Notre Dame not concerned about lagging rushing attack

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Notre Dame averaged 2.3 yards per carry and only totaled 57 rushing yards against Malik McDowell and Michigan State's mauling front seven, but Irish coach Brian Kelly doesn't have any long-term concerns about his team's ground game. 

Sophomore Josh Adams — who was given Notre Dame's specially-reserved No. 1 jersey for the game — only gained 29 yard on a dozen carries, and redshirt junior Tarean Folston gained 14 years in four attempts. The lack of a reliable rushing attack helped stifle Notre Dame's offense during Michigan State's 36-point surge that ultimately was too much for the Irish to overcome. 

Of course, part of Notre Dame's lowest rushing total since losing at Arizona State on Nov. 8, 2014 (42) partly had to do with the offense jettisoning its ground game after falling behind by 29 points in the third quarter Saturday. But even with that in mind, it looked like a disappointing day for Irish running backs and offensive linemen -- even if Kelly didn't think it was. 

"I tend to disagree with it after evaluating our offense," Kelly said when posed with the notion Notre Dame's running backs struggled. "Our first half, we had pretty good balance in what we wanted to do. We carved out the kind of run game. We were inconsistent in our performance, certainly, and then we only ran the ball twice in the fourth quarter and kind of got behind and never were really able to settle in.

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"There were some things that we clearly have to get better at. There was some movement up front that we didn't handle very well. There were some pressures that the ball needed to get thrown out and the ball not run — all correctable errors."

Still, those are errors that have to be corrected. Notre Dame ranks 74th in rushing success rate (efficiency), 84th in rushing IsoPPP (explosiveness) and 79th in opportunity rate (offensive line success). Until Brian VanGorder's defense proves it can consistently keep opponents out of the end zone — which is an if, not a when — Notre Dame's offense will have to power this team to enough wins to salvage the season. 

Most of those efforts fall on quarterback DeShone Kizer. But Kizer is at his most effective when he has a reliable run game rolling next to him, so repairing that part of the Irish engine is critical for this team's chances of avoiding a single-digit-win season. 

"I don't stand here right now worried about our running game," Kelly said. "I believe our running game is going to be where it needs to be."

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