Notre Dame Winning Battle in the Trenches
Entering the 2020 season, Notre Dame had several question marks to answer on the field and through eight games, we have some of those answers.
Jeff Quinn and the Irish run game seemed to be every other topic - and not in a good way. Folks had lost faith in the run game and combined with the unknown of Tommy Rees as an offensive coordinator, it's safe to say Notre Dame fans weren't overly hopeful.
Fast forward to mid-November and Notre Dame boasts one of the top rushing attacks in the country.
Notre Dame is averaging 5.2 yards per carry and 234.0 rushing yards per game. If you polled fans before the season, there wasn't much hope Notre Dame would average more than the 2019 average of 179.0.
Pretty good, right?
Sophomore Kyren Williams has become the star of the show as he's rushed for 777 yards and 10 scores. According to PFF, the St. Louis native has tallied 440 yards after contact.
True freshman Chris Tyree has impressed all year and has 334 rushing yards and two scores. Tyree was known as a speed back when he arrived at Notre Dame, but he's more than proved he can run between the tackles and he's totaled 198 yards after contact.
Junior C'Bo Flemister has fought his way into the rotation and earned the game ball last weekend at Boston College. Flemister has run for 293 yards and five scores.
The incredible piece to Flemister's stat line is his yards after contact. 215 of his yards have come after contact. That's pretty remarkable.
Now, you have to give credit to the offensive line first, but Notre Dame's backs have far exceeded expectations as all three are averaging over five yards a carry and Ian Book has added 364 yards and six touchdowns.
Another interesting piece to the run game is the ability to get first downs.
Rushes First Downs
Williams: 48 on 137 carries
Tyree: 17 on 58 carries
Flemister: 21 on 53 carries
One final note here would be a potential concern moving forward as the Irish will be without center Jarrett Patterson for the remainder of the season.
Notre Dame has rushed for 454 yards on 75 carries off the left end. The second most yardage has come right up the A-gap between Aaron Banks (LG) and Patterson (C) as Notre Dame has gained 264 yards on 41 carries. It will be interesting to see who replaces Patterson and if the Irish can continue to be productive there.
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On the flip side, Notre Dame's rush defense needed to take a step (or two) forward to be on par with the elite programs.
Clark Lea has done just that as the Irish are a top-five rushing defense in 2020 and, quite frankly, a dominating one.
Notre Dame is allowed just 2.8 yards per rush and 85.1 rushing yards per game.
That's making teams one dimensional and exactly what Lea needed to do in year three. Gone are the days of Louisville and New Mexico hanging 250 rushing yards on Notre Dame.
The Irish have entered the phase of holding Clemson to 34 rushing yards on 33 carries, including the ACC's all-time leading rusher to 28 yards on 18 carries. Yes, I didn't think I would be typing that fact entering the year or even game week.
However, it wasn't just Travis Etienne. Javian Hawkins was held to his lowest total of the year as he rushed 15 times for 51 yards against the Irish. For comparison, the week before Notre Dame, Hawkins rushed for 155 yards against Georgia Tech and the week after, he rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns against Florida State.
Remember how Pitt had Notre Dame on upset alert? Notre Dame allowed 44 rushing yards on 20 carries. Sure, Pitt's terrible quarterback play didn't help, but Lea's unit is shutting down the run in 2020.
In a time where college football is about winning in space, Notre Dame is focused on winning in the trenches and it's paid off through eight games.