The 2015 season was such a high water mark for the running game at Notre Dame that it was going to be a tough task to repeat that type of performance without a few pieces who moved on to the NFL. The 2016 unit had its moments but the Irish felt a hard crash of reality without a highly productive ground attack.

Snap Count

Josh Adams, JR- 495 (158 carries, 933 yards, 5.91 average, 21 receptions, 193 yards, 6 total TD)
Tarean Folston- 209 (77 carries, 334 yards, 4.34 average, 8 receptions, 66 yards, 2 total TD)
Dexter Williams, JR- 126 (39 carries, 200 yards, 5.13 average, 4 receptions, 16 yards, 3 total TD)
Justin Brent- 0 (N/A)

BOLD denotes out of eligibility/transfer/no longer with program
Eligibility is for 2017 season

No one embodied the crash down to earth like Josh Adams who gained 95 more yards on 42 more carries from his freshman season. He also had the misfortune, in this context, of going from the surprise backup freshman All-American to being asked to shoulder most of the load and be The Guy as an underclassman.

To be fair, almost any back would’ve struggled to maintain Adams’ 2015 season when he flirted with the school record for rushing average and set that mark, and several others, for freshman production. At the end of the day when you’re not seemingly happy with 5.91 yards per carry it’s not exactly a pure look at one season.

For Folston the 2016 season would turn out to be a frustrating and disappointing end to his career. Coming off a season-ending injury from the previous fall he was never able to get going, missed 2 full games, and finished with career lows in carries, yards, and rushing average.

The Irish really missed a healthy Folston who would’ve been such a calming and steady influence over the entire offense. They were able to get away without Folston in 2015 with the explosiveness of Prosise and Adams but not when the lineup was altered for 2016.

More carries for Dexter Williams will certainly be a major off-season story line yet through 2 years the Florida native has been limited to just 60 carries. Just about everyone wanted to see him featured a little bit more as a sophomore. Williams received 15 carries in the 2 games missed by Folston, as well as a solid 8 carries early in the season versus Nevada. In the other 9 games, Dexter was limited to 16 carries.

Unfortunately, the career of Justin Brent never took off and he leaves Notre Dame for a grad transfer as one of the biggest busts in recent memory. The former Top 100 recruit and number one recruit from the state of Indiana leaves behind a special teams career from his freshman season but otherwise no catches or carries in his career.

New Faces

Tony Jones, r-FR
C.J. Holmes, FR

Most expect these pair of freshmen to make an impact in 2017, especially Jones who came in at a stout 215 as a freshman and impressed with his quick feet and pass catching ability. We were told Jones could’ve played last year but that a redshirt was the plan from the beginning of the season.

Holmes shouldn’t be too different of a player than his teammate Jones. He has good size and enough of a skill-set to carry the ball out of the backfield or flank out into the slot.

The loss of DeShone Kizer could potentially open the door for more third back carries. From 2015-16, Kizer ate up 263 carries while the third back on the roster totaled less than a quarter of that.

Grade: C-

Although Josh Adams didn’t have a breakout season into national stardom he was still pretty good for most of the season. He did almost average 6 yards per carry and fell just short of a 1,000 yard season.

However, the truth is that Folston really struggled and his 4.34 YPC was the lowest average for any Irish running back in the two deep over the last 8 seasons. With Dexter Williams barely featuring in the backfield these two really dragged down the grade.