Notre Dame football: Irish start hot for once, dominate Virginia on the road
By Brad Weiss
The Notre Dame football team took care of business against Virginia in Week 11, dominating the Cavaliers on the road for win No. 9 on the season.
The Notre Dame football team ran their record to 9-1 on the season on Saturday night, easily taking care of business against the Virginia Cavaliers. The Irish finally were able to start strong, getting out to a 21-0 halftime lead, and never looked back from there.
Early on, the Irish looked like they were not taking any chances, going for it on fourth down on their first possession. After turning it over on downs, Notre Dame got Virginia to go three-and-out, as they harassed freshman quarterback Jay Woolfolk, making his first start in the place of Brennan Armstrong, one of the more prolific quarterbacks in the country.
Once the Irish got the ball back, they started to dominate Virginia, and their first touchdown drive was on the strength of Kyren Williams, who ran the ball down the Cavaliers’ throats, setting up a six-yard touchdown pass from Jack Coan to Michael Mayer.
Another three-and-out set up touchdown No. 2, and this time, true freshman running back Logan Diggs had a highlight-reel run, hurdling a Virginia defender on a third down to extend the drive. The drive would be capped off by Coan’s second touchdown, as Braden Lenzy had a highlight play as well, diving over a few defenders and into the end zone.
With their backs against the wall early, Virginia put together a nice drive but would stall on fourth down. Notre Dame came right back, going 80 yards on nine plays, with Williams rumbling for 22 yards to finish the drive in style. An Irish INT by Ramon Henderson would finish out the half with Notre Dame up 21-0.