SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Despite an extremely sluggish first half, No. 6 Notre Dame defeated the University of Massachusetts on Saturday, 62-27. What wasn’t sluggish was the play of Irish running back C.J. Prosise.
The senior from Virginia was appointed starting running back when Tarean Folston tore his ACL against Texas in the first game of the season. Prosise, the converted safety and wide receiver, set the record for the longest rushing touchdown in Notre Dame Stadium history when he went 91 yards against Georgia Tech on September 19.
With the injury bug taking its toll on Notre Dame in just four games, Prosise has stepped up and provided stability for the offense. Head Coach Brian Kelly attributes his adabtability to the running back position to another Irish coach.
“Autry Denson does a great job,” Kelly said of the Notre Dame running back coach. “He’s our all-time leading rusher here at Notre Dame. He’s able to have conversations about the position that are real — in a way that he’s played the position, so he can really impact him with a lot of knowledge, so that’s been very helpful in his learning curve.”
Prosise is also thrilled with Coach Denson’s teaching methods thus far.
“It’s been great for me. It’s really important just the way he coaches me — he teaches me the fundamentals but he also says ‘go play football,'” Prosise said.
There’s no doubt that Prosise’s play has spearheaded the Irish rush game. Since 2005, Notre Dame has won 55 of its 60 games when recording more rushing yards than its opponent, including a 3-0 mark this season. With the injury to mobile quarterback Malike Zaire, the Golden Domers will be relying heavily on the run game for the remainder of the season, which means the Notre Dame offensive line will be a key deciding factor.
“They’re just doing such a great job, especially their communication and how they communicate with each other,” Prosise said of the offensive line. “They’re seeing everything, they’re calling out blitzes early and they just help us so much in so many ways.”
Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer also credits the offensive line for their dominating play.
“You’ve got to give it to the offensive line. No matter who’s running behind that, there’s going to be some sort of a hole or some sort of a gap,” Kizer said.
Thanks to the offensive line, Prosise has been unstoppable this year for the Irish. He trusts the guys up front and really allows them to open the holes before he attacks — a sign of a veteran running back. But Prosise has only been a running back for a couple of weeks, so where does this patience come from?
“I’d say the other thing would be that he’s a natural runner, and if he wasn’t, I don’t think that he could have been ascending in the manner that he is,” Kelly said of Prosise. “He’s ascended quickly, and so I think we’ve got to credit the athlete himself as a natural runner of the football.”
Wide receiver Chris Brown knew Prosise had the ability, but wasn’t sure how well it would translate to the running back position.
“I’m a little surprised by how natural he is, but I’m not surprised by his skill level. The way he prepares and the straight-out athlete he is, I knew that from day one,” Brown said. “He’s got a strong lower body, great balance and he’s great with a ball in his hands.”
The Fighting Irish have run for over 200 yards in five straight games, extending back to the 2014 Music City Bowl win over LSU. The last time Notre Dame opened a season with four-straight 200-yard rushing games was in 1989 — when the Irish began the season with 11 in a row.
Prosise rushed for 154 yards in 15 attempts on Saturday against Massachusetts and scored two touchdowns — one of which went for 57 yards.
He has now rushed for more than 100 yards for the third straight game. He scored three touchdowns against Georgia Tech — the most in a single game for an Irish running back since 2011 by Jonas Gray, who is currently with the Miami Dolphins.
Simply put, Prosise is unstoppable. But even he is shocked at how he’s dominating as a running back so quickly.
“I always knew I could be a great player here and make the big plays for us, but I never thought I would do it playing running back,” the 2014 Notre Dame Special Teams Player of the Year said.
Notre Dame travels to Death Valley next week for a must-win game against No. 11 Clemson. Look for The Irish to rely on the running game and C.J. Prosise as they hope to keep their playoff hopes alive.