:: Notre Dame Football: Irish Game Day ::
Another Look: Notre Dame Shocks Utah 28-3
Leprechaun Express: Notre Dame Football Intel Update Nov. 19, 2010
:: VIDEO: click here for full-game replay from NBC, Notre Dame vs. Utah
An intense, focused Notre Dame overcame an early 3-0 deficit to blow out then-top-15 Utah 28-3, in front of a raucous home crowd on a rainy, windy Senior Day.
The Irish won with tough, inspired defense and special teams play ... a 2-0 turnover advantage ... an opportunistic and productive offense .. and fewer penalties.
As with Notre Dame's big wins over Pitt and Boston College, the question was not simply how Notre Dame stacked up against the opponent, and how they executed, but how they competed and responded to the unique flow of the game as it unfolded.
Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly praised Notre Dame's mental and physical toughness, beating a strong Utah team in areas where Utah itself stand out. Said Kelly at the post-game press conference:
... today you saw a team and Utah is physically and mentally a tough football team and today we were able to beat them at their game. Physically on the line of scrimmage we were able to run the football in crucial times. We were able to control the line of scrimmage against a team that runs the ball very well, our defensive line in particular played very well against the run. And that's the kind of football that you have to have as a winning program. You have to out physical your opponent and be mentally tougher ...
Notre Dame Big Special Teams Plays
The big plays included a blocked punt returned for a touchdown in the first half, putting Notre Dame up 7-3 after being down 3-0.
And then there was forced fumble on a kickoff deep in Utah territory that set up a quick touchdown to open the second half.
That quick turn of events put Notre Dame up 21-3, after Utah had been looking to close the 14-3 halftime deficit.
Stout Irish Defense
Notre Dame limited Utah to only 2.4 yards per carry on the ground, giving up 71 rushing yards on 29 carries. The Irish also snagged an interception, while not giving up a touchdown.
Heading into their game with Notre Dame, even including their shellacking by national title contender TCU, Utah had averaged 422 yards of offense per game.
The Notre Dame defense limited the Utes to 256 yards of offense.
While Utah and Notre Dame had similar offensive yardage, Utah had 69 plays to Notre Dame's 49.
So the Irish defense was on the field a great deal more, and gave up that 256 yards on 20 more plays than what Notre Dame ran on offense. Utah managed less than 4 yards per play, 3.8 per play.
As in the Pitt game, the Notre Dame Stadium crowd was notably louder than in recent years, with good things happening repeatedly for Notre Dame as the noise level went up.
Also as in the Pitt game, the Notre Dame defense, especially linebacker Manti Te'o, would show their appreciation by gesturing for the fans to keep the noise up, and seemed to respond to the high energy level and solidarity from the fans.
Notre Dame had two sacks.
There was a huge team effort all around on defense.
Linebacker Brian Smith had 10 total tackles, and highlighted at the post-game press conference just how important the win was to the Irish:
First, it was important because it gets us one game win closer to a bowl game. Second, that is a top 15 program in Utah, who has great accolades and is a great football team. We were able to go out there today, let up only 3 points on defense, get the offense going and make plays on special teams. It goes to show for the future that we got some things rolling here.
Safety Harrison Smith had the interception and 7 tackles. The interception was a huge momentum-changed early on, when Utah was driving and it was unclear which way the game which start to tip.
Linebacker Manti Te'o had 9 total tackles, including a sack, and another share in a tackle-for-loss.
Defensive end Kapron Lewis-More had 8 tackles and two quarterback hurries.
Linebacker Prince Shembo had 5 tackles, including one sack, as well as two quarterback hurries.
Nose guard Sean Cwynar, starting since Ian Williams went out with an injury two games earlier, had 6 tackles, including a share in a tackle for loss.
Irish Running Game Surprises
One somewhat unsung hero of the day was the Notre Dame running game.
The Irish ground game showed improvement, despite being without injured starter Armando Allen, and going up against a Utah defense that had been effective against strong running teams like Air Force and TCU and is still top-15 against the run nationally.
In fact, some onlookers were a bit surprised at the start to see Notre Dame come out running against Utah, and then pleasantly surprised to see Notre Dame turn the corner and start driving the ball on the ground.
Notre Dame gained 127 rushing yards on 29 carries, at a solid 4.4 yards per carry. Sophomore Cierre Wood has become the starter in Allen's absence and ran for 71 yards on 19 carries. While only averaging 3.7 yards per carry, Wood was workmanlike and productive on a busy day for the ground game, in the rain, with a rookie starter at quarterback who needed a balanced offense.
Jonas Gray had only 3 carries for 44 yards, at a whopping 14.7 yards per carry. In the second quarter, when the offense was just starting to hit its stride against the tough Utah defense, Gray made the second big momentum-changer of the day.
After Notre Dame was up 7-3 due to a blocked punt returned for a touchdown, with the defense stopping Utah, and the Notre Dame offense having driven to mid-field, Gray ripped off a huge 36-yard run to the Utah 8.
The play set up Notre Dame's first offensive touchdown, a short pass, that in turn put Notre Dame up 14-3 at the half, and established that Notre Dame could drive against Utah and score on offense.
The Notre Dame offensive line, while still having lost previous starting center Dan Wenger earlier in the year, has finally had a chance to settle back into form, after various reshufflings due to other injuries.
The reshuffling actually saw healthy linemen changing positions, such as Zach Martin moving from one tackle position to the other, to get the optimal mix, or remix, of available players on the field. But now, with the exception of the loss of Wenger, everyone seems to be back in place and blocking effectively and hitting hard.
Notre Dame also went with two tight-ends on occasion.
One of the biggest blocks of the day was actually made by wide receiver Michael Floyd. When a Notre Dame ball-carrier, still in the backfield, was running hits guts out trying to improvise to the outside, a fairly huge but fast Utah defender was in furious pursuit, and possibly about to make a stop. Floyd, presumably from a wide-out position, showed up out of nowhere to blind-side, and absolutely clobber, the big defender with a head-on collision block. Floyd's block sprung the ball-carrier outside for a huge gain.
Asked about the block, Floyd turned the attention back to the team effort:
It's great knowing you got the team hyped up and ready to go for the next play. You have a guy in there who usually doesn't spring out big plays; to get them out there is very good.
Notre Dame Offense Timely and Effective
Overall, the Irish offense was opportunistic and productive, paced by 18-year-old rookie starting quarterback Tommy Rees in a rainy affair with swirling winds.
Notre Dame gained 256 yards on only 49 offensive plays, at a healthy 5.2 yards per play.
While Rees had been an energetic passer two weeks earlier against Tulsa, in this game Head Coach Brian Kelly kept the passing game a bit more under wraps, bringing the young signal-caller along carefully and injecting passing into the flow of the game selectively and with an incisive impact on scoring.
On the day, Rees was an efficient 13 of 20 for 129 yards and 3 touchdowns, with no intereceptions. So Notre Dame's scoring was due to a block punt and three Rees passing touchdowns, one set up by a forced fumble on a kick-off.
In addition to his effective passing, Rees appeared to be poised and level-headed, did not do anything to undercut the team, and ran the operation well.
Kelly indicated that he had gone into the game expecting to win if Notre Dame avoided turnovers, and that he game-planned with that focus in mind:
I thought we had a great chance to win the football game if we didn't turn it over on offense. That's why you didn't see us spreading the field as much and relied more on a run game, play action, high percentage throws.
Kelly, who indicates he personally invests a lot of coaching energy with the quarterbacks, praised Rees's growing knowledge of the game, and ability to handle the BK Spread offense:
There is a lot of dialogue between me and Tom and all the quarterbacks, obviously there's got to be a lot of dialogue. Just, Tommy is a young man that really understands the game of football. Whether you're in the spread and five wides or you're running tackle pull or power, which we ran probably more times than I think we've run power here in a long time, he can handle the adjustments that are made. We felt the game plan was such that he could handle what we gave them, so there was a lot of conversation.
Senior wide receiver Duval Kamara had two touchdown catches in his final home game at Notre Dame Stadium
Kamara started strong as a freshman, and then saw his production drop due to injury, and the explosive emergence of Biletnikoff Award winner Golden Tate, Floyd, the best tight end in college football, Kyle Rudolph, and other top receivers.
One hopes that Kamara, with his size, speed, athleticism, good hands, and good technique, gets the opportunity to earn a spot on a professional roster.
Floyd added a third receiving touchdown. After being slowed at mid-season by a hamstring injury, and missing playing time, Floyd is getting in again, and being productive with catches and scoring.
Building and Progressing
Kelly sees the win as part of a progression through what sounds like his concept of a roadmap for development, and that he fully expects progress to go forward:
It's the culmination of what we've been working on since December. You don't just pull these out of a hat. You don't just wake up one day and say oh, let's rise up today. It's the consistency of approach from a day to day basis and how we go to work every day. We're not a finished product by any means, but we're starting to develop the mental and physical toughness the way that you need to go and approach this game on a day to day basis. I think I said it a couple of times in the press conference last week is that we're moving in the right direction. I know 4-5 is how we're evaluated. 5-5 now, and I get that. But what I see inside the walls is a little bit different, and the direction we're moving will continue to make progress.
- Back to the Top -
:: VIDEO: click here for full-game replay from NBC, Notre Dame vs. Utah
:: Rees Rolls, Defense Shuts Down No. 15 Utah in 28-3 Win - UND.com
:: Postgame Quotes - Notre Dame 28 - Utah 3 - UND.com
:: Statistics/Drive Charts - Notre Dame 28 - Utah 3 - UND.com
:: Notre Dame stuns No. 15 Utah 28-3 - Chicago Tribune
:: Irish arrive, hammer Utes - Rivals.com
:: Notre Dame celebrates upset victory over Utah one week before facing Army at Yankee Stadium - New York Daily News
:: Special-teams blunders costly to Utes - Salt Lake Tribune
:: Five things we learned: Notre Dame vs. Utah - NBC Sports blog
:: Is Kelly changing his tune at ND? Pass-happy offense put aside for conservative running game in victory over Utah - Gary Post-Tribune
:: More than 'moment' for Irish vs. Utes - ESPN Chicago
:: Tommy Rees played like some of the Irish greats - Deseret News (Utah)
:: Irish knock off #15 Utah on Senior Day - WNDU
:: Finally, breakthrough win - Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
:: Just When You Thought ... - Blue and Gold Illustrated
:: Notre Dame Thumps No. 15 Utah, 28-3 - NCAAFootball.com
:: Irish football fan has been to every game for 70 years - WNDU
:: Notre Dame football: Irish uprising leaves No. 15 Utes stunned - South Bend Tribune
:: Blocked punt sends Utah in reverse - South Bend Tribune
:: Notre Dame vs. Utah extended game notes [PDF]
:: Notre Dame vs. Utah Game Week - UND.com
:: Notre Dame vs. Utah Game Day - ND.edu
:: Notre Dame 2010 schedule/statistical summary - NCAA database
:: Notre Dame Football official site - UND.com
:: Utah 2010 schedule/statistical summary - NCAA database
:: Utah Football official site
Keywords: Notre Dame Football, Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Notre Dame Offense, Notre Dame Defense, Notre Dame Special Teams, Brian Kelly, University of Notre Dame
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