Notre Dame 'Set Up' For November Success
“November can be cold and gray; November can be surly,
With bitter rain upon the world, and winter coming early.
Do you fear the force of the wind? The slash of the rain?
Go face them and fight them, Be savage again.
The palms of your hands will thicken, the skin of your cheek will tan,
You’ll grow ragged and weary and wet, but you must do the best that you can.”
-John Facenda, NFL Films “The Championship Chase” (1974)
The chill and rain began to become more conspicuous this week in northern Indiana as the calendar flipped to November.
It was slightly damp again during Thursday’s practice in Notre Dame Stadium in preparation for the Wake Forest contest, which has rain in the forecast for Saturday.
That’s fine by Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly, who enjoyed much November success in his first three seasons with a 10-1 record from 2010-12, but has been only 7-10 in that same month from 2013-16. Most crucial is the identity of the program has dramatically changed the past year.
“I think the way we’re set up makes us very well prepared for November,” said Kelly after Thursday’s practice “Weather, not needing to rely on one person to carry your team, especially offensively. It’s a collective, it’s a group, it’s running the football.”
In other words, the physical nature of Notre Dame’s offense that ranks sixth nationally in rushing yards per game (317.9) is tailor-made for the late push toward championship status.
The cold aspect is a little exaggerated because this year’s November games include outings at Miami (Nov. 11) and Stanford (Nov. 25) — although at night in late November in the Bay Area it can regularly be in the 40-degree range.
The crux remains the identity. In Kelly’s first season (2010), Notre Dame was a pass-oriented team that began 4-5. However, when freshman Tommy Rees had to take over for an injured Dayne Crist at quarterback, the Irish went into a much more physical mode of attack, including using two tight end sets for the first time. The result was a 4-0 finish to the season with Rees averaging a modest 173 yards passing per game.
Conversely, during a 0-4 finish in November 2014, the Irish averaged only 114 yards rushing and 304 passing in those contests. That helped lead to a change at quarterback for the Music City Bowl, from Everett Golson to Malik Zaire, to emphasize a more physical, run-based attack. The Irish ran for 263 yards in that 31-28 win versus LSU.
So while No. 3-ranked Notre Dame is currently averaging a modest 150.4 yards per game through the air, it has been efficient enough to keep defenses honest, including two touchdown passes apiece in the first quarter by junior Brandon Wimbush against both USC and North Carolina State the past two weeks that helped open up running lanes down the line.
Above all, in Wimbush’s last four starts Notre Dame has zero turnovers. That’s good for any month, but especially complements the current Irish identity in November.
“We don’t have to throw the ball 50 times and have a great game by our quarterback,” Kelly said. “He needs to continue to grow, certainly, but it’s much more of a collective group that needs to just continue to do what they’re doing, be physical and bring that physicality each week. It’s really set up for November from that perspective.”
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