Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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referred to as "the money down." During the month of November, Notre Dame has been cashing in. The Irish have picked up a fresh set of downs on 28 of their 47 third downs In just about every locker room across college football, third down is UNDER THE DOME CHARTING THE IRISH (59.6 percent) in their three games leading up to their trip to Los Angeles. Only nine teams in the country have converted more than half of their third- down attempts throughout the season. Notre Dame's season average is 48.4 percent and climbing consistently while rookie quarterback Everett Golson gets more comfortable with the offense. The Irish rank 17th in the country in third-down conversions. Defensively, they rank 33rd in getting off the field on third downs, with opponents con- verting only 35.7 percent of the time. THIRD-DOWN CONVERSIONS 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 0 Navy PU MSU Mich Miami Stan BYU Okla Pitt BC WFU ■ Notre Dame Conversion Rate ■ Opponent Conversion Rate Opponents have successfully run fourth-down plays only five times on 15 attempts this season, which ranks the Irish 11th in the country in that category. Head coach Brian Kelly has gone for it on fourth down only five times Notre Dame has also excelled on fourth downs on both sides of the ball. this season, but converted three of them. Kelly said his resistance toward gambling on fourth down is a calculated decision based on wanting to put his defense in good position. Florida State is the lone Football Bowl Subdivi- sion team that has kept its offense on the field on fourth down less. In 2011, LSU was the only team that tried to convert on fourth downs fewer times than the Irish. Conversions Attempts Conversions Attempts FOURTH DOWN CONVERSIONS NOTRE DAME 3 5 5 OPPONENTS 15