Did Notre Dame’s running game take ‘a big step’? Kyren Williams thinks so
Kyren Williams was finally able to do some talking. And he made sure to gesture to a good chunk of the 65,632 on hand at Lane Stadium that they shouldn’t join him in his jawing.
The Notre Dame junior running back found himself in a maroon-painted end zone with a football in his hands not once, but twice during the Fighting Irish’s 32-29 victory over the Hokies. He raised his index finger to his face mask to signal the universal “quiet down” symbol to onlooking Virginia Tech fans.
Not once, but twice.
“I like to talk,” Williams said. “That’s what gets me going. Whenever I’m in that locked in zone, I know my boys are feeling that. They’re vibing off that.”
Williams’ touchdowns gave Notre Dame a lead on both occasions. The first, an eight-yard score through the air from true freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner, put the Irish ahead 14-10 with 32 seconds left in the first half. The second, a 10-yard rush only Williams and a select few other backs in the country would have scored on, gave the Irish a 21-16 advantage in the third quarter.
“I told Buchner pre-snap, ‘Give me that ball,’” Williams said of his tantalizing, tackle-breaking touchdown carry.
“That was beast mode for him,” head coach Brian Kelly added. “He had an edge about him today.”
Williams’ touchdowns both came in critical junctures in a game ultimately decided by a field goal, but the momentum of the scores could last long beyond the blue and gold’s trip to Blacksburg. Williams is arguably the best skill position player on the Notre Dame offense, and the ability to confidently and consistently use him could go a long way in the Irish trying to run a second half of the season schedule that’s, well, entirely runnable.
Notre Dame didn’t have many believing that could be true after a week five loss to Cincinnati. Williams didn’t have many instances when he could assuredly say “give me that ball” either.
The Irish flat out couldn’t run for the vast majority of the first half of the season. But that ground game sprung to life against Virginia Tech with a season-high 180 rushing yards. The Notre Dame offensive line might have finally taken the step forward many have been waiting for since that unit started the season with rough outing after rough outing.
“A big step,” Williams said. “And I feel like we’re taking steps each and every game. That gel that we’ve always been talking about was there. We were popping. We probably averaged five yards per carry.”
Well, it was 4.2 yards per carry, but that’s still a move in the right direction. Notre Dame hadn’t averaged more than 3.5 in any game this season. Williams averaged 4.3 on his own against Virginia Tech, which still wasn’t anywhere close to his 2020 season-long average of 5.3, but this isn’t 2020. That offensive line is gone. Williams has to work with what he has this year, and he did that to the tune of 107 yards from scrimmage — 81 of which came on the ground — and two crowd-silencing touchdowns.
“We found runs that were productive, and we stuck to them,” Williams said. “Shout out to the coaches and the O-linemen for doing what they do best, which is giving us running backs a chance.”
Kelly quipped it was Notre Dame’s “coming out party” in terms of the running game. Gone are the sub-4.0 yards per carry averages, perhaps? He hopes so. Any coach would.
“We want to play more physical, especially on the offensive line. Tonight we did,” Kelly said. “We played more physical. We were better at the point of attack. There was movement and that’s what has to continue to move forward for us with the assortment of guys that we have in the lineup.”
If Notre Dame keeps at it in that way, this season — one very much still on pace for double digits in the win column and a fruitful landing spot in the postseason — will be more than salvageable after all.
But first, Williams is going to lay low himself and save any trash talk for after the bye week. He’s earned the right.
As soon as we get done Thursday, I’m kicking my feet up and I’m done,” he said with a laugh. “I’m chilling until Monday comes, then we’re back at it.”
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