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Sandman Sleeps As Notre Dame Puts Virginia Tech To Bed, 45-23

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Chase Claypool and the Irish offense
Chase Claypool and the Irish offense (Bill Panzica)
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The Sandman sleeps tonight, and so will the Notre Dame football team peacefully and still unbeaten.

After a competitive first half that saw Notre Dame hold a precarious 17-16 lead at the intermission, a four-touchdown second half by the Fighting Irish — highlighted by a 97-yard touchdown romp by senior running back Dexter Williams to begin the onslaught — ignited a 45-23 victory at No. 24 Virginia Tech.

Coming off a then career high 161-yard rushing effort versus Stanford, Williams responded with 178 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns versus the Hokies. Junior quarterback Ian Book complemented the ground attack with a controlled passing attack, completing 25 of 35 passes for 271 yards, with a couple of touchdown tosses to senior receiver Miles Boykin.

Defensively, the Irish were led by another strong pass rush spearheaded by junior end Khalid Kareem, while junior cornerback Julian Love returned a fumble forced by Kareem for a score, and later intercepted a pass.


FIRST QUARTER: Notre Dame 10, Virginia Tech 3

Top Moment: Following the opening kickoff, Notre Dame drove 75 yards in 12 plays, with Book completing all seven pass attempts for 58 yards. The march was capped by Williams’ one-yard touchdown run at the 9:24 mark. Book snuck for a first down on fourth-and-inches the play before the score.

Standout Performer: Book was 8 of 11 for 114 yards, but on his final attempt in the quarter he overthrew wide open senior receiver Chris Finke on what would have been a 62-yard touchdown

Stats: Notre Dame had 138 yards total offense while the Hokies had 74 (7 of 10 passing for 48 yards, and five carries for 26 yards).

Items: On Notre Dame’s second possession, a 56-yard deep ball from Book to Finke set up senior Justin Yoon’s 31-yard field goal with 6:58 left and a 10-0 lead … On its second series, Virginia Tech was undone by three penalties, including an ineligible man downfield on a long touchdown pass from receiver Hezekiah Grimsley to fellow receiver Sean Savoy off a trick play. It settled for a 40-yard field goal by Brian Johnson with 53 seconds remaining to conclude a 53-yard drive.


SECOND QUARTER: Notre Dame 17, Virginia Tech 16

Top Moment: Trailing 10-9, Virginia Tech had first-down at Notre Dame’s 48-yard line when pass pressure by Kareem forced a fumble by quarterback Ryan Willis that Love scooped up and returned for a 42-yard touchdown and a 17-9 lead with 1:08 left until halftime.

Standout Performers: Virginia Tech’s passing combination of Willis to Damon Hazelton connected four times for 53 yards during its touchdown march, highlighted by a three-yard score with 12 seconds remaining to cut Notre Dame’s halftime lead to 17-16.

During the drive, Irish junior drop end Julian Okwara was ejected from the game for a targeting call when the crown of his helmet hit Willis on a rush. That left the Irish without their top two drop ends because junior Daelin Hayes did not make the trip because of stinger in the shoulder that prevented him from playing.

Stats: Virginia Tech outgained Notre Dame 141-22 in total offense during these 15 minutes and held a 215-160 advantage at halftime. Notre Dame finished with minus-3 yards rushing the first 30 minutes.

Items: A poor long snap on an Irish punt set up Virginia Tech at the Irish 43, but an Okwara sack helped limit the Hokies to a 43-yard field goal by Johnson at the 10:06 mark that narrowed the deficit to 10-6.

After an interception by Virginia Tech linebacker Reggie Floyd and a 41-yard run by running back Steven Peoples to Notre Dame’s one-yard line, a goal-line stand by the Irish defense forced a 22-yard field by Johnson with 3:21 left to pull the Hokies within 10-9.


THIRD QUARTER: Notre Dame 31, Virginia Tech 16

Top Moment: Pinned back on its five-yard on its initial possession in the second half, Williams on second-and-12 followed junior pulling guard Tommy Kraemer through the left side on a 97-yard touchdown and a 24-16 Irish advantage with 11:38 left.

Standout Performer: Notre Dame’s third-down offense converted third-and-six with an 11-yard Book-to-Finke completion for 10 yards and then on third-and-eight a scrambling Book found Boykin on a 40-yard touchdown for a 31-16 advantage with 4:59 remaining.

Stats: Through three quarters Notre Dame had run 50 plays for 322 yards (228 passing, 94 rushing) and Virginia Tech 49 plays for 337 yards (219 passing, 118 rushing).

The Irish outgained the Hokies 162-122 in this quarter, and had more yards in the third quarter alone than in the first half (160).

Items: Johnson’s 48-yard field goal attempt that would have reduced the deficit to 24-19 barely missed to the left near the 8:30 mark.


FOURTH QUARTER: Notre Dame 45, Virginia Tech 23

Top Moment: The Book-to-Boykin combination connected on third-and-goal slant from the five-yard line for a touchdown at 9:08 to basically seal the game with a 38-16 cushion.

Standout Performer: Boykin also snared a 21-yard fade pass from Book on third-and-three during the aforementioned touchdown drive. Book was 4-of-4 on the drive for 43 yards.

Stats: The final yardage was nearly identical with Notre Dame running 67 plays for 438 yards (271 passing, 167 rushing) while Virginia Tech’s 85 plays accounted for 441 yards (309 passing, 132 rushing).

Items: Johnson’s 52-yard field goal at 13:56 with the score 31-16 went wide left…Virginia Tech pulled within 38-23 at 5:40 on a 15-yard fade for a touchdown from Willis to Eric Kumah on third-and-eight. The ensuing on-side kick was recovered by junior receiver Chase Claypool and set up a 31-yard touchdown run by Williams at 4:50 for the final score… Love made an interception at 3:59 when he jumped a quick out.

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