps led by junior Josh Adams — to return to the old-fash- ioned physicality of the greatest Notre Dame teams. BGI even took a bit of a "gamble" with the cover of our 2017 Football Pre- view with the "Run To Glory" theme, featuring Adams. With a 317.9 rushing average during the 7-1 start, even Kelly found himself a little surprised. "We expected to be more physical running the football, but I don't think you set your margins at 300 [yards per game rushing] and above," Kelly said. "You try to set it at about 250, and we've exceeded that. "A lot of that has to do with collec- tively nine of the 11 guys blocking at the highest level, and a commitment from everybody — receivers, tight ends, offensive linemen — and then the talent of Josh in terms of his ability to turn pedestrian plays into big-chunk plays." Throughout ESPN's College Foot- ball Playoff show Oct. 31, a consis- tent theme was the metamorphosis of Notre Dame becoming possibly the most physical team in the country. That remained music to the ears of longtime Fighting Irish followers who were used to that as the primary trait and identity during "the glory years." As Notre Dame entered the month of November with championship status in sight, Kelly's confidence grew be- cause of the change in culture. "I think the way we're set up makes us very well prepared for Novem- ber," he said two days before the Nov. 4 Wake Forest game. "Weather, not needing to rely on one person to carry your team, especially offensively. It's a collective, it's a group, it's running the football. "We don't have to throw the ball 50 times and have a great game by our quarterback. He needs to continue to grow, certainly, but it's much more of a collective group that needs to just continue to do what they're doing, be physical and bring that physicality each week. It's really set up for No- vember from that perspective." Junior nose guard Jerry Tillery said it helps the defense, too. "If they're playing hard, we are forced to respond," Tillery said of the practices. "We've been able to exert our will on teams just like we do in practice. I think it's really helped us. "Teams haven't been able to run the ball on us effectively, and practicing against our offensive line helped with that." Even in today's "spread" principles, physicality is never outdated in foot- ball. Virtually every national champion the past dozen years — plus major bowl winners — generally averaged at least 200 rushing yards per contest. Through the years, the rushing fig- ures at Notre Dame often revealed the trajectory or success of the football program. Here is how past Irish head coaches have fared: JOE KUHARICH (1959-62) AND HUGH DEVORE (1963) Rushing Average Per Season: 159.7 yards per game Notre Dame was 19-30 during these dark years, which is more notable be- cause passing attacks weren't as ad- vanced back then. The previous lowest single-season figure Notre Dame had was 170.8 during the 2-8 campaign in 1956. ARA PARSEGHIAN (1964-74) Rushing Average Per Season: 259.7 yards per game This 11-year Golden Age with a 95- 17-4 record and two consensus na- tional titles produced exactly 100 yards more per game on the ground than the five years prior to Parseghian's arrival. Junior running back Josh Adams has been known mainly for his breakaway runs, but he also has averaged 5.6 yards after initial contact. PHOTO BY ANGELA DRISKELL FROM FINESSE TO PHYSICAL Notre Dame's 2017 identity centers on past glory based on physicality and the running game