Blue and Gold Illustrated

January 2019

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com JANUARY 2019 23 in the 44-22 win over Navy Oct. 27 slowed him even more, but he did not miss a single game. Despite playing just two series against Navy and mostly in the nickel package against Northwest- ern, Tranquill still finished second on the team in solo tackles with 58, just one behind senior Mike linebacker Te'von Coney. Tranquill earned the reputation as the heart and soul of the defense, providing leadership and toughness to go with his playmaking. MVP SPECIAL TEAMS SENIOR KICKER JUSTIN YOON Yoon had a 2018 campaign that mirrored his first three seasons in an Irish uniform. He drilled 16 of 20 field goal attempts, and became the school's all-time leader in field goals made (58), extra points made (190) and scoring (364). Yoon began the season by focusing all his efforts on placekicking, but when sophomore Jonathan Doerer struggled to handle the kickoff du- ties he took over and stabilized that position as well. With Yoon in charge of kickoffs in the final three games of the regular season, Irish opponents averaged just 19.4 yards per kick return after aver- aging 25.8 yards on runbacks up to that point in the season. TOP PERFORMER OFFENSE JUNIOR QUARTERBACK IAN BOOK Making a change at quarterback is never easy, and it is even tougher when your team is undefeated and the player you are looking to sup- plant has compiled a 12-3 record as a starter. That's the decision Kelly made after the Irish offense averaged only 23.3 points per game during his team's 3-0 start. Book rewarded Kelly and offensive coordinator Chip Long with their bold decision, and his emergence in the lineup was a driving force behind the 12-0 season. He passed for 325 yards and ac- counted for five touchdowns in his first start of the season, leading Notre Dame to a 56-27 road victory at Wake Forest Sept. 22. A week later he steered the Irish to the rout of Stan- ford, tossing four touchdowns while completing 72.7 percent of his passes for 278 yards. Notre Dame averaged 36.6 points and 485.3 total yards of offense per game and 6.5 yards per play with Book in the lineup. His accuracy (70.4 percent comple- tion rate) and ability to get the ball out quickly not only aided the pass- ing attack — which averaged 306.9 yards per game with him in the start- ing lineup — but it also took pressure off the run game. TOP PERFORMER DEFENSE SENIOR DEFENSIVE TACKLE JERRY TILLERY Tillery, who entered the 2018 sea- son as the team's most experienced defender, had shown flashes of bril- liance and periods of inconsistency in his first three campaigns. However, his final year in an Irish uniform proved to be his best. He became a dominant force in- side for the defense, thriving at the three-technique position after play- ing mostly nose tackle in his first three seasons. The 6-7, 305-pound standout excelled in all phases of the game. Having to handle him up the middle made it harder for opponents to focus their attention on other play- ers surrounding him. Tillery also made his presence felt in the pass game. He led the Irish squad with eight sacks, and his 44 total quarterback pressures were the second most nationally among all defensive tackles according to Pro Football Focus. Tillery was at his best in the biggest moments, which included a four- sack performance against Stanford All-American guard Nate Herbig. MOST IMPROVED OFFENSE JUNIOR WIDE RECEIVER CHASE CLAYPOOL Talent has never been a question for Claypool, but he needed to im- prove his maturity, focus and consis- tency. That was even true through the first six games of the season, when his production didn't come close to matching his elite size (6-4½, 227) and athletic skills. Notre Dame quarterbacks targeted Claypool 36 times during the first six games of the season. Just 50 per- cent of those passes were caught, Claypool averaged merely 5.6 yards per target and the quarterbacks had an efficiency rating of only 98.33 on throws to him. He caught two touchdown passes during that stretch, but three passes were intercepted. In Notre Dame's come-from-behind, 19-14 victory over Pittsburgh, Clay- pool started to show better consistent effort and played a more physical brand of football. In the final six games of the regular season, Irish quarter- backs targeted him 39 times and Clay- pool caught 30 of those passes (76.9 completion rate). He averaged 11.1 yards per target and quarterbacks had a pass efficiency rating of 186.68 with- out throwing an interception. For context purposes, only Okla- homa and Ohio State had pass ef- ficiency numbers higher than what Claypool posted down the stretch. MOST IMPROVED DEFENSE JUNIOR SAFETY JALEN ELLIOTT Notre Dame's biggest problem area in 2017 was the safety position, where the players combined for just five passes broken up and failed to intercept a single pass. Then a first- year starter, Elliott failed to make much of an impact. His second season as a starter went much better, and Elliott became a vital component. Kelly praised the junior's ability to communicate to teammates all season, and Elliott was also a playmaker on the back end. He led the defense with four in- terceptions, and his six passes bro- ken up were third on the roster. His 10 total passes defended during the regular season doubled what Notre Dame received from the entire posi- tion group last season. MOST UNDERRATED OFFENSE SENIOR WIDE RECEIVER CHRIS FINKE Finke, a former walk-on, was over- shadowed by players like Williams, Claypool and senior wideout Miles Boykin for much of the season, but his strong 2018 campaign was crucial to the offensive success. After catching just 16 passes during his first three seasons, Finke broke out this fall, hauling in 47 grabs for 547 yards. Thirty of his 47 receptions went for first downs, and he made a number of crucial third- and fourth- down catches that moved the chains in prime games. He isn't Notre Dame's flashiest or most explosive player on offense, but the case could be made that no one was as clutch.

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