For more on the Fighting Irish, check out One Foot Down, SB Nation's Notre Dame blog. For more on Air Force, check out Mountain West Connection, SB Nation's Mountain West Conference blog.
If you like games with tons of offense, Saturday afternoon was one of your kind of games inside Notre Dame Stadium, as the Notre Dame Fighting Irish scored their most points since a 62-0 rout in Lou Holtz's final home game in 1996, a 59-33 win over the Air Force Falcons. The Irish scored points on nine of their first ten possessions, including eight touchdowns, in their best offensive game in over a decade.
They totaled 560 on Offense, 268 on the ground and 292 through the air, a well-balanced attack that left the over-matched Falcons wondering how exactly to stop them. Aided by a 79 yard run by Sophomore QB Andrew Hendrix, the Irish averaged over 9 yards per carry on the day, their best effort of the season. Hendrix led the team in rushing with 110 total yards on the ground on just 7 carries, while Jonas Gray had 69 yards on the ground and 2 TDs and Cierre Wood had 66 on the ground with a TD of his own. George Atkinson III also scored his first offensive touchdown as a member of the Irish.
Irish QB Tommy Rees played the best game of his career Saturday, completing 25 of 34 passes for 286 yards and 4 touchdowns, and played his second straight turnover-free game. All four TDs were thrown in the first half, and were to four different receivers: Michael Floyd, Tyler Eifert, Robbie Toma, and Theo Riddick. Eifert led the team in both catches (8) and yards (82), while Riddick had 79 yards receiving, and Floyd had 78. In total seven different players caught passes for the Irish. Notre Dame was also a fantastic 8 for 11 on Third Down, something they've struggled with the past two seasons.
The Irish defense didn't have much success stopping the Air Force rushing attack, ranked 4th in FBS, as they allowed 363 yards on the ground on 60 carries. Some of that yardage did come in the final couple of possessions, when the second team defense was on the field, and probably didn't work much this week on stopping the Triple Option. In the first half the Falcons were able to move the ball, but turned the ball over twice, both leading to ND touchdowns, and put them in a hole almost immediately, and could never recover. Asher Clark led the way on the ground with 102 yards on the ground. The Falcons had an amazing 14 different people carry the ball at least one time, and eight players caught a pass.
The game's momentum could have shifted dramatically on the very first possession, as Michael Floyd was awarded a 34 yard TD catch that looked very close on replay, and because it was called a TD on the field stood after the review, even though you could see part of his foot land out of bounds. On Air Force's first play, Clark broke free for 29 yards before having the ball stripped from him as he went to the ground, recovered by the Irish. Nine plays later ND was up 14-0, and never looked back. The Falcons did try an onside kick after cutting the Irish lead to 21-9, but the ball bounced straight up in the air nine yards from where they kicked it, so ND's Bennett Jackson ran in and grabbed it before it might have rolled past that 10 yard marker. Air Force also successfully executed a fake punt midway through the second quarter, which led to a late TD in the first half.
Notre Dame now finds themselves at 4-2 on the season, winning their fourth straight after dropping the first two games of the season. They now have two weeks to prepare for a visit from the Southern Cal Trojans, who will play in the first night game since 1990 at Notre Dame Stadium on October 22nd.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish Offense was nearly perfect in the first half, scoring a touchdown on all six possessions, opening up a 42-16 haltime lead in South Bend against the Air Force Falcons. Six different players have scored a TD, spreading the wealth around.
QB Tommy Rees has been on fire throughout, going 21 of 27 for 228 yards and 4 TDs, and more importantly no interceptions. He hasn’t been sacked either, as the offensive line has man-handled the smaller and injury-depleted Falcon defensive line. Touchdowns were caught by Michael Floyd, Tyler Eifert, Robbie Toma (his first of ND career), and Theo Riddick with just a minute remaining in the first half. Eifert and Riddick each have 7 catches on the first half, most of which have been over the middle.
Notre Dame hasn’t run the ball often, but when they have they’ve gotten huge chunks of yards. They rushed for 105 yards on just 11 carries in the first half, with Jonas Gray leading the way with 63 yards on 6 carries and a TD. Sophomore QB Andrew Hendrix saw his first playing time, and ran a read-option play for a six yard gain.
The Air Force Offense has been able to move the ball nicely in the first half, amassing 310 total yards. However, two costly turnovers have kept the Falcons from matching scores with the Irish. They are averaging nearly 7 yards per attempt in the first half on the ground, and have more rushing yards than four of the previous five Irish opponents, in just the first half, with 203. They also successfully pulled off a fake punt, which led to their second touchdown.
Irish quarterback Tommy Rees has thrown three touchdown passes already, connecting with Tyler Eifert, Michael Floyd, and Robby Toma to give Notre Dame at 21-3 lead at the end of the first quarter against Air Force.
Rees, making his 9th start for Brian Kelly and the Irish, has completed 70% of his passes so far.
The Irish defense, however, is having a bit of trouble stopping the run. Air Force already has over 100 rushing yards.
In the second quarter, the Irish have continued to build on their lead after Jonas Gray rushed up the middle for a five yard touchdown. With 12:35 left, Notre Dame is up 28-9. Gray has 46 yards on five carries thus far.
The Irish are looking to win their fourth game in a row after starting the season 0-2 with loses to South Florida and Michigan. Notre Dame has score 30 or more points in three of their last four games.
The Notre Dame Fighting Irish return home this Saturday after a two-game road trip, when they host the Air Force Falcons at Notre Dame Stadium. The Irish have won their last three games, including a tough 15-12 victory at Pittsburgh and a blowout at Purdue last Saturday 38-10, to bring their record to 3-2 overall in 2011. The Falcons traveled to rival Navy last weekend, and beat the Midshipmen 35-34 in Overtime, thanks to a blocked extra point in the OT. The win improved their record to 3-1 on the season, with their lone loss coming at home to TCU.
The Irish and Falcons have met on several occasions over the past decade, and most games have been close contests. They last met back in 2007, a 41-24 manhandling by Air Force at Notre Dame. That entire season was one to forget for the Irish, so I don't blame you if you forgot that blowout happened. The Irish won easily at Air Force in 2006, completely shut down the option attack of the Falcons in 2002, although only won 21-14, and needed a Glenn Earl blocked field goal in 2000 to preserve a 34-31 OT win for the Irish. Overall Notre Dame leads the all-time series 22-6.
Notre Dame finally got over their turnover problem last week against Purdue, playing relatively mistake-free, and didn't turn the ball over. QB Tommy Rees threw for 254 yards and 3 TDs, but more importantly took care of the football. This week against the Falcons he should be asked to be more of a game manager, as the Irish have a significant size advantage up front by nearly 40 pounds per man. Add in that Air Force is without two starters on the Defensive Line, DE Zach Payne and NT Ryan Gardner, and we could see upwards of 50 rushes from Notre Dame's dynamic rushing duo of Cierre Wood and Jonas Gray. The two of them shredded the Purdue defense last week for 285 yards on just 35 carries, and will look to do the same this week. When the Irish won't be running the ball, look for Michael Floyd and Tyler Eifert to get passes thrown their way, as Air Force doesn't appear to have anyone that can slow these guys down.
Even though the Irish offense looks far superior on paper, this by no means says they'll just move the ball at will. As we've seen time and time again this season, the offense is prone to mistakes, and one good game doesn't completely cure them of the mental mistakes that doomed them the first two weeks. The Falcon defense will look to take some chances and force the Irish into turnovers, which the Irish cannot do if they expect to win. Every possession is crucial when playing any of the service academies, so playing turnover-free needs to be the highest priority for the Irish.
On the flip side, the Notre Dame defense will be tasked with slowing down the Falcon Triple Option attack, which averages 365 yards on the ground per game, including nearly 7 yards per carry. Last week they ran for 223 yards and 5.5 yards per carry against Navy, and will be a huge challenge for a stout Irish run defense. Last season they struggled mightily against the Navy triple option, getting gashed over and over, but stuffed Army later in the season, holding them to just 135 yards on the ground, which was more than 115 yards less than their season average. Look for the Falcons to run often towards the side of Freshman Aaron Lynch, trying to force him into making a mistake and covering a wrong lane. Also key for the Irish will be Safety Harrison Smith, who will have to take correct angles and tackle whoever has the ball. He had a rough go of it against Navy, but was much, much better against Army. Saturday will test him, and the rest of the defense, once again.
While the Falcons don't throw it often, they certainly take advantage of their opportunities when they do. QB Tim Jefferson has completed 70% of his passes, and gotten 10.5 yards per attempt, meaning they are quite successful when they throw it up. The Irish cornerbacks, Robert Blanton and Gary Gray, will have to be on their toes throughout, as Jefferson will make them pay if they aren't paying attention. We've seen Gray especially susceptible to not turning around for a "jump-ball" this season, so expect to see one or two going his way. Forcing the Falcons into obvious passing downs will make the Irish Defense's job easier, but that means stuffing the potent running attack on early downs.
Air Force needs to capitalize on their special teams advantage, as Notre Dame has been terrible in all phases so far this season. The Falcons have the fifth fewest punts in the country (12), but haven't been great covering them. They do rank 26th in Kickoff returns at almost 25 yards per return, and are best in the country in Kickoff Return Defense, giving up less than 14 yards per kickoff. It looks like if the Irish are going to score points, they'll have to do it after long drives down the field.
The Fighting Irish have a decided advantage on paper in this matchup, especially on the Offensive and Defensive lines, where they'll have anywhere between a 30 and 50 pound weight advantage over the Falcons. The Irish Offense will have to avoid the turnovers, like against Purdue, and let their playmakers take over. The key for the Irish defense will be the defensive line getting off of the cut blocks that will come on most plays, filling their correct hole, and getting to the QB when Air Force does decide to pass. The secondary will also need to play mistake free, as one bad step can lead to an easy 7 points going the other way.
The coaching staff certainly learned a whole lot after the Navy debacle from a year ago, and should put the team in a better position to win than they did a season ago against the same style of offense. Having a bye week next week should give them players a little extra motivation to play a little harder, knowing they'll get some additional rest before their showdown with USC. The game should be close throughout, but the size and talent of Notre Dame, coupled with the few key injuries, will be too much for the Falcons to overcome.
SB Nation Indiana pick: Notre Dame 34, Air Force 24
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Oct 10 9:01a