Five Telling Stats: Notre Dame Vs. Miami
ONE SACK ALLOWED
Against a solid Miami defense that had 21 sacks through seven games, Notre Dame’s offensive line held up well in pass protection.
The Irish allowed just one sack — junior quarterback DeShone Kizer was sacked on a third-and-four play late in the first half — and the Hurricanes recorded just one quarterback hurry.
For the majority of Notre Dame’s win, Kizer had plenty of time to throw. He finished with 263 yards and two touchdowns.
“Our pass protection I thought was really solid against a really good front,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said Sunday. “That’s a very talented front. Our quarterback had time. I thought we scrambled out one time into a sack where it wasn't on our offensive line. So in terms of pass protection, I was fairly pleased.”
50 PERCENT ON THIRD DOWN
Notre Dame converted on eight of its 16 third down attempts, a major factor in the win over Miami. Six of the conversions came via a Kizer pass, while the other two were a Kizer run and a 41-yard touchdown run by sophomore running back Josh Adams.
The Irish converted their first four attempts and 5 of 7 in the first quarter. They did not convert on a single third down in the second and third quarters, but turned that around in the fourth — converting on three of their last five.
“We spent a lot of time on it and self study,” Kelly said of third downs. “Obviously, we did some things differently today to put ourselves in better positions to manage our third down situation.”
12 RUSHES FOR 44 YARDS ON FIRST DOWN
The offense averaged 3.6 yards per run on first down against Miami.
Sophomore running back Dexter Williams (13 snaps) carried twice for a total of three yards on first down. Adams (37 snaps) carried five times for 19 yards, and senior running back Tarean Folston (17 snaps) carried once for five yards on first down.
THREE PASSES 10-PLUS YARDS DOWNFIELD
According to CFB Film Room, Kizer completed just three passes downfield of 10-plus yards, a very conservative attack against the Hurricanes.
He found success targeting a wide variety of receivers. Senior Torii Hunter Jr. was targeted a team-high nine times and caught five passes. Sophomore Equanimeous St. Brown was targeted eight times and made six catches.
Sophomore wide receiver Kevin Stepherson was looked to six times and made two catches for 78 yards. Folston (four), Williams (two), sophomore slot receiver C.J. Sanders (two), sophomore slot receiver Chris Finke (two) and senior tight end Durham Smythe (two) were also targeted multiple times.
Instead of holding onto the ball, Kizer was able to get rid of it quickly and spread it around.
“They just kind of picked at it, picked apart, picked us apart a little bit, short passes, intermediates, a little bit of a run here, run there, just kind of worked their way down the field,” Miami head coach Mark Richt said. “High execution by them, and we didn’t have any answers early on on defense.”
EIGHT PASSES BROKEN UP
NFL-caliber Miami quarterback Brad Kaaya challenged the Irish down the field, and Notre Dame’s young secondary held its own.
Miami’s longest passing gain was 24 yards, and most of the Hurricanes’ chunk gains through the air were plays in which the receiver ran after the catch. When Notre Dame was challenged deep, freshmen Donte Vaughn (three breakups), Julian Love (one) and senior Cole Luke (one) stepped up.