Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/92992
TAKING A CLOSER LOOK run. Notre Dame has displayed a stout run defense all season, and that didn't change against Boston College. The Irish held the Ea- gles to 53 rushing yards and just 2.3 yards per carry en route to keep- ing them out of the end zone. • Coverage adjust- What Worked • shutting down the ments. The Irish had difficulty dropping into pass coverage at the second level early in the game, with Boston Col- lege effectively incorpo- rating a dink-and-dunk attack over the middle and a pair of effective screen plays. However, Notre Dame tightened up its defense by playing more of a zone look, and senior linebacker Manti Te'o came away with his sixth interception of the season — a school re- cord for linebackers. • Creating an edge. This terminology is typi- cally used with the de- fense, but Notre Dame showed how its offen- sive attack could imple- ment it as well. The tight ends and offensive tack- les worked well together to create lanes for soph- omore quarterback Ev- erett Golson in the zone- read option and the Irish running backs en route to 184 rushing yards. running back had not lost a fumble all sea- son until senior Cierre Wood's crucial play at the goal line against Pitt Nov. 3, but two members of the Irish backfield put the ball on the ground against Boston College. The Eagles played ag- gressively, trying to strip the football away in pile- ups in an effort to find a competitive edge. Rest assured it will be a topic that is re-emphasized What Didn't Work • Ball security. An Irish as the Irish prepare for Wake Forest. • Playing disciplined. The last time Notre Dame played on the road at Oklahoma, it only suf- fered one penalty on a rare offside call against junior nose guard Louis Nix III. However, the Irish took a step back against a weaker oppo- nent in Boston College and were hit with eight yellow flags for a total of 65 yards. • short-yardage threat. Notre Dame managed to convert 11 of 14 third- down tries and scored all three times the offense reached the red zone — an area the program was looking to improve. However, the short-yard- age situations have been tougher to come by re- cently. Golson has be- come the most reliable option, but the draw- back is that he's put at risk of suffering injury. — Jason sapp