Irish Insider for Monday, November 15, 2010

IRISH INSIDER

Monday, September 19, 2005

November 2010

observer THE

Senior honors

Michigan State 44 , Notre Dame 41

Notre Dame 28, Utah 3

Seniors earn victory on Senior Day; freshman Tommy Rees throws three touchdowns

By CHRIS MASOUD Sports Writer

Senior receiver Duval Kamara pulled in two touchdown catches. Senior safety Harrison Smith intercepted a first quarter pass. Senior linebacker Brian Smith led the Irish with 10 tackles.

Throughout all of Notre Dame’s 28-3 victory over Utah Saturday, seniors led the way, just as they have for the past 11 months.

“It’s not a moment. It’s the culmination of what we’ve been working on since December,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. “You don’t just pull these out of a hat. You don’t just wake up one day and go, ‘Oh, let’s rise up today.’ It’s the consistency of approach on a day-to-day basis and how we go to work every day.”

Notre Dame’s rout dropped the Utes to No. 23 in the BCS standings and marked the team’s first win over a ranked opponent since a 41-17 victory over No. 19 Penn State in 2006.

“Through the last three weeks, we certainly have had a great deal of adversity that we’ve had to overcome together as a group,” Kelly said. “In those times, to steal a quote from [former Irish] coach [Ara] Parseghian, ‘Adversity elicits traits sometimes that we didn’t think we ever had.’”

One such example of those traits could be in freshman quarterback Tommy Rees, who threw for 129 yards and three touchdowns in his first career start, including two third quarter strikes to Kamara to put the game out of reach.

“[The] seniors have done an unbelievable job all year, whether it be preparing us, keeping us focused — especially in the past two weeks” Rees said. “You know, to send them off with a win is truly special.”

field, Kelly said the game plan focused on getting the game to the fourth quarter with the running attack while putting Rees in situations to succeed.

“It’s not a moment. 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 go, ‘Oh, let’s rise up today.’”

Brian Kelly Irish coach

Notre Dame (5-5) relied on a productive running game to move down the field, as sophomore running back Cierre Wood tallied 71 yards on the ground while junior Jonas Gray averaged 14.7 yards on three carries. Rather than spread the

player of the game

Tommy Rees Irish quarterback

“I wasn’t going to put this game on Tommy Rees. I was going to take shots when we had opportunities because he’s an accurate thrower of the football,” Kelly said. “But it was all going to be predicated on our ability to get this thing into the fourth quarter and have a presence on defense as well.”

The Irish turned in their most complete defensive performance of the season, yielding a field goal on Utah’s first possession of the game and then

Rees may have only thrown for 129 yards, but he completed 65 percent of his passes and three touchdowns.

holding an explosive offense scoreless for more than 50 minutes. Despite coming off a 42-7 rout at the hands of TCU, Utah headed into Saturday’s matchup averaging 41 points per game.

“I don’t think we ever had control of the line of scrimmage,” Utes coach Kyle Whittingham said. “[Notre Dame has] big, physical guys, and they’ve got 245-pound inside linebackers that will come up and smack you. The front does a nice job with their technique and staying square.”

In addition to Brian Smith’s 10 tackles, sophomore linebacker Manti Te’o added nine tackles and one sack as the Irish held the Utes to just 265 yards of total offense.

“It feels great,” Brian Smith said. “I’ve been a part of Senior Days where we lost, and the seniors went out with a look on their faces — it just broke my heart. I’m glad that [this senior class] didn’t go out that way. It was a collective effort from the seniors all the way down to the freshman. It just feels great to

stat of the game

156.8 yards

The Irish defense held the Utah offense 156.8 yards under its yards per game average, as the Utes only gained 265 yards.

get a win.”

Notre Dame struggled on offense to start the game, failing to convert a first down on its first three possessions of the game. With the first quarter winding down and neither team taking control of the tempo, junior cornerback Robert Blanton blocked a Utah punt, scooped up the loose ball and ran it in for a 7-3 lead.

After watching tape, Blanton said that special teams coordinator Mike Elston hoped to take advantage of the small splits on the Utah line with pressure from the outside on punt return.

“I think any time you block a punt in the game, I think we’ve all seen enough games, they generally lead to real good things for you down the road,” Kelly said. “That was a big play for us, but it was a point of emphasis as well.”

The Irish seized the momentum and kept building on it, as Rees and the offense connected for three more scores, including a three-yard pass to junior receiver Michael Floyd to give

play of the game

Robert Blanton’s six-yard blocked punt return for a touchdown

Notre Dame’s first touchdown came on Blanton’s momentum-changer, giving the Irish the lead for good.

the team a 14-3 lead heading into halftime.

The special teams unit made its impact felt again in the second half, as freshman wide receiver Austin Collinsworth forced a fumble on the opening kick that was recovered by the Irish. On the ensuing play, Rees found a wide open Kamara in the corner of the end zone to extend the lead to 21-3.

With two games remaining against Army and USC, the Irish need one more win to become eligible for a bowl game. With a victory over a ranked opponent under their belts, Kelly said that his players are moving in the right direction.

“You play it hard for four quarters,” Kelly said. “You get it to the fourth quarter and you close. My career has been built on closing games out and building the mentality of that football team. That’s what we had to make sure we got done.”

Contact Chris Masoud at cmasoud@nd.edu

quote of the game

“We should give our fans what they want, and show them that we appreciate their support.”

Manti Te’o sophomore linebacker

Areport card

quarterbacks: Tommy Rees did exactly what was asked of him, completing 13 of his 20 passing attempts, and never putting the ball near a Utah defender. Three touchdowns don’t hurt either.

AAAB+AArunning backs: With the exception of a few missed blocks, the running backs didn’t miss a step, even without Armando Allen, averaging more than 5.5 yards per carry.

receivers: Rees connected with six different receivers, even if he only had 13 completions. Michael Floyd and Duval Kamara both gave Rees big windows on all three of their touchdown catches.

offensive line: Utah sacked Rees twice, and made two other tackles in the backfield, but the offensive line did an excellent job of protecting a freshman quarterback and sophomore running back.

defensive line: Ian Williams had been the anchor of the defense all season, but Sean Cwynar and Hafis Williams filled in admirably to fill the void, allowing the rest of the defense to swarm the ball.

linebackers: Utah’s lack of a productive running game Saturday was largely due to the aggressive play of the linebackers, led by Brian Smith and Manti Te’o, combining for 19 tackles.

defensive backs: Utah attempted four fourth down conversions, and on three of those, an Irish defensive back either broke up the pass, or stopped the Utes short of the first down.

special teams: Robert Blanton’s punt block return for a touchdown changed the dynamic of the game, and Ben Turk consistently put the Utes in poor field position.

Acoaching: Lacking his starting quarterback and three starters at the skill positions, Brian Kelly devised a gameplan that worked to perfection. Bob Diaco’s defense performed excellently as well.

3.96

overall: For a team coming off two disappointing losses, and missing numerous players, Notre Dame could not have played a more complete game.

Of the 36 seniors, 21 saw playing time Saturday, including walk-ons Brian Castello, Patrick Coughlin, Dan Franco and Michael Garcia.

45 Notre Dame snapped a 45-game streak in which Utah scored more than three points, a streak stretching back to Sept. 22, 2007.

The Irish defense rushed Utes quarterback Jordan Wynn eight times, a season high. The previous high was five against Western Michigan.

8

25 Michael Floyd’s touchdown reception was his 25th in only 27 career games. He now ranks third on the all-time Irish receiving list.

Notre Dame has received the opening kickoff in all 10 games this season

3

Seniors set tone; others take note

Saturday’s celebration started slowly. Fittingly, the seniors set the tone, and everyone else followed suit.

First, the yellow-coated ushers opened one stairwell for the Class of 2011 to run down to the field.

Then, a junior dressed as a cow leapt out of the stands near the 10-yard line. As he crossed the painted sideline to reach the playing field, an usher and two members of the Indiana State Police tore his costumed head off to prevent him from going further.

If the cow had waited 60 seconds, he could have joined the juniors in the lowest rows of Section 30, who convinced the ushers they were seniors, and took to the field in rowdy, hat-waving fashion.

The rest of the junior class followed without hesitation. Before long, wave after wave of underclassmen found their way to the corner of the end zone.

For the previous three hours, the seniors on the playing field led Notre Dame in its rout over Utah. Apparently, unbeknownst to the rest of the world, these seniors had been leading the Irish for a few weeks now.

10

Senior safety Harrison Smith intercepted Wynn in the first quarter. The pick was Smith’s third of the season, and of his career.

Freshman quarterback Tommy Rees completed 13 passes for 129 yards, yielding an average of 9.9 yards per completion.

9.9

49 Utah ran 69 plays, compared to Notre Dame’s 49, but the Irish averaged 5.2 yards per play, compared to the Utes’ 3.8

“I don’t want to get too philosophical other than to say that our seniors really provided great leadership over the past few weeks, and it was evident even in our bye week,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. “That’s a time where generally at 4-5, seniors check out.”

All season long, the Irish appeared to lack leaders on the field. By naming captains on a game-by-game basis, it can be argued Kelly robbed the team of designated leadership.

But, when a team loses two games it expected to win, someone within the team must step up, designation or no designation. Apparently, these seniors did so. They set the tone.

Then junior cornerback Robert Blanton provided proof that the proper tone can yield results, giving Notre Dame both the lead and the momentum with his blocked punt and subsequent return for a touchdown.

Sophomore running back Cierre Wood started to evade tacklers once he sensed a hint of Utah discouragement.

Freshman quarterback Tommy Rees shook off his initial jitters in his first career start once he had a lead to work with. Each of his three touchdown passes was thrown with precision accuracy, and the Irish, freshman through seniors, were rolling.

“It was a collective effort from the seniors all the way down to the freshman,” said senior linebacker Brian Smith, who led the Irish with 10 tackles to close his career at Notre Dame Stadium. “It just feels great to get a win today.”

The tone set by the seniors resonated most loudly with the freshmen. In addition to Rees’ performance, Bennett Jackson energized the crowd with 53 return yards on only two kickoffs, including a run to the Notre Dame 44yard line to open the game. Austin Collinsworth and Daniel Smith collaborated to force and recover a fumble, respectively, on the opening kickoff of the second half. Even when junior linebacker Darius Fleming left the game with a concussion after only a handful

of plays, freshman Prince Shembo filled in with five tackles, two quarterback hurries and one sack.

“[Getting the seniors a win] was our number one goal,” Rees said. “The seniors have done an unbelievable job all year. Whether it be preparing us, keeping us focused, especially in the last two weeks. To send them off with a win is truly special.”

There it is again — the seniors set the tone for the rest of the Irish, same as the Class of 2011 as a whole, breaking past the ushers first, only to wait for the rest of the student body to join them.

In reality, the past four years have included more disappointment than satisfaction for this team’s 36 seniors. Yet, by leading the way to Notre Dame’s biggest win since a victory over No. 3 Michigan in 2005, they set the stage for the coming years. Last week, senior receiver Duval Kamara — two touchdown receptions Saturday — said the strife of the past will be worthwhile, once Notre Dame reaches a national championship, and he can say he “was part of building that.”

Notre Dame took a big step toward that lofty goal Saturday. The seniors, the same ones who have suffered through a career 20-26 regular season record, provided the beginning push which led to that big step.

As senior safety Harrison Smith said after recording his third career interception: “Leaving [Notre Dame Stadium] with a win is like turning the page.”

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer. Contact Douglas Farmer at dfarmer1@nd.edu

Rees’ efficiency carries Irish in win

Irish freshman quarterback Tommy Rees turns to hand the ball off to

start, Rees completed 13-of-20 passes for 129 yards and three touchdowns.

By CHRIS ALLEN Sports Writer

In his 11 months on campus, Irish freshman quarterback Tommy Rees has undoubtedly heard all the names of Notre Dame’s quarterbacking legends — Bertelli, Lujack, Theismann, Montana and Quinn.

Of all those names, and the many others, none accomplished Rees’ feat of throwing three touchdown passes in his first career start Saturday.

“You know, in the beginning running out there you get [butterflies], but all positive butterflies,” Rees said. “You’re anxious to play, and once the first series comes, they’re all gone.”

Rees turned in an efficient performance in his starting debut, throwing for 129 yards on 13-of-20 passing. Though the statistics did not compare with Rees’ 400-yard plus performance in relief of injured starter Dayne Crist during Notre Dame’s 28-27 loss to Tulsa on Oct. 30, Irish coach Brian Kelly said Rees did a good job within the designed game plan in beating No. 14 Utah 28-3.

“Tommy is a young man that really understands the game of football,” Kelly said. “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.”

Rees and the rest of the Notre Dame offense got off to a slow start, as an early stop on fourth down and a batted-down pass highlighted a first quarter in which Notre Dame struggled to move the ball. Rees said he needed some time to get acclimated to the game.

“Obviously the first couple of drives weren’t that great for us offensively, so it kind of just happened that way,” Rees said. “Just going with the pace of the game, and things started clicking there. That blocked punt for a touchdown really helped the offense out because we were struggling, and jumpstarted the whole sideline and the team. From that point on we started rolling.”

Notre Dame’s — and subsequently Rees’ — success offensively was built around a consistent running game and a passing game that gave Rees a number of high percentage throws in order to minimize turnovers. Utah coach

Kyle Whittingham said Notre Dame’s game plan put Rees in position to succeed.

“I think they did a nice job with the

freshman quarterback … Gave him not too much on his plate. Enough to move the football and get the points they needed to win the football game,” Whittingham said. “They did a great job of putting him in situations to succeed. They didn’t ask a bunch of throws of him down the field. When they did, they did a nice job.”

Rees’ rare forays into the vertical passing game resulted in two touchdowns to senior wide receiver Duval Kamara, as the senior caught Rees’ second and third touchdowns of the day.

Rees said he has built a rapport with Kamara in practice all season.

“Throughout the bulk of the season I’ve been working with Duval,” Rees said. “So we have a good chemistry and connection, and he’s worked extremely hard to put himself in this position.”

After his stellar debut, the freshman will move forward in the starting quarterback role and prepare for his second start. But he will not soon forget his debut.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Rees said. “Getting the win is the most important thing. To send the seniors off I’m ecstatic.”

By CHRIS ALLEN Sports Writer

Saturday’s 28-3 victory over Utah represented the first Notre Dame win on Senior Day since 2007, when Notre Dame beat Duke 28-7. With the win, the Irish improve to 92-24-4 all time in Senior Day games.

“The team needed [a win] badly,” senior cornerback Gary Gray said. “But mostly for the seniors because it is our last chance playing in [Notre Dame Stadium]. Since I’ve been here we haven’t beaten a ranked team. Just for the seniors to go out with a win is great.”

The Utes — who came into the game ranked No. 14 — represented the highestranked opponent the Irish

have beaten in a Senior Day game since the 1987 season, when they disposed of No. 10 Alabama. The win also moved the all-time mark for Notre Dame in Senior Day games against ranked opponents to 16-11.

Blanton’s big play

Junior cornerback Robert Blanton’s blocked punt and subsequent touchdown in the first quarter was the first blocked punt for Notre Dame since the Hawaii Bowl in 2008. The last Irish player to return a blocked punt for a touchdown was Toryan Smith, who did so in a Nov. 15, 2008 game against Navy.

“We worked really hard this week on getting a punt,” Irish coach Brian Kelly said. “That was something we talked about, let’s get one.”

The touchdown was not the first of Blanton’s career, however, as he returned an interception to the end zone in a 2008 game against Purdue.

Duval finds the end zone

Senior wide receiver Duval Kamara, who set Notre Dame freshman records for catches and touchdown catches in 2007 but has struggled to find consistent production since, recorded two touchdowns in his final game at Notre Dame Stadium. Kamara’s 26-yard reception in the early moments of the second half was his first touchdown since 2009 against Washington State. When he grabbed a 12-yard pass minutes later, he completed a multiple-touchdown effort for the second time in his

career. Kamara had previously hauled in two touchdowns against Navy in 2007.

“It felt amazing [to catch two TD passes],” Kamara said. “I haven’t been in the end zone in a while in this stadium.”

Kamara’s heavy playing time was partly the result of an injury to freshman wide receiver TJ Jones, who had been playing ahead of Kamara for a majority of the season.

“[Jones] got injured during the week. It was pretty physical the last ten days of practice,” Kelly said. “He’s a tough kid, but he got banged up a little bit. We just didn’t think he could go. We wanted to make sure that he’s healthy moving forward.”

Senior Day upset

Facing a top-20 opponent for the second time this season, the Irish performed much better against No. 14 Utah than they did earlier in the season against Stanford.

Seniors led the way for Notre Dame during its 28-3 victory Saturday. Senior linebacker Brian Smith led the team with 10 tackles while senior receiver Duval Kamara pulled in his first two touchdowns in more than a year. Senior running back Robert Hughes also added in 28 total yards.

Freshman quarterback Tommy Rees also connected with junior receiver Michael Floyd for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Junior cornerback Robert Blanton started the Irish scoring with a blocked punt return for a touchdown in the first quarter.