The Tigers also held their Saturday challenger, Georgia Tech, to 7 points. However Clemson needed to put its punter, Will Spiers, in at quarterback to keep their offensive output from growing beyond 73 points.
Schedule, meanwhile, completed 11-of-19 passing for 106 backyards without any TD passes or interceptions. That translates to a 104.8 pass-efficiency score, more than 36 points lower than his season average that had him ranked No. 33 nationally.
Its also the fourth-lowest of his 27 profession starts, behind just last years team cratering at Michigan (69.73 ), the 30-3 College Football playoff loss to Clemson to end the 2018 season (83.65) and his emergency start at North Carolina as a sophomore (92.14) when he actioned in for an injured Wimbush.
Louisvilles several protective looks and pressures Saturday seemed to puzzle Book, which helps describe the Cardinals 4 sacks versus what had actually been rated as the countrys best offending line.
” Im not changing what I said– our O-line is amazing,” Book stated. “I rely on all of them.
” My task is to head out there and at the end of the day, get that W. Weve been able to do that this whole entire year. Tomorrow, when I go and meet with, (offending planner Tommy) Rees, Im going to be difficult on myself.
” I am weekly. Theres never a week where Ive play an ideal video game. Whichs what the quarterback positions about.”
NDs fastest receiver, Braden Lenzy, was restricted with a soft-tissue injury, Kelly said. That left plenty of chances for others, however, to advance.
Skowronek, slowed by a hamstring injury because early in the opening win over Duke on Sept. 12, wound up being NDs many productive receiver with a modest 28 backyards on 2 catches. Junior Kevin Austin Jr. had his first reception because his freshman season, an 18-yarder.
He practically had a second catch late in the very first half, but a 13-yard TD reception was properly reversed by replay. And a fake basket on fourth-and-9 on the taking place play turned up a couple of lawns short, leaving the Irish with a delicate 6-0 halftime lead.
Notre Dames running video game wound up finding its rhythm in the 2nd half and bailed out of the offense. Sophomore Kyren Williams, the countrys seventh-leading rush, topped the 100-yard mark for the third time this season.
His 24-yard run late in the video game gave ND its third third-down conversion of the final clock-killing drive. He completed with 125 yards on 24 carries.
It was clear early in the video game that Notre Dame desired to check out establishing its passing video game to provide it the offensive balance the Irish will need during its tough November stretch– and even next weekend in its first roadway game of the season, at Pitt.
Reserve fired a deep ball to last weeks offending star, Javon McKinley, on the very first play. That incompletion was wiped out by a Louisville offsides infraction. Reserve would try 6 more passes of his 19 overall because drive that ended with a 32-yard Jonathan Doerer basket.
” Were going to be a better football team as we continue to grow and develop,” Kelly said. “Yeah, this team is nowhere near where it can be and where I believe it will be.”
He wont have to wait long to discover out if hes prophetic. Football is a copycat game. And Pitt can paste and cut Louisvilles tactical plan into next weekends matchup– however with much better defensive personnel than the Cardinals have.
The Irish have actually invested a lot in believing Book is much better than his numbers, that the gamers around him will ascend. And that when they do, so will Book.
If Notre Dame truly is a top five team, that will need to be the next story to not just emerge but to become a sustainable truth for the balance of the season.
At the height of the early COVID-19 stay-at-home orders last spring, when hand sanitizer and toilet tissue were basically luxury items, Ben Skowronek in some way found his method out to El Dorado Hills, Calif., to tap the supply of both from Notre Dame quarterback Ian Book and his family.
” I headed out there, I believe, for 2 weeks, probably overstayed my welcome,” Skowronek, a grad transfer wide receiver from Northwestern, stated Saturday night. “We tossed a handful of times and we just hung out. We developed a bond.
” Having a bond with your quarterback is so crucial. Having him have the ability to trust you and vice versa, me trust him. I think its paying off now.”
In big video games? Theres never ever a week where Ive play an ideal game. Schedule fired a deep ball to last weeks offending star, Javon McKinley, on the first play. Football is a copycat game. And Pitt can cut and paste Louisvilles video game strategy into next weekends match– but with much better protective workers than the Cardinals have.
Particularly, on the second-ever reception of the Notre Dame stage of Skowroneks college profession– a 12-yard pickup on a third-and-six pass near midfield– that assisted the fourth-ranked Irish burn the last 7:55 off the clock in an aesthetically confusing 12-7 victory over Louisville.
The socially distanced Notre Dame Stadium crowd of 10,182 enjoyed Notre Dame (4-0, 3-0 ACC) flunk the eye test when it concerned progressing a death game that appeared primed for it on many levels in shakily extending the countrys longest active win streak to 10 video games.
Yet ND paired that with the 12th-best defensive efficiency of the coach Brian Kelly Era (233 overall yards) against a team balancing close to two times that (424.2) and scoring at a 40.3-points-per video game clip entering the game.
The Irish were especially strong at the security position, with Kyle Hamilton making 5 deals with and breaking up a pass, and Shaun Crawford collecting six takes on, a takes on for loss, a pass break up and the game ball.
” The most significant emphasis this week was just keeping it simple and letting our guys line up and play our game,” Irish defensive end Daelin Hayes said, “win our one-on-ones and do what were accustomed to doing.
” Last week (a 42-26 scorefest with Florida State) we didnt actually feel fantastic about what we put on movie. So this week we simply desired to get back to the basics, adhere to our fundamentals and play our type of ball.
” We were confident because. Coach (protective organizer Clark Lea) allowed us to head out and make plays, kept the strategy basic and it was an enjoyable day.”
The tough introspection that Kelly must reconcile, though, is why wasnt it an enjoyable day for the offense too?
He used up the 30 miles per hour wind gusts and the teams reboot last week after the COVID outbreak as context for some underwhelming offensive numbers.
Schedule, in particular, was clutch, both on the very first Irish drive of the second half to provide Notre Dame the lead for good, at 12-7, and the 14-play, 57-yard game of keepaway to help limit Louisville (1-4, 0-4) to just 2 second-half belongings.
His 13-yard scramble on third-and-8, in fact, rounded off NDs only TD drive of the day. It likewise rose Book past Brandon Wimbush into second place on NDs profession rushing list for quarterbacks (1,159) behind only Tony Rice (1,921).
” I get asked the same question each and every week– hes a winner,” Kelly stated in examining Books performance. “He wins football games.
” When the game is on the line, you can count on Ian Book to come up and make big plays for us. Thats an excellent sensation to have.”
The concern that has stalked Book through NDs impressive 35-6 run because Kellys own coaching philosophy reboot is who can the third-year starter eventually end up being? In big games? Like the next one staged in Notre Dame Stadium?
Thatll be Nov. 7, when No. 1 Clemson comes to town, looking to truncate NDs 22-game home winning streak.
