Irish rev it up after slow start to pound UMass

Blake is a very good quarterback, throws it well, has got escapability.

Enough said about this one; time to look ahead to Clemson, where ESPN’s SportsCenter will be setting up shop. No, a loss does not throw the entire season out the door.

Although he’s not a starter this season, Farley is a captain. Prosise was quick to credit the offensive line for his success and the domination up front was evident last week when Prosise was barely touched while breaking through for a 91-yard TD run. On weeks when the Irish play option teams, the starting offense doesn’t go against the starting defense. Josh Adams was fed the ball and he responded with a 70-yarder for a touchdown and his first 100-yard afternoon.

On Massachusetts’ next possession, running back Sekai Lindsay rushed for a 1-yard touchdown to slice the deficit to 14-13.

A dominant performance when we were expecting one.

Notre Dame is 3-6 ATS in its last 9 games. Jarrett Grace and Greer Martini sniffed out a fake punt and everything but an extra point off the upright was pretty much ideal.

The Irish flipped the field and took over the game when Newsome’s punt was pinned inside the one-yard-line. “There are some fundamentals that need to be cleaned up”, Fighting Irish coach Brian Kelly told reporters.

Kelly delivered big play after big play after an ineffective first half, none wilder than a fling and a prayer in the third quarter, a 66-yard deflection caught by Quincy Adeboyejo for a touchdown. Notre Dame won 38-3. I felt like they were going to press us, and I thought we needed a shot to Tajae, maybe get 99, and you’ve got to make a decision there. Junior CB Devin Butler added 2 tackles and a pass break-up, although he still looked a little lost occasionally in his coverage of Minutemen receivers.

Notre Dame ‘s DeShone Kizer, right, tries to get past the arm of Massachusetts’s Jovan Santos-Knox during the first half of an NCAA college football game Saturday, September 26, 2015, in South Bend, Ind.

Brandon Wimbush made a terrific debut.

Wimbush is clearly still learning.

Kizer said a couple of balls that he threw low, he didn’t really “rip it” like he wanted. “If we play very well, we’re capable of beating anybody in the country”. And that’s a good thing.

Defensively, it was great to see young players everywhere. The walk on or practice only player who worked his way up despite overwhelming odds and made it. Why did Rudy stick? It went as the longest rush by a true-freshman in the modern era of UMass football, dating back to the 1978 season. That’s a career high.

“I’m just trying to soak up the whole atmosphere and see what it’s about”, he said. Defensive lineman Rod Rook-Chungong (shoulder) is questionable. “It was just a lot of trickery”, Notre Dame defensive tackle Sheldon Day said. A preseason darling appeared to be doomed by an epidemic of injuries. Weird, it wasn’t a season-ender.

First, rookie C.J. Prosise 57-yard TD run. But that 56-yarder was a thing of beauty.

At the 3:35 mark, Massachusetts scored its last touchdown-and that meant another timeout. He’s a cagey football coach and his postgame comments were tremendous.

The Irish didn’t get an interception until today, the fourth game of the season. Wilson’s touchdown brought UMass within 21-20 with 6:44 left in the half.

Here’s how Kelly described the secondary’s play after four games. “I like the look week he had”, Kelly said.

“I’m not ready to say that we’ve corrected everything. If we don’t, then we can lose to anybody”. If we want to be the type of defense we set as our goal, we’ve got to eliminate that.

Clemson will test Luke and Russell, and even more critically, the safeties.

Kelly was pleased with the way Kizer was able to bounce back after throwing a few poor passes.

– UMass amassed 450 yards, but gave up 681. So while cleaning up the big play is critical, it wasn’t as if the defense was sliced and diced.