Air Force Game Note Highlights

What you should know about going into this Saturdays game at Air Force from Notre Dame’s Game Notes.  We sift through them so you don’t have to.

Notre Dame holds a 23-6 series lead against Air Force, including a 12-2 record against Air Force in Falcon Stadium.  Their last meeting in 2011 Notre Dame routed Air Force, 59-33.

Freshman DL Isaac Roshell has an older brother Matt that's a sophomore OL for Air Force. Both attended Eagles Landing Christian Academy in McDonough, Ga.

Notable head to head match ups.

Notre Dame Fighting Irish

Air Force Falcons

National Rank 12th, Sacks Allowed	vs.	Sacks, National Rank 117th
National Rank 85th, Sacks	vs.	Sacks Allowed, National Rank 7th
National Rank 43rd, Red-Zone Defense	vs.	Red-Zone Offense , National Rank 6th

 

A VICTORY OVER AIR FORCE...

Improves Notre Dame's all-time record to 24-6 (.800) against the Air Force

Improves Notre Dame's all-time record to 135-26-5 (.828) against Service Academies.

Improves Notre Dame's all-time record to 29-6 (.829) against Mountain West Conference opponents.

HOW DO THEY STACK UP?

Average weight of the offensive and defensive lines:

Notre Dame OL 311.4 lbs. vs. Air Force DL 256.7 lbs.  54.7lb average difference Advantage Irish

Notre Dame DL 317.0 lbs. vs. Air Force OL 261.0 lbs.  56lb average difference Advantage Irish

Average height of the receivers and the secondaries:

Notre Dame WR/TE 6'0 3/4" vs. Air Force DB 5'11".  1 3/4” average difference Advantage Irish

Notre Dame DB 5'11 3/8" vs. Air Force WR 6'0".  5/8” average difference Advantage Falcons

ON THIS DATE

Notre Dame has played 14 previous games in its history on Oct. 26. The Irish are 12-2 (.857) all-time on this date.

Irish Milestones Within Reach

Carlo Calabrese Tackles 194 6 tackles to reach 200 for his career

TJ Jones TD Receptions 15 1 TD receptions to move into 8th all-time in school history

Stephon Tuitt Sacks 19.0 0.5 sacks to move into tie for 5th all-time

Prince Shembo Sacks 17.0 1.0 sacks to move into tie for 8th all-time

NOTRE DAME IN OCTOBER

Notre Dame is 382-92-8 (.801) all-time during the month of October.

The Irish are 147-43-4 (.768) in October games away from Notre Dame Stadium.

Notre Dame has won 11 of its last 13 games away from Notre Dame Stadium in the month of October.

Notable “The Last Time” against Air Force

Had four rush TDs: vs. Air Force, 2011 (4)

Had four or more passing TDs: vs. Air Force, 2011 (4)

Returned a blocked FG for a TD: at Air Force, 2006 (Terrail Lambert, 76 yards)

One player accounted for four or more touchdowns: Tommy Rees vs. Air Force, 2010 (4 passing)

An opposing team had 300-399 yards against the Irish: Air Force, 2011 (363)

Had 80 or more plays: Air Force, 2011 (88)

Had 30 or more first downs:  Air Force, 2011 (32)

Follower Question

Talking Irish Follower John M. sent us a question and we did the best to answer.

Question that came into Talking Irish from follower John: what will the Notre Dame team do to prepare for the Colorado Springs altitude @ the upcoming USAFA game?

Response from talking Irish: At this point in the season the Irish should be in about as good of shape (as far as conditioning) as they are going to get.  I think the coaching staff may make so e adjustments in the game plane to address any altitude issues such as rotating in and out a lot of personal on both sides of the ball.  Thanks for the question.

The Defense is Back

USC may to have appeared to beat the Irish offensively all night at least statistically.

	USC	ND
First Downs (Rush/Pass)	18 (7/10)	17 (6/9)
Yards per rush	4.2	3.2
Passing yards	201	166
Total Offensive Yards	330	295
Yards per gain	5.1	4.5
Possession Time	31:18	28:42

 

USC players came out of South Bend with some respectable if not impressive individual numbers.  Running back Silas Redd had 112 yards, averaging 5.9 yards a carry along with a touchdown.  Receivers Agholor and Rogers each had six catches with 89 and 60 yards respectively.  Nelson Agholor also had four punt returns for 100 yards (average of 25 yards per return) with a long of 48.

With all those numbers and performances it was the Irish defense looking like the defensive squad from 2012 that won the game for Notre Dame.  Six players had tackles for a loss for the Irish; Calabrese, Tuitt, Jackson, Smith, Day and Nix.  Notre Dame’s defense also had an interception (Farley) and two sacks (Tuitt).  The defense also threw in five quarterback hurries and four pass breakups.

 
 
 
 
After Tommy Rees went down with a neck injury and the Notre Dame Offense stalling out the Irish defense held the line playing the bend don’t break defense we loved last season not allowing a score in the second half.  USC had eight offensive series in the second half; four finished with three and outs, one with an interception, a missed field goal and two on downs.

Appropriately Stephon Tuitt was awarded the game ball for his seven tackles (4 solo/3 assisted), two tackles for a loss (16 yards), one pass breakup, two sacks and two quarterback hurries.

Here comes USC

This year’s rivalry match up may not be the clash of titans we normally expect from these two storied programs but is should be a good game between two 4-2 squads looking to continue to right their ships for the second half of their seasons.  Both are coming off a good rest with Notre Dame having a bye week and the Trojans playing last Thursday.  Both team are coming off wins; the Irish a 37-34 victory over Arizona State and USC over Arizona 38-31.  The Irish have not beaten the Trojans in South Bend since 2001 that was also the last time Notre Dame has beaten USC on back to back years.  If that does not feel like a long time ago Bob Davie was our head coach.

With head coach Lane Kiffen being let go after the loss to Arizona State, right after he was literally asked to get off the bus after the game and fired, Ed Orgeron has been moved into the interim head coach position.  His claim to fame so far out of the Southern California media as head coach is that he is providing ice cream and cookies to the payers making football more fun…seriously.  Ask Coach Boone from Remember The Titans if football is fun.  If the Irish faithful think that Notre Dame has been inconsistent USC fans would say their team has been more sporadic and confusing.  Even before the season started Kiffen waited until the last moment to name a starting quarterback picking Cody Kessler over Max Wittek who stepped in to play the Irish at the end of the season last year when Matt Barkley went down. 

The Trojans scoring offense looks like an EKG machine.  Here is how USC has scored through six games this season 30 v 7 ^ 35 v 17 ^ 41 v 38 (average of 28 points a game).  Kessler has been a good passer throwing for 1129 yards, 8 touchdowns on 81 completions (60.4 completion percentage) with 4 interceptions.  His number one target Marquis Lee who is arguably the nation best wide receiver was out last week with a knee injury but is planning on being back for this weekend.  Former Irish recruiting target sophomore Nelson Agholor has contributed as well in the passing averaging 19.6 yards a catch along with 6’5” 250lb Xavier Grimble at tight end.  The Trojans overall passing game averages 207.7 yards a game ranking 87^th nationally.  The USC rushing game has been led by Sophomore Tre Madden who has 611 yards on 115 carries (5.3 yards per rush) with 3 touchdowns.  Madden also has 13 catches for 198 yards and 4 scores.  Madden has been supported by freshman Justin Davis who has chipped in with 51 carries for 349 yards (6.8 yards per carry) and 6 touchdowns. Former Penn State senior running back Silas Redd was supposed to be the workhorse for the Trojan rushing attack but a knee injury forced him to miss the first five games before playing last week where he racked up 82 yards on 19 carries.  The USC rushing game balances the offense pretty evenly averaging 200.3 yards per game good for 39^th nationally.  Combine that with the passing game the Trojans throw out 408 yards of offense a game.

Defensively USC looked very strong in its first four games giving up and average of just over ten points a game.  However the past two weeks have seen a big slide giving up a total of 72 points (36 point average) in a win and a loss.  More than half of the 2,042 yards given up by USC through six games this year came in the last two games.  Against Arizona and Arizona State Trojan defense gave up 1,120 yards alone.  The USC pass defense has been very suspect in the past two games giving 351 yards in the air to Arizona State and 363 yards passing against Arizona along with touchdowns 7 via the pass in those two match ups.  To their credit the Trojan secondary does have seven interceptions on the season.

Halftime Review

At 4-2 just outside the top 25 rankings receiving votes with two loses in the first half of the season has been disappointing but still holds promise.  It could be worse but of course it should have been better.  Opening with a 28-6 win over Temple 2013 at least started with a victory but the Irish did not look like the team from last year.  The next four games showed Notre Dame being outplayed and our classed by Michigan and Oklahoma and basically doing what they needed to do to get by Purdue and Michigan State.  The Irish may have begun to hit their stride and turn the corner with its victory over Arizona State heading into the bye week and the second half of the season.

What we’ve learned; The Irish are out rushing their opponents (total yards 818 – 734, 4.3 – 3-8 yards per carry).  The defensive secondary is a weakness, giving up a total of 1513 total passing yards, over 252 yards per game, and 13 touchdowns through the air.  The punt return game has improved (there was no way it could have gotten worse) to 10.1 yards per return.  Backs are holding onto the ball as they only have one fumble on the year.  Mental mistakes are hurting the team with 41 for a total of 346 yards (57.7 a game).

Things that are still in question; is Tommy Rees (51.7 completion percentage averaging 249 yards a game, 13 touchdowns with 6 interceptions) be the quarterback to lead the Irish to a BCS Bowl?  Is the defense coming back to be a dominate force (10 sacks, 5 interceptions, 7 forced fumbles)?  Who is/will be number one at running back (Atkinson 56 carries – 345 yards, McDaniel 63 carries – 380 yards, Carlisle 38 carries – 184 yards and Folston 11 carries – 70 yards)?

First Half Awards

Team MVP – Kyle Brindza.  He could have made a few more field goals but he has hit some big ones.  Brindza has also been solid on kickoffs with 20 touchbacks on 34 kickoffs.  All while averaging  41.5 yards per punt.  Overall is has been the most constant and reliable on a team that has not.

Offense MVP – T.J. Jones.  Jones has become the go to guy for both Tommy Rees and Brian Kelly this season on the offensive side of the ball.  Solid route running and sure hands have gotten him 481 yards on 33 receptions (14.6 yards per catch) and 4 touchdowns.  (Honorable Mention - DaVaris Daniels)

Defense MVP – Louis Nix.  Nix may not be leading the team in tackles, sacks or fumble recovers but he is drawing double and triple team blocks and eating up space on every play opening up opportunities for others on the defense.   (Honorable Mention – Carlo Calabrese)

Rookie MVP – Jaylon Smith (Honorable Mention – Tarean Folston and Corey Robinson)

Biggest Surprise – Punt returns.  10.1 yards per return 2013 vs. 2.19 yards per return in 2012.

Biggest Disappointment – Defense.  Based on points scored should be enough said.

Slump busting in the Big D

 

The win over Arizona State was the best and most balanced game Notre Dame has played this season.  ASU iss a talented team as well as a ranked team that the Irish should feel proud about beating.  The Irish needed to get out of a funk, and that process has started in Dallas against Arizona State.

No, the defense did not return to the greatness of 2012, but it was as close as we have seen this year, having held the Sun Devils to 65 yards rushing.  The pass rush was back, resulting in six sacks on mobile quarterback Taylor Kelly.  At the end of the day, the defense was good enough to win on Saturday night.  Stephon Tuitt may be getting over the hump with his closing attack.  Prince Shembo showed how good he can be putting his hand on the ground coming off the edge.  Jaylon Smith did a great job and much needed one on containment.  The defensive backs are still getting beat on man to man.

The win, however, did come at a price with season ending injuries to redshirt junior inside linebacker Jarrett Grace and senior wide receiver Dan Smith, which will end up being a career ending injury as he will be out of eligibility.  Grace’s loss can be covered by Dan Fox as well as backups Kendall Moore, Joe Schmidt and even freshman Michael Deeb. 

The offensive line played well and it was nice to see Steve Elmer rotate in with Christian Lombard at right guard and not only play well but hold his own against 310 lb. ASU defensive tackle Will Sutton.  Hard-nosed running back Cam McDaniel gelled well with the line to grind out tough yards in his home state on Saturday.  This line showed it can get the job done not allowing a single sack against the Sun Devil defense, allowing Rees to be successful including tossing junior tight end Ben Koyack his first career touchdown.  However, the mistakes by center Nick Martin need to be fixed immediately if not sooner.

Take away Kyle Brindza’s first field goal attempt that looked like he was kicking it with his opposite foot, and the Irish special teams actually looked special.  Brindza redeemed himself by hitting a career long field goal, and the Irish had a punt that was downed at the one yard line late in the contest.  The Irish even had a non-terrible return game.

 

Overall, this was a solid showing for the Irish with great effort and contributions from veterans likeT.J. Jones, Dan Fox and Bennett Jackson, as well as newer on field supporters such as Ben Koyack and Romeo Okwara.

By the numbers ASU

We have two weeks with a bye coming up before USC to breakdown this matchup.  Let’s take a quick look at the game from the stats line.

37-34; the score are the only numbers that really count at the end of the day.

3.9; average yards per rush for the Irish, good enough this week but needs to get better.

2.6; Yards per carry ASU’s rushing game was held to (they had been averaging 4).  Improving defense.

9; Penalties giving up 64 yards.  Unforced errors on mental mistakes.

4; Punts (out of 5) placed inside the 20 yard line for the Irish.

7; Touchbacks (out of 8) on kick offs for Kyle Brindza.  That is exactly what he needs to do.

4 of 15; Third down conversions for the Irish offense, The Irish need to improve this number and be able to extend drives.

4 for 13; 30.8% third down completion rate for ASU who had entered the game with a 43% conversion rate.  This is how the Notre Defense must stop opposition momentum.

4-4; Scoring on Red Zone chances, 2 touchdowns and 2 field goals.  It could have been better but it could have been worse.

3-3; Scoring in the Red Zone by the Irish defense, one touchdown and 2 field goals,  It’s usually a good night when  your opponents score more field goals than touchdowns.

6; Sacks for 45 yards.  That’s the defense we remember.

0; Sacks given up by the Notre Dame offensive line.

3; different Irish receivers who caught touchdowns (Jones, Niklas, & Koyack).

53; Yards for Bindza’s career long field goal (3-4 on the night).  We know he had the leg.

2; Leg fractures (D. Smith and J. Grace). Long term losses.

2; Interceptions (Farley and Fox).  These are huge momentum swingers.

9; Tackles for true freshman Jaylon Smith.  He is improving every week.

3/3; Three tackles for a loss and three sacks for Prince Shembo.  He could be totally unstoppable.

13; Points from the leg of Kyle Brindza (9 via field goals and 4 via PAT’s).  He may end up as team MVP.

47; Career touchdown pass thrown by Rees.  He will still probably will not be remembered as an all-time ND great at quarterback.

33; Consecutive games that T.J. Jones has had at least one reception.

82; Career best in yards for Cam McDaniel.

18; Career high carries in a game for George Atkinson III.