November 18, 1995

Notre Dame at Air Force Final Stats

By Jake Schaller, The Scholastic 1995 Football Review

Listen to Lou Holtz talk about football and you begin to understand. Look back at the big games that the Irish have won with Holtz and you will find more insight. Peruse stat sheets from his tenure and it will begin to be quite clear:

Lou loves to run the football.

To Holtz, the passing game is a last resort. A plan B, if you will. The game is controlled by the rushing attack. Whomever can control the line of scrimmage and push the opposing team back will win.

Holtz’s tenure with the Irish has been marked by ferocious rushing attacks. Taylor, Ruddy, Heck, Dahl, Grunhard. Giant men who open giant holes. Bettis, Brooks, Watters, Rice, Becton. Talented runners who run through those holes. These names are synonymous with Holtz’s smash-mouth philosophy.

On a night when eight-million dollars rode on his football team, Holtz turned to his newest stable to lead his team to a 44-14 victory. Though the injury to Ron Powlus had necessitated a simpler game plan, the Irish rushing attack became the story of the game not because of how much they were used, but because of how brilliant they were.

True to Holtz form, it was not one star, but a collection that carried the load. Randy Kinder’s 121 yards, Autry Denson’s 109 yards and Marc Edwards’ 84 yards led the way. “They complement each other so well,” Offensive Coordinator Dave Rob­erts said of his running backs. “They, along with Robert Farmer, are three great backs.” So great, that Krug only had to supervise, handing off and throwing the occasional completion to win his first start: For the record, eight completions in 13 tries for an unspectacular but solid 96 yards. With the exception of one interception, Krug did everything he was asked to do.

“Coach Holtz did a great job and I felt so comfort­ able with the game plan,” the junior quar­terback said. “I was getting all the reads and it seemed so easy.”

Holtz’s plan was apparent from the start. During the first Irish scoring drive, the offense went 94 yards – all on the ground. Edwards even got the ball on a third down with seven yards to go. Kinder’s 17-yard scamper gave the Irish a 7-0 lead that they would not relinquish. The Irish scored on all but one of their first half possessions, jumping out to a 20-0 lead.

While the offensive onslaught brought smiles to the faces of theIrish faithful, it was the defense that made them proud; The defense showed that the third time really is a charm, shutting down Air Force’s dangerous option at­tack, which Army and Navy had used so effectively. ”What really made a difference was the fact that they have had four weeks of preparation [one each for Army and Navy and two for Air Force] defending against the option,” Air Force Head Coach Fisher DeBerry said. “I really salute the job they did preparing for this game.”

Vindication was made even sweeter for the defense because of the praise heaped on theFalcons before the game. Led by Lyron Cobbins, who picked off his fifth pass in four games, the Irish created three turn­overs and shut down the wishbone.

A second half let down was non-existent, as the Irish continued to pile up the yards and stack up the Falcons. Touchdowns by Kinder, Denson and Thome and another field goal by Scott Cengia (who kicked three field goals and five extra points without a miss) wrapped up the blowout.

Cengia’s reliability and new punt returner Derrick Mayes’ exciting bursts highlighted a rare mistake-free special teams day. The whole game, in fact, seemed perfect. You might even say the Irish looked like a million bucks. Make it eight million.

”This is definitely a great way to go out,” senior captain Ryan Leahy said. “Now we just have to get ourselves ready for a big bowl.”