Led by Kyren Williams, Notre Dame’s run game breaks out in a big way
SOUTH BEND — Kyren Williams strutted up to the podium in the Notre Dame Stadium media room with a football in his arm.
It was one last carry on an evening where the junior running back dazzled 77,000-plus fans and dumbfounded USC’s defense with his latest offering of stiff-arms, jukes and pile-moving. Notre Dame handed him the ball 25 times and asked him to be the lead dog. Williams, always willing to pull the sled, produced 138 yards and two touchdowns in a 31-16 win.
Afterward, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly awarded Williams one of two game balls. This stroll to the interview room won’t count as carry No. 26, but it sure looked as satisfying as any of the others.
“Shoutout offensive line,” Williams said, flashing a smile as he placed the ball on the podium.
This is what it looks like and sounds like to have a forceful rushing attack as part of an offensive identity again.
Notre Dame’s run plays aren’t the exercise in futility they were in September, when many of Williams’ highlights were four-yard gains that should’ve been two-yard losses. Defenders rudely greeted him before the line of scrimmage on more than half his carries. Notre Dame’s blocking woes all but stuffed one of its best players into a closet.
A month of impounded energy is finally loose. In beating USC, Notre Dame outrushed its opponent for the second straight game. The Irish have also cleared 170 rushing yards in consecutive outings. Take out kneel-downs and sacks, and they rushed 38 times for 178 yards.
Williams set season highs in carries and yards. He also caught six passes, which gave him a career-high 31 touches. He was featured even more than normal with No. 2 running back Chris Tyree inactive due to turf toe. Senior C’Bo Flemister and freshman Logan Diggs replaced him and combined for just four carries. No reason to take the ball from a man possessed.
“Kyren Williams ran with an attitude, Kelly said. “You kind of sensed during the week that he was going to put this on his back.”
Just like he did in 2020, when Notre Dame set out to hammer defenses on the ground. That kind of bludgeoning wasn’t realistic this year, but for the Irish’s offense to find some feeling of sustainability, the run game had to at least be a viable option. It could not remain a liability that makes half the playbook useless and turns a potential early-round draft pick into an occasionally impactful player.
Its fingerprints were all over this wire-to-wire disposal of USC. Notre Dame had three drives where it ran double-digit plays, another drive with nine plays and one more with eight. That kind of drive sustaining doesn’t consistently happen without a balanced offense.
“I thought tonight was probably that first step where we felt from the start of the game to the end, the offense began to come together in the manner that we wanted it to,” Kelly said.
There might be no better example than Notre Dame’s final touchdown drive. The Irish got the ball back with 8:51 to play, suddenly in a one-score game after two USC touchdowns. They could bury the Trojans with a long, methodical scoring drive. The thing is, they have rarely concocted those all year. They turned to Williams to try and spark one.
Good things happen when Williams gets carries. Better things happen when he gets space.
Notre Dame provided him both, especially on this late drive. He rumbled nine yards on the first play. After a pass interference call put Notre Dame at USC’s 43-yard line, the Irish leaned all the way in, giving him four straight carries. With the help of a USC unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, Notre Dame had first-and-goal from the 3-yard line as a result. Freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner plunged into the end zone the next play.
All told, it was an eight-play, 75-yard drive with a distinct 2020 feel. To produce even one of those, Notre Dame needed to find something that worked on the offensive line.
An Oct. 9 win over Virginia Tech provided cautious optimism with freshman Joe Alt starting at left tackle, junior Andrew Kristofic grabbing hold of the left guard job and steadier play from sixth-year senior Cain Madden and grad student Josh Lugg on the right side.
Saturday’s victory built on it. Alt held his own, as did Madden and Lugg. Kristofic’s physicality makes senior center Jarrett Patterson better, as a 38-yard Williams run illustrated. Kristofic and Patterson started with a combo block on a defensive tackle. Patterson sensed early on Kristofic could hold it and left to block a linebacker, clearing even more space.
“This was our best performance of five guys playing together on the offensive line,” Kelly said.
Added Williams: “You could really start to see it come along. Guys are making blocks, pushing the line of scrimmage.”
And giving him even more fuel. Asked when he could tell a productive rushing day was brewing, he answered without hesitation.
“From the first run,” Williams said. “Even before the game, I knew what I had to do. I just knew this whole week of practice we’re going to start clicking.”
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