LINK
The Irish scored 38 points, chalked up 527 total yards and edged Texas in time of possession by 18:20. Junior quarterback Malik Zaire completed 19 of 22 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns in his home debut, and perhaps the most telltale sign that a new quarterback was under center showed up in the box score next to the turnover total: zero.
On a night taken over by touchdowns, a dominant defense and high marks across the board, the full impact of Saturday’s only unfixable negative was the knee injury starting running back Tarean Folston picked up in the first quarter.
The injury will sideline Folston for the season.
There were bright patches in his place, highlighted by true freshman Josh Adams’ two touchdown runs. The Warrington, Pennsylvania, native carried the ball five times for 49 yards, and fellow freshman Dexter Williamschipped in with 24 yards on seven carries of his own. And senior C.J. Prosise, who assumed the No. 1 role when Folston went down, rushed for 98 yards on 20 carries in his backfield debut.
There are players who can fill in for Folston. But over the course of the season, the loss—amplified in large part by the lack of depth in the backfield and season-long suspension of backup Greg Bryant announced one month ago—highlights the necessity of keeping the remaining backs healthy.
It also puts the spotlight on other running backs like Williams and senior Josh Anderson, who might not have played had Bryant been on the team and Folston stayed healthy. Now the two will be expected to take some responsibility off the shoulders of Prosise.
“Well, I think the first thing is that we didn't really expect to have to accelerate Dexter,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said. “But I think that will be the first thing, is that we'll pick up his preparation. There's a learning curve there that we're going to have to accelerate.
“I think Josh Anderson knows our protection very well,” Kelly added. “So we're going to have to keep him with us a little bit more. And I think that that's where we'll start this week with that kind of process moving forward with Dexter getting more work to have a three back rotation and supplement it with Josh Anderson, because we think he's somebody that can help us as a guy that can take some reps away from those guys because he's solid inside out as a runner and very solid in protections.”
Adams impressed Kelly with his pass protection ability in fall camp. His competence in the area most freshman running backs struggle to handle in the transition from high school to college football was one of the main reasons Kelly planned to play Adams at all this season.
Following a season when Folston and Bryant had difficulty in pass protection—as sophomores, no less—forcing Kelly to remove the two in situations when he might have preferred otherwise, the emergence of Adams, both in his ability to pick up the offense and provide reliable protection, is a welcomed change from 2014.
“He picks up concepts and schemes,” Kelly said. “And when you're talking to him about pressures and things of that nature, he has a really good sense. And some kids it doesn't come quite as easy. And for Josh it just seems to click a lot easier for him.”
Kelly talked about the five scholarship running backs Sunday afternoon, with one omission: Justin Brent. The sophomore and converted wide receiver split time at running back and wide receiver in high school before playing receiver full-time his freshman year. Irish247 reported last week that the plan for Brent, who didn’t participate on special teams Saturday, is to redshirt this season.
Folston’s injury could force Kelly to revise his plan to preserve a year of eligibility for Brent. But the sixth-year Irish head coach saw Saturday night that he has a dependable option behind Prosise, though Kelly was unwilling to put the freshman with five carries and two scores on a pedestal.
“Well, I wouldn't go as far to say that he's at the level of some of those veterans,” Kelly said of Adams. “But he has, surprisingly, picked it up quicker than I thought he could.”
Communication improves on defense
The trouble Notre Dame had defending up-tempo offenses in 2014 started before the ball was snapped.
The players, who hadn’t fully comprehended first-year defensive coordinatorBrian VanGorder’s calls and schemes, struggled to get in position before each play, creating confusion and hesitation. A point of emphasis during the offseason was rearranging how the Irish defend the hurry-up offense.
During fall camp, Kelly said VanGorder simplified his defense’s terminology. The defense is also setup in a way that eliminates the need for frequent personnel change. The result was on display Saturday night against a stuttering Texas offense that switched to an up-tempo spread formation during the offseason.
And it looked like what the Irish’s head coach pictured.
“I think if you look at overall, everybody was fundamentally in real good position,” Kelly said. “It was so much different than last year relative to communication. It was the tempo offense. Really never felt like we were out of position and never really had that sense from last year that we didn't get great communication out there.
“So I think all in all, 11 players playing together, but I think it really starts up front with our defensive tackle play.”
Kelly said after Saturday’s game that he was pleased with the play of freshmanJerry Tillery and sophomore Daniel Cage at nose guard. The duo took over for the injured senior Jarron Jones, who sustained a season-ending MCL tear in August.
Young special teamers experience nerves
Saturday night marked the collegiate debuts of Notre Dame’s place kicker, punter and punt returner.
Kelly used true freshman C.J. Sanders as his punt returner instead of junior wideout Will Fuller, with the Irish head coach noting in fall camp the various options he has to fill that role. But Sanders returned one punt for five yards, fair caught another and was spared embarrassment by Torii Hunter after he fumbled the third inside his own 20-yard line.
Place kicker Justin Yoon made all five extra points and hammered home his first field goal attempt—a 38-yarder. But he pulled his second try wide left from 45 yards out. And punter Tyler Newsome’s miscue came on his first kickoff, which sailed short and out of bounds to his right. The sophomore fared better punting, though, averaging 41.2 yards per punt. He dropped three inside Texas’ 20-yard line.
The mistakes weren’t cause for alarm for Kelly, though, who attributed the errors to the group’s youth.
“I thought there were jitters, there's no question,” Kelly said. “We saw that with Tyler's first kick out of bounds. And I thought at times a little bit caught up in the moment.
“But, by and large, all of them got that first one under their belt. And we knew this would be the big one for them. We only see them getting better week in, week out. They have great talent. And they're so engaged in the process of getting better each day. So I think we got the toughest one out of the way and I expect them to get better each and every week.”
The Irish scored 38 points, chalked up 527 total yards and edged Texas in time of possession by 18:20. Junior quarterback Malik Zaire completed 19 of 22 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns in his home debut, and perhaps the most telltale sign that a new quarterback was under center showed up in the box score next to the turnover total: zero.
On a night taken over by touchdowns, a dominant defense and high marks across the board, the full impact of Saturday’s only unfixable negative was the knee injury starting running back Tarean Folston picked up in the first quarter.
The injury will sideline Folston for the season.
There were bright patches in his place, highlighted by true freshman Josh Adams’ two touchdown runs. The Warrington, Pennsylvania, native carried the ball five times for 49 yards, and fellow freshman Dexter Williamschipped in with 24 yards on seven carries of his own. And senior C.J. Prosise, who assumed the No. 1 role when Folston went down, rushed for 98 yards on 20 carries in his backfield debut.
There are players who can fill in for Folston. But over the course of the season, the loss—amplified in large part by the lack of depth in the backfield and season-long suspension of backup Greg Bryant announced one month ago—highlights the necessity of keeping the remaining backs healthy.
It also puts the spotlight on other running backs like Williams and senior Josh Anderson, who might not have played had Bryant been on the team and Folston stayed healthy. Now the two will be expected to take some responsibility off the shoulders of Prosise.
“Well, I think the first thing is that we didn't really expect to have to accelerate Dexter,” Irish head coach Brian Kelly said. “But I think that will be the first thing, is that we'll pick up his preparation. There's a learning curve there that we're going to have to accelerate.
“I think Josh Anderson knows our protection very well,” Kelly added. “So we're going to have to keep him with us a little bit more. And I think that that's where we'll start this week with that kind of process moving forward with Dexter getting more work to have a three back rotation and supplement it with Josh Anderson, because we think he's somebody that can help us as a guy that can take some reps away from those guys because he's solid inside out as a runner and very solid in protections.”
Adams impressed Kelly with his pass protection ability in fall camp. His competence in the area most freshman running backs struggle to handle in the transition from high school to college football was one of the main reasons Kelly planned to play Adams at all this season.
Following a season when Folston and Bryant had difficulty in pass protection—as sophomores, no less—forcing Kelly to remove the two in situations when he might have preferred otherwise, the emergence of Adams, both in his ability to pick up the offense and provide reliable protection, is a welcomed change from 2014.
“He picks up concepts and schemes,” Kelly said. “And when you're talking to him about pressures and things of that nature, he has a really good sense. And some kids it doesn't come quite as easy. And for Josh it just seems to click a lot easier for him.”
Kelly talked about the five scholarship running backs Sunday afternoon, with one omission: Justin Brent. The sophomore and converted wide receiver split time at running back and wide receiver in high school before playing receiver full-time his freshman year. Irish247 reported last week that the plan for Brent, who didn’t participate on special teams Saturday, is to redshirt this season.
Folston’s injury could force Kelly to revise his plan to preserve a year of eligibility for Brent. But the sixth-year Irish head coach saw Saturday night that he has a dependable option behind Prosise, though Kelly was unwilling to put the freshman with five carries and two scores on a pedestal.
“Well, I wouldn't go as far to say that he's at the level of some of those veterans,” Kelly said of Adams. “But he has, surprisingly, picked it up quicker than I thought he could.”
Communication improves on defense
The trouble Notre Dame had defending up-tempo offenses in 2014 started before the ball was snapped.
The players, who hadn’t fully comprehended first-year defensive coordinatorBrian VanGorder’s calls and schemes, struggled to get in position before each play, creating confusion and hesitation. A point of emphasis during the offseason was rearranging how the Irish defend the hurry-up offense.
During fall camp, Kelly said VanGorder simplified his defense’s terminology. The defense is also setup in a way that eliminates the need for frequent personnel change. The result was on display Saturday night against a stuttering Texas offense that switched to an up-tempo spread formation during the offseason.
And it looked like what the Irish’s head coach pictured.
“I think if you look at overall, everybody was fundamentally in real good position,” Kelly said. “It was so much different than last year relative to communication. It was the tempo offense. Really never felt like we were out of position and never really had that sense from last year that we didn't get great communication out there.
“So I think all in all, 11 players playing together, but I think it really starts up front with our defensive tackle play.”
Kelly said after Saturday’s game that he was pleased with the play of freshmanJerry Tillery and sophomore Daniel Cage at nose guard. The duo took over for the injured senior Jarron Jones, who sustained a season-ending MCL tear in August.
Young special teamers experience nerves
Saturday night marked the collegiate debuts of Notre Dame’s place kicker, punter and punt returner.
Kelly used true freshman C.J. Sanders as his punt returner instead of junior wideout Will Fuller, with the Irish head coach noting in fall camp the various options he has to fill that role. But Sanders returned one punt for five yards, fair caught another and was spared embarrassment by Torii Hunter after he fumbled the third inside his own 20-yard line.
Place kicker Justin Yoon made all five extra points and hammered home his first field goal attempt—a 38-yarder. But he pulled his second try wide left from 45 yards out. And punter Tyler Newsome’s miscue came on his first kickoff, which sailed short and out of bounds to his right. The sophomore fared better punting, though, averaging 41.2 yards per punt. He dropped three inside Texas’ 20-yard line.
The mistakes weren’t cause for alarm for Kelly, though, who attributed the errors to the group’s youth.
“I thought there were jitters, there's no question,” Kelly said. “We saw that with Tyler's first kick out of bounds. And I thought at times a little bit caught up in the moment.
“But, by and large, all of them got that first one under their belt. And we knew this would be the big one for them. We only see them getting better week in, week out. They have great talent. And they're so engaged in the process of getting better each day. So I think we got the toughest one out of the way and I expect them to get better each and every week.”
