Notre Dame Football: 3 takeaways from rout of New Mexico in Week 3
By Zach Bigalke
1. Notre Dame had some issues running the ball effectively
New Mexico team came into the contest ranked 46th nationally against the run, but that was largely thanks to opening the season against FCS Sam Houston State and taking a bye before the trip to South Bend. Notre Dame helped the Lobos front seven pad their numbers on Saturday afternoon, struggling to run the ball effectively out of the backfield.
Ian Book carried the ball nine times for 46 yards, and the quarterback proved the most effective runner for the Irish. Backup quarterback Phil Jurkovec added three carries for 17 yards, and third-stringer Brendon Clark put up an additional four carries for 24 yards. In the process the three passers combined to pile up more than half of Notre Dame’s running yards.
When you subtract the three quarterbacks’ rushing yards from the equation, the Fighting Irish backfield finished with just 70 yards on 22 carries. Averaging only 3.2 yards per carry, they were unable to find any holes effectively despite a noted advantage along the line of scrimmage.
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If there is one thing that Notre Dame needs to work on more than anything after such a comprehensive victory, it is getting better production from their running backs. When they go up against a Georgia team that fields an effective backfield platoon, they cannot afford to struggle as much on the ground as they did against New Mexico.