Notebook: Notre Dame recognizes running opportunity in Gator Bowl

FERNANDINA BEACH, Fla. — Notre Dame can make quarterback Tyler Buchner’s return to the starting lineup in Friday’s Gator Bowl a whole lot easier if it can run the football with consistency.

The No. 21 Irish (8-4) struggled to do so in Buchner’s first two starts of the season, which resulted in him leading Notre Dame in carries (24), rushing yards (62) and rushing touchdowns (2) in the losses to Ohio State, 21-10, and Marshall, 26-21.

Buchner’s body didn’t hold up with that workload. The left shoulder injury that required surgery and sidelined him for Notre Dame’s final 10 games of the season was sustained on a designed read option that Buchner kept himself.

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Notre Dame won’t have to rely on Buchner’s legs, or even his arm for that matter, if it can physically dominate up front with its offensive line and a running back committee that rolls three deep with sophomores Logan Diggs and Audric Estimé and junior Chris Tyree.

“Any time you can run the ball, it helps take a little pressure off the quarterback,” offensive coordinator Tommy Rees said Tuesday after Notre Dame’s second practice of the week at Fernandina Beach (Fla.) High. “Obviously, that’s something we’ve leaned on. We have to find ways to carve out a run game against a good defense.”

Good might be too complimentary of a term for No. 19 South Carolina’s defense, especially its run defense. Through Monday’s bowl action, the Gamecocks (8-4) ranked No. 112 in the FBS in run defense for allowing 192.4 yards per game. That same South Carolina team will be without two of its starting defensive linemen: edge Gilber Edmond (transfer portal) and tackle Zacch Pickens (NFL Draft). Edmond led South Carolina with nine tackles for loss in the regular season. Pickens was tied for fifth on the team with 42 tackles.

The cast of characters South Carolina’s defense will still rely on up front includes impressive size — 6-foot-6, 275-pound edge Jordan Burch and 6-3, 313-pound tackle M.J. Webb — and memorable names — tackle Tonka Hemingway (6-3, 295) and edge Hot Rod Fitten (6-2, 250).

South Carolina’s defense allowed more than 200 rushing yards six times this season including three times in the last four games. Tennessee only rushed for 152 yards in a 63-38 loss to South Carolina on Nov. 19, but it still managed 5.4 yards per carry.

At Notre Dame, the Irish had three of their best four rushing performances of the season in the last five games: 246 yards vs. Syracuse, 263 yards vs. Clemson, and 281 yards vs. Boston College. A season-high 287 rushing yards came against North Carolina in September. But amid the late season rushing success, Notre Dame rushed for only 66 yards against Navy and 90 yards against USC.

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The Midshipmen and Trojans used loaded boxes and a lot of movement up front to slow down Notre Dame’s running game. Smart money would bet South Carolina tries something similar. The Irish better have an answer.

“We saw it probably starting with Syracuse the most, BYU a little bit,” Rees said specifically of the slants and twists from defensive linemen. “Schematically, we kind of know what we can go operate against it and what’s going to give us a challenge. However we can put out players in a great position against all that stuff is going to help them.”

Notre Dame entered Tuesday with the No. 41 rushing offense in the FBS for averaging 182.8 yards per game. Though the Irish offense is missing consensus All-America tight end Michael Mayer (preparing for NFL Draft) and 10-game starting quarterback Drew Pyne (transferring to Arizona State), the running game should be the least impacted by those absences.

Notre Dame’s top three running backs — Estimé (142 carries for 825 yards and 11 touchdowns), Diggs (152-732-3) and Tyree (95-423-3) — have combined for 1,980 rushing yards and 17 rushing TDs.

“It’s a big opportunity,” Diggs said. “We sat down, we watched film and we dissected the defense. They’re a really, really good defense, but they give up a lot of yards on the ground. We’re really going to try to dial in on that and present the opportunity to continue to dominate at the line of scrimmage.”

Every review of Buchner’s eventual return to the starting lineup has pointed to him being sharper mentally when running an offense. Rees echoed that Tuesday.

“It helps call (the offense) knowing that if a look maybe alters a little bit, he has the answer,” Rees said. “It allows you to let the quarterback go out and play free, because there’s a lot of trust in what he’s seeing and what he’s doing. It helps him take the field with a ton of confidence. I’m excited for him.”

Diggs knows a bit about returning to the field from a shoulder injury, though his torn labrum in April was different than the shoulder sprain Buchner suffered. For Diggs, the toughest part of the return was getting comfortable holding the football to the side of his affected shoulder. As Diggs regained his strength, he became more comfortable.

Buchner’s shoulder injury was to his left, non-throwing arm.

“He’s going to take some hits, but it’s what we sign up for,” Diggs said. “We sign up to play football. At the end of the day, it’s our job as an offense to protect him and get him to take as least hits as possible.

“Most importantly, just go down. He’s not in the position to take that many hits right now.”

• Freshman wide receiver Tobias Merriweather is expected to play in the Gator Bowl for the first time since the Clemson game. He missed the last three games of the regular season with a concussion.

“It’s been good,” Rees said of Merriweather’s last month. “He’s gotten back into a role. That’s a guy we can count on. Understanding where he needs to be and how to go execute. Obviously, things sputtered there toward the end of the regular season, but Tobias is somebody we have big plans for and we expect to continue to see good things come out.”

Merriweather’s lone reception of the season was a 41-yard touchdown against Stanford on Oct. 15.

• Despite losing Mayer and Pyne, Diggs pointed to the offense’s ability to stick together over the last month as a key to potential improvement through bowl preparation.

“At this crazy time right now — the transfer portal’s crazy and everybody’s having mixed emotions — to be able to stay together and be in this as a team is probably going to be the most (improved),” Diggs said.

• How has first-year Notre Dame running backs coach Deland McCullough helped Diggs the most?

“He’s helped me be more detailed and taken my natural ability and made me a better student of the game,” Diggs said. “My football IQ has improved a lot.”

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