Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/973680
26 MAY 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED BY LOU SOMOGYI F or head coach Brian Kelly and his staff, the Blue-Gold Game April 21 in Notre Dame Sta- dium (31,729 attendance) truly was not about whether you won or lost, but to compete evenly. That's because it wasn't a conven- tional football game between two dif- ferent teams, but the offense (Blue) versus defense (Gold). The defense was awarded points as follow: Turnover forced: 3 points Three-and-out: 3 points Stop of a series: 2 points Sack/Tackle for loss: 1 point The defense took early control be- fore the offense ended up with the 47-44 "victory." In all, 123 plays were run — 84 in the first half. The second half had a non-stop clock with 12-minute quar- ters, and most of the starters saw less action to fulfill a second objective — good health. Other than a minor "stinger" in- curred by junior drop end Daelin Hayes, the Fighting Irish came out clean in regards to injuries. Senior quarterback Brandon Wim- bush took all the reps with the No. 1 unit and completed 19 of 33 passes for 341 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, while junior Ian Book (17-of-30 passing for 292 yards with one touchdown and no intercep- tions) worked with the No. 2 unit. It's clear Wimbush will enter Au- gust camp as the starter despite get- ting benched in the Citrus Bowl vic- tory in which Book rallied the Irish to victory with two fourth-quarter touchdown passes. COMPETITIVE BALANCE The offense outscored the defense 47-44 in a tightly contested Blue-Gold Game Junior wide receiver Chase Claypool led all pass catchers with six receptions, 151 receiving yards and two touchdown grabs to help the offense rally past the defense. PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA BLUE 47, GOLD 44 April 21, 2018 ✦ Attendance: 31,729 Notre Dame Stadium ✦ Notre Dame, Ind. 1st 2nd 3rd 4th Total Gold 16 12 7 9 44 Blue 13 24 7 3 47