Notre Dame August 20 Scrimmage Series-By-Series Recap
With fall-semester classes set to begin Tuesday at Notre Dame, Sunday (Aug. 20) officially ended the training camp portion that began at Culver Academies on Aug. 1 before moving to Notre Dame a week later.
Monday will be a day off before preparations and game-planning began by head coach Brian Kelly and his staff will begin to be made in earnest for the Sept. 2 opener against Temple.
The scrimmage was a form of a dress rehearsal in front of an audience, similar to the Blue-Gold Game. Kickoffs and punts were not “live action,” and quarterbacks donned red jerseys to indicate they were not to be hit, although they were allowed to run with the ball and get “tagged.”
Four 15-minute quarters with a non-stop clock were played. Here is a recap of the action.
First Quarter
Possession: 1 Offense Vs. 1 Defense
Possession began at the offense’s 15-yard line in what would become the Brandon Wimbush-to-Equanimeous St. Brown show.
The offense came out with two backs (junior Josh Adams — named as the seventh captain earlier in the day — and sophomore Tony Jones, who was split out but used in motion), with St. Brown and graduate transfer Cameron Smith the first two receivers and graduate student Durham Smythe at tight end.
• On third-and-13 from the 21 — made possible by a three-yard tackle for loss by sophomore cornerback Julian Love on Smith on a screen —Wimbush found St. Brown cutting toward the sideline for 22 yards.
• On third-and-5 from the offense’s 48, Wimbush connected with St. Brown for 14. On the next play, Wimbush found Brown again on a 38-yard post for a touchdown — but the play was blown dead when it was ruled that sophomore drop end Julian Okwara had come close enough to Wimbush that it could be classified as a “sack.”
• On fourth-and-4 from the 32, Wimbush, under a heavy rush, displayed his arm strength when he threw a pass across the field toward the sideline while flat-footed, and St. Brown made a sensational leaping and diving grab for an 18-yard gain.
On a run-pass option (RPO) the next play, Wimbush dumped off a pass to Smythe for a 13-yard gain to the one.
The offense then lined up in a classic I-formation with Wimbush under center, freshman tight end Brock Wright at fullback and Adams taking it over from the one-yard line. Also on the field were two other tight ends, Smythe and senior Nic Weishar.
Junior kicker Justin Yoon’s extra point was good.
Possession 2: No. 2 Offense Vs. No. 2 Defense
Coming out with the second group of receivers on this day were junior Chris Finke, sophomore Chase Claypool and freshman Michael Young.
On third-and-3 from his 27, sophomore quarterback Ian Book found Young for a 19-yard gain.
On the next play, Book launched a perfectly placed 54-yard touchdown to Young, who got behind the coverage — but like with St. Brown earlier, it was ruled that sophomore end Khalid Kareem, had forced a touch sack for a four-yard loss. On third-and-14, Book was then “sacked” by Okwara.
A 31-yard punt by senior Tyler Newsome was fielded by Finke — the starting punt return man, with Young behind him — at his 31.
Possession 3: No. 1 Offense Vs. No. 1 Defense
On the first play from his 41, Wimbush found a leaping junior tight end Alize Mack crossing toward the sideline for a 19-yard completion. Mack saw limited duty while recovering from a hamstring injury two weeks ago.
A middle screen to Claypool picked up 14 more yards before the defense dug in, starting with junior nose tackle Jerry Tillery and Love dropping Adams for a four-yard loss. Wimbush gained only three on a run-pass option, and then on a middle screen a pass to Smith was mishandled when it was thrown behind him.
Second Quarter
On the first play, Yoon’s 54-yard field goal attempt from the previous series fell slightly short.
Possession 4: No. 2 Offense Vs. No. 2 Defense
From the 37, Book opened with an 11-yard completion to freshman Jafar Armstrong, and then junior running back Dexter Williams gained eight and 10 yards on the next two carries.
A holding call on sophomore tackle Liam Eichenberg on the fourth play stemmed the momentum. Book completed short tosses to Armstrong (eight yards) and Claypool (six yards), but on third-and-6 sophomore defensive end Ade Ogundeji tipped Book’s pass on a crossing pattern.
The drive ended when Yoon’s 49-yard field goal attempt had plenty of distance but went wide right.
Possession 5: No. 1 Offense Vs. No. 1 Defense
After back-to-back runs by Jones netted only four yards, Wimbush was sacked by sophomore drop end Daelin Hayes, who was the standout in this spring’s Blue-Gold Game with his pressure off the edge.
Newsome had excellent hang time on his second punt that traveled 43 yards and was fair caught by Finke.
Possession 6: No. 2 Offense Vs. No. 1 Defense
After a middle screen to junior CJ Sanders gained five, Book was fortunate that a slant he threw on second down was dropped by sophomore Mike linebacker Jamir Jones, who likely would have had a “pick six” after diagnosing the play.
A third-down toss to junior Miles Boykin fell incomplete, with strong coverage by sophomore cornerback Donte Vaughn.
Newsome’s 45-yard punt was fair caught at the 19.
Possession 7: No. 1 Offense Vs. No. 1 Defense
On the first play, Wimbush sold a pump fake and fired deep to Claypool, who had beaten Love, for a 41-yard gain. The ball was underthrown, forcing Claypool to come back to make the grab on a play that from the press box looked like it would be a certain touchdown if hit in stride.
Senior tackle Jonathan Bonner than responded with a five-yard sack. A Wimbush bubble screen to Young netted only three yards, and a middle screen to Boykin gained nine to make it fourth-and-3.
A pitch to Adams — with Wright at fullback again — resulted in only a two-yard gain, and a change of possession.
Possession 8: No. 2 Offense Vs. No. 2 Defense
Only 1:01 was left until “halftime,” and Kelly instructed that this be normal game conditions (no running clock) with zero timeouts left.
Book gained 14 yards on the first play with a quarterback draw, and two plays later a wide open middle allowed him to pick up 23 yards on a scramble.
A personal foul on freshman defensive tackle Myron Tagovailoa-Amosa on the fourth play added 15 more yards and took the offense down to the defense’s 17.
After missing a well-covered Claypool on a sideline route to the end zone, Book followed with a 17-yard touchdown to running back Williams, who ran the wheel route past freshman safety Isaiah Robertson, with the other safety, sophomore Devin Studstill not able to get over in time.
Twelve seconds remained, and Yoon’s extra point tied the score at 7-7 to end the half.
The second half saw Wimbush in for only two series, and both behind the No. 2 offensive line. Much of the final quarter was between the third units.
Third Quarter:
Possession 9: No. 2 Offense Vs. No. 2 Defense
From the 21, sophomore Deon McIntosh picked up six yards on two carries, and then Book, after a pump fake, found freshman tight end Cole Kmet for a first down on a seven-yard gain.
An eight-yard screen to Sanders picked up eight yards, with junior cornerback Shaun Crawford potentially saving a touchdown with a shoestring tackle.
However, on fourth-and-1, McIntosh was thrown for a two-yard loss back to his 41.
Newsome then had one of the plays of game with a booming punt that landed inside the 10, took a fortunate bounce and was downed by Love at the one-yard line.
Possession 10: No. 1 Offense (with second line) Vs. No. 1 Defense
McIntosh picked up two yards on first down before the offense barely avoided a football disaster.
From the three, Wimbush threw a quick screen that senior cornerback Nick Watkins immediately read and tipped. The floating ball traveled back to the end zone, where a diving senior linebacker Greer Martini nearly had it for what would have been a touchdown.
On third-and-8, Wimbush’s sideline pass to a leaping Claypool in double coverage was forced quickly on a rush by junior tackle Micah-Dew Treadway, and a big hit by sophomore safety Jalen Elliott gave Claypool virtually no chance at the reception.
A 41-yard punt by Newsome to Finke ensued.
Possession 11: No. 2 Offense Vs. No. 2 Defense
On second down, Book completed a six-yard pass to Wright to make it third-and-4, but a false start and then a strong rush that forced Book to throw the pass away brought up fourth-and-9 from the defense’s 41.
Book’s pass to Boykin, with good coverage again by Vaughn, fell incomplete.
Possession 12: No. 1 Offense (with No. 2 line) Vs. No. 2 Defense
Wimbush’s final series — he would finish 14-of-18 for 168 yards — from his 41 began with a five-yard toss to Finke and a four-yard run by Williams to bring up third-and-1 at midfield.
Williams netted zero on third down, and then was stacked up again for no gain on fourth-and-1, resulting in a change of possession.
Possession 13: No. 2 Offense Vs. No. 2 Defense
From midfield, Book went to sophomore Javon McKinley twice in a row, with the first broken up by Vaughn, followed by a nine-yard completion to him on third-and-7, ending the third quarter.
Fourth Quarter
Two sacks, the second by freshman end Kofi Wardlow, ended the drive.
Possession 14: No. 2 Offense Vs. No. 2 Defense
From the offense’s 18, this resulted in a three-and-out after a net gain of one yard.
Possession 15: No. 2-3 Offense Vs. No. 2-3 Defense
Senior quarterback Montgomery VanGorder’s deep toss downfield was intercepted by junior walk-on cornerback Brian Ball and returned to the offense’s 31-yard line.
Possession 16: No. 2-3 Offense Vs. No. 2-3 Defense
On first down, the offense was called for holding, and the offense faced third-and-11 after VanGorder completed a five-yard toss to Sanders off the RPO and four yards to Finke. He then connected with Wright for a 21-yard gain to the nine-yard line.
A four-yard run and two incomplete passes into the end zone brought on Yoon for a 23-yard field goal.
Possession 17: No. 2-3 Offense Vs. No. 2-3 Defense
Although likely to be redshirted, freshman quarterback Avery Davis made the most of his one series with back-to-back completions of 26 and eight yards to Sanders to drive the offense down to the defense’s 36.
Two plays later, Davis delivered a perfectly placed 27-yard touchdown pass to McKinley running a post into the end zone and getting behind Vaughn.
That ended the scrimmage.
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