Notre Dame avoided the so called “trap game” by defeating BYU 17-14 to remain unbeaten at 7-0. The Irish were sloppy, struggling to show balance on offense with Tommy Rees failing to pass the ball with any efficiency. However, the defense continued their strong play, pitching a shutout in the second half and the Irish running attack was true to its recent form totaling 270 yards on the ground. The following players were crucial to the Irish victory:
Theo Riddick
Riddick led the Irish rushing attack with 143 yards on 15 carries versus the Cougars. Riddick had a long carry of 55 yards on a fabulous second effort, in which he burst through the line of scrimmage after looking as though he had been stopped. The run put the Irish on the eight yard line, from which they would kick a field goal that proved to be the difference in the game. Riddick also had a critical eight yard run on a 3rd and 5 on the Irish’s last drive that allowed the offense to stay on the field and eat up more clock.
Cierre Wood
The second member of the Irish backfield to rush for over 100 yards, Wood rushed for 114 yards on 18 carries. Wood reached the second level of the BYU defense many times and along with Riddick was responsible for wearing down the Cougars defense in the second half, allowing them to capitalize on the final drive where they used up six minutes off the clock.
Manti Te’o
The Irish linebacker continued his relentless pursuit of a Heisman trophy this weekend in a win over BYU. Te’o once again led the Irish in tackles with 10 and also had an interception in the first quarter. Te’o continues to lead a defense that week after week guides the Irish to victory.
Danny Spond
The dependable Irish linebacker had another solid game versus the Cougars. Spond seldom receives any recognition for his quality play as he isn’t a flashy player like many others on the Irish defense. Spond recorded the game-clinching interception against the Cougars to go along with two important pass breakups and five tackles. Spond is just another member of the front seven that will need to continue its brilliant play if the Irish hope to continue to win.
If Brindza missed one more FG, then we need to seek alternatives.
Speaking of kicking, that short field punt at the end of the game was awful. I guess terrible FG kicking can partially be attributed to being in that situation in the first place.
…missES one more kick…
So it probably freaks out the opposition too!
Overall I like Riddick a LOT. Some of those cuts he makes are just incredible. However I think Wood runs just as tough.
What’s up with Cierre Wood’s mouth piece?
That thing just freaks me out everytime I see it.
Reminds me of the Joker from Batman or something out of a monster movie!
It’s like driving past a terrible wreck on the interstate… you know it’s bad, but you can’t look away!
I agree 100%. He’s a great player. His ability to keep balanced and pick up that yardage was incredible. As I said, he just doesn’t have the speed. the good Lord didn’t give it to him. Not a criticism, but it did suprise me that, given how far ahead he was, that he still got caught.
During his first couple years, Riddick spent many games on the injury
list. Didn’t even suit up.
This year he has come back bigger and stronger and it shows.
He runs hard, gets tough first downs, has picked up his blocking, and he holds onto the football.
And… he can catch the football too! (sse his BIG time catch agianst Stanford.)
George Atkinson III and Cierre Wood are the break away backs.
Kelly understands what each running back brings, and has done an excelent job of putting them in favorable situations to get the most from their skills.
Lets not stop at just speed and quickness. There is a place on this team for blocking, recieving, leadership, ball security, and toughness.
That’s what Riddick brings. And that’s well worth the trade off of having break-away speed.
Riddick needs to NOT get run down on that otherwise awesome run he had. He’s exemplifies the difference between speed and quickness
Very true. Riddick and had AWESOME game, but with our tepid offense, we cannot afford to have RBs get caught from behind when they are 10 yards ahead of any defenders. It should have been 6 points automatically. What if we have to settle for a field goal there? But, he’s just not that fast. He has average open-field speed.
We did have to settle for a FG. GAIII did not get his TD run until later in the game. And you are right, he should not get tracked down but at the same time, I believe that would have been 4th down without him pushing his way through the pile. Riddick is more a Jonas Gray style runner, the bruiser, than Wood or GAIII. If either of those 2 had made that run, it would have been 6. But they may not have made it out of that pile, either.