Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 13, 2017 53 The lowest rushing output was 190.9 in his debut campaign, the only time one of Parseghian teams finished with an average below 200 yards on the ground. DAN DEVINE (1975-80) Rushing Average Per Season: 215.9 yards per game Only once did this regime finish with less than 200 yards rushing — and that was Devine's worst season, 7-4 in 1979 (184.1). The 1977 national title winners had the second-highest output under Devine at 231.9 yards per game, not including 243 in the 38- 10 win over No. 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl in which Joe Montana had to pass for only 111 yards. The highest was 244.9 in his last season when the Irish were matched against No. 1 Georgia in the Sugar Bowl. GERRY FAUST (1981-85) Rushing Average Per Season: 180.8 yards per game During this 30-26-1 run, the only time the Irish finished above 200 was the one time they did win a bowl game, 238.8 yards in 1983. Even with workhorse and then all-time leading rusher Allen Pinkett in the backfield, the Irish averaged a pedestrian 146.9 yards rushing per game during a 7-5 season in 1984 and a relatively modest 164.4 with the 5-6 finish in 1985. LOU HOLTZ (1986-96) Rushing Average Per Season: 251.6 yards per game This 11-year term mirrored Parseghi- an's. Just like with Parseghian, the only year the Irish didn't average more than 200 rushing yards under Holtz was his debut campaign (189.4). The 287.7 average by his 12-1 unit in 1989 has been the most since the school-record 350.2 by the 1973 national champs. This year's crew could be the first to eclipse 300 since then. BOB DAVIE (1997-2001) Rushing Average Per Season: 194.2 yards per game Davie did pride his teams on being physical, and his best seasons were the only two in which the Irish finished with more than 200 rushing yards: 212.5 in 1998 when Notre Dame began 9-1 before quarterback Jarious Jackson was injured, and 213.5 during the 9-2 BCS season in 2000, prior to the 41-9 bowl debacle versus Oregon State. TY WILLINGHAM (2002-04) Rushing Average Per Season: 146.3 yards per game This became a genesis of Notre Dame becoming more of a finesse operation despite the presence of top backs such as Julius Jones, Ryan Grant and Darius Walker. Willingham was ousted after the third season. CHARLIE WEIS (2005-09) Rushing Average Per Season: 117.2 yards per game With premier passers such as Brady Quinn (2005-06) and Jimmy Clausen (2007-09), Weis had his best season on the ground in his first campaign with a 147.1 figure while posting a 9-3 record. For the only time in its history, Notre Dame finished in the Associ- ated Press top 10 (No. 9) while aver- aging less than 190 rushing yards. It was in this decade under Willingham and Weis that Notre Dame became la- beled as more "finesse" than physical. BRIAN KELLY (2010-16) Rushing Average Per Season: 162.4 yards per game His best two marks occurred dur- ing his best two regular seasons, in- cluding 202.4 during the 12-0 regular season in 2012 before a 32-yard per- formance in the BCS National Cham- pionship Game dropped it to 189.4. The other year in which Kelly won at least 10 games (2015) saw the Irish output at 207.6. This year's 317.9 average is nearly double Kelly's aggregate through his first seven seasons. It takes a total team effort — offense, defense, special teams, coaching — to thrive, but it's also not a coincidence that when the running game flour- ishes at Notre Dame, chances are the team collectively will as well. ✦ Vagas Ferguson was part of Notre Dame's strong running attacks from 1964-80, and he finished with a school-record 1,437 yards in 1979. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME MEDIA RELATIONS Call 877-630-8768 to advertise in Blue & Gold Illustrated! Want a prayer published? Call 800-421-7751 M A R K E T P L A C E MEMORABILIA MEMORABILIA Vintage Notre Dame Memorabilia Augie's Locker Room ND Stadium Items, Jerseys, Helmets, Autographs and One of a Kind Rockne Items. COME INTO THE STORE TO SEE OUR RARE NOTRE DAME HELMET DISPLAY, 1900 - PRESENT!! Voted Best Notre Dame Collectables in the Country! 1811 South Bend Ave. South Bend , I n 46637 574-277-NDND (6363) www.augieslockerroom.com FACEBOOK.COM/AUGIESLOCKERROOM NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL GAMES on VHS or DVD for sale, from 1928 to present. Contact Peter Rahas at 7700 Golden Filly St., Las Vegas, NV 89131 or call 1-702-395-2974