Notre Dame held much of the possession in the first half, but Wake Forest was able to wreak havoc every time Jack Harrison touched the ball. “We find ways to lose”. But they still lost by three scores.
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For starters, his 120 receptions, 1,994 yards and 27 touchdown catches over the past two seasons are quite a security blanket for whichever quarterback, Malik Zaire or DeShone Kizer, is taking snaps behind center in 2016. There is no better game to fine tune things than this one against Wake. Two drives later Deshone Kizer kept it himself for the 5 yard TD run to make it a 28-7 ballgame. They also had 340 yards compared to Notre Dame’s 282 yards. Wake Forest Demon Deacons scored 36.5 points compared to allowed 22.3 points with point differential of 14.3.
It became clear that the Wake Forest offense would run through Jack Harrison within the first ten minutes, as he threatened the Notre Dame defense with his blistering pace down the right flank.
Notre Dame defensive end Romeo Okwara finished with three sacks and a forced fumble.
After the Irish stopped Wake Forest on the 1-yard line in the second quarter, Adams had the longest scoring play from scrimmage in Notre Dame history. If they can not do that then the Irish will run away with this game. “Obviously a big play where we’re backed up, and just a terrific run”.
“We’ve got 31 freshmen and sophomores, and at times we play like a really young football team”, Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson said.
“The coaches always tell us to stay hunting, and I was in the box and got a fortuitous bounce”, Ueland said.
“I think just getting reps up”, Jackson said. The next man in is Josh Adams.
But once again, the resilient Irish avoided disaster by doing what they do best thanks to a 147-yard performance from Adams who posted the second 100-plus yard game of his freshman year in relief of the senior. Hinton is the team’s leading rusher with 316 yards and 6 TDs on the season.
Setting aside the struggles Notre Dame’s offensive line had, it’s worth marveling at how different the Irish backfield looks. If Brian Kelly’s squad is going to maintain its current position in the Playoff, it needs bucketloads of style points in these next three weeks.
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In 2010, Cierre Wood broke a 39-yard run against Western MI. It was Notre Dame’s longest run since Robert Hughes went 46-yards in 2007. But he ran for two scores and wasn’t apologizing for anything. Adams helped keep that going, his 141 yards keeping him at an astonishing 7.8 yards per carry.
