Blue and Gold Illustrated

Nov. 20, 2017

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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24 NOV. 20, 2017 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED TURNING POINT Notre Dame's first semblance of potentially gaining some momen- tum occurred in the final two min- utes of the first half. With the Irish trailing 20-0, sophomore reserve quarterback Ian Book marched the offense from its 8-yard line to the Miami 38, and getting on the board could have provided an energy boost in the halftime locker room. Instead, on second-and-six at the Hurricane 38, a pass across the field by Book was diagnosed quickly and jumped on by freshman cornerback Trajan Bandy, who had clear sail- ing into the end zone for a 65-yard touchdown with only 22 seconds remaining. Notre Dame not scoring was de- moralizing enough, but the pick-six to make it 27-0 at the intermission was the coup de grace and put it into way too deep a hole. STATS OF THE GAME Limiting an Irish team that had been averaging 324.8 rushing yards per game to 109 is a telltale sign of controlling the line of scrimmage. Maybe more startling is Notre Dame entered the game with a 108-10 scoring advantage off turn- overs — but was outscored 24-0 by the Hurricanes, who forced the Irish into four turnovers while nearly generating two other interceptions that were dropped. With junior Brandon Wimbush at quarterback, Notre Dame had gone five consecu- tive contests without a turnover. The Irish had been tied for No. 5 nationally in fewest turnovers (seven) and tied at No. 5 in turn- over margin per game (plus-1.33). Miami trumped that easily with its No. 4 rating in turnover margin at plus-1.38, and this performance put it atop Power Five teams. HOW DOES NOTRE DAME RESPOND? In 2002, Notre Dame ascended to No. 4 in the national rankings with an 8-0 start (after a losing season the prior year). In game eight, it led at Florida State 34-10 before giving up some late scores in the 34-24 win. After that, the team was never quite the same and sputtered to a 2-3 finish. We bring this up because after the 41-16 lead against Wake Forest while improving to 8-1 and No. 3 in the country, the Irish likewise gave up several cheap touchdowns in the 48-37 win — and then collapsed at Miami. For this season to truly be differ- ent from previous "bounce-back" campaigns, Notre Dame needs to close 11-2, while most notably notching its first major bowl win (Big Six) in 24 years. THREE OBSERVATIONS BY LOU SOMOGYI OFFENSE: WR EQUANIMEOUS ST. BROWN Notre Dame had been waiting for the junior wide receiver to have a breakout game, and he finally did it against Miami. He led the Irish with four catches for 68 yards, his best performance since hauling in four passes for 80 yards in the season opener against Temple Sept. 2. St. Brown played even better than his numbers. He made an excellent catch in traffic for a 23-yard gain on Notre Dame's lone scoring drive, and he blocked well for much of the night. He put himself in position to make two more big plays, but junior quarterback Brandon Wimbush overthrew him both times. DEFENSE: LB TE'VON CONEY No one on defense performed very well, but the junior linebacker had the most productive night. For the fourth straight game, he led the Irish defense in tackles, making nine stops against the Hurricanes. Coney also led the defense with two tackles behind the line of scrimmage, and his performance raised his team-leading season totals to 83 total stops and 11 tackles for loss. SPECIAL TEAMS: K JONATHAN DOERER For the second straight game, the freshman kickoff specialist was the most impressive member of the Irish special teams. He kicked off only twice, but both were well placed and both allowed the Irish coverage units to make quick stops. Miami was pinned at its own 10-yard line on Do- erer's first kick, which opened the second half, and it only made it to the 22-yard line on his next effort. TOP PLAYERS OF THE GAME BY BRYAN DRISKELL Junior wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown led the Irish with four receptions for 68 yards, and could have had bigger numbers if not for some inaccurate throws. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA

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