Brian Kelly Notebook: Nov. 2

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Heading into Saturday’s matchup against Wake Forest, Notre Dame will relatively healthy minus tight end Alizé Mack, who will sit out due to a concussion he suffered against NC State.

The same cannot be said for the Demon Deacons, however.

Star redshirt freshman wide receiver Greg Dortch was ruled out for the season earlier this after suffering an abdominal injury in Wake Forest’s 42-32 win over Louisville last Saturday. Dortch was by far the team’s top receiver with 53 catches for 722 yards and nine touchdowns.

And the hits have just kept coming for Dave Clawson’s group.

The team’s leading tackler and star safety, Jessie Bates, will also miss the Notre Dame game along with senior running back Cade Carney.

Bates recorded 100 tackles in 2016 and is the team’s leading tackler through eight games with 63 total stops.

“He’s a captain back there,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said about Bates. “He’s the quarterback. From a third down perspective, they let him kind of roam on third down. He cuts crossers and he has the eyes on the quarterback. He’s a top end players. Shame for them, obviously a break for us. He’s a heck of a player. You can see that he’s the guy back there that’s is leading that back-end group.”

Even with the loss of Dortch and Carney, Kelly knows his defense has a challenge in front of it in regards to Wake Forest’s offense led by senior John Wolford. On the season, Wolford has competed 119 of 181 passes (65.7 percent) for 1,660 yards, 15 touchdowns and two interceptions.

Kelly touched on what has impressed him about Wake Forest on the offensive end when watching film.

“I think the tempo, the quarterback, their ability to really spread you out and get some guys into some space,” Kelly stated. “They did a great job against Louisville of spreading them out, getting some one-on-one matchups. Their RPOs are difficult to defend. So, I’d say tempo, the quarterback. A veteran quarterback who has been in system who has taken his lumps if you will and has really grown. Then they get their guys in space to make plays. I think defensively they get you off schedule with tackles for loss. Those would be my bullet points.”

Mentioned above is Notre Dame’s lone expected contributing player to be out against the Demon Deacons. Kelly touched on several players who are good to go on Saturday.

“Didn’t even get treatment this week with the ankle,” Kelly said about starting quarterback Brandon Wimbush.

“[Tony Jones Jr.] looks really good. No affects from the ankle. Our concerns were with the hip with him. He looked good.”

“[Cam Smith] practiced this week. He should be activated.”

“[Jonathan] Bonner looked good.”

Thursday has been a day of interest lately in regards to Wimbush after Kelly mentioned recently that Wimbush has really developed in the two-minute drill, etc.

Kelly discussed if anything stood out about Wimbush’s efforts during today’s practice.

“I just think that he’s so much more aware of what he needs to do to build routines to get him to the level that you’re going to see that show itself on Saturdays,” Kelly said. “Putting a Thursday together today with last Thursday with ball placement and good decisions. I can see that that’s starting to build the routine necessary for that to start to show itself on a more consistent basis on a Saturday.”

Wimbush has completed 87 of 169 passes (51.5 percent) for 1,007 yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions this season.

Notre Dame was unable to get Navy transfer Alohi Gilman eligible for the 2017 season, so the safety will make his Irish debut next fall.

But that doesn’t mean his impact isn’t already being felt within the Irish program.

“I couldn’t even begin to tell you what he does,” Kelly said of Gilman. “We have 6 a.m. lift every Friday with our ‘developmental guys.’ He has a meeting with them every Thursday to make sure everyone is there at 5:45. He’s a great leader.

“He is an impactful player on our demo scout team. He challenges all of our guys on a day-to-day basis. His presence is known in our program. Everybody respects him and knows he’s going to impact this program next year. He’s already doing that in the roles that he can right now.”

Kelly mentioned a few freshmen who have caught his attention during the fall.

“Fast-twitch guys like [Jeremiah] Owusu[-Koramoah]. You can see his clear ability to fire. He’s got some natural talents. I’d say [wide receiver] Jafar Armstrong. Very impressive freshman for us. [Defensive end] Kofi Wardlow when he puts on some more size has some suddenness. I’d say [offensive tackle] Josh Lugg has been up with us quite a bit. We’re very impressed with him. They would be a few of the guys who stand out right now.”

Over the first several games of the season, sophomore Julian Love manned the field cornerback position while junior Nick Watkins held down the boundary cornerback spot.

Over the past two games however, the two have flipped sides with Love moving to the boundary and Watkins to the field. Kelly and the defensive staff felt the switch would play better each player’s individual strengths.

“Nick’s a really good and long short field player,” Kelly said Thursday. “We have tendency to run some half coverage back there. You saw on his interception he baited the quarterback. He’s long, good tackler. Not that Love is not, but we like to roll that corner into the boundary and you don’t do it to the field … It just matched some of the skills he has where we can roll him up a little bit.

“We’re just trying to match some different things that we’re doing with their skill set. We’re further along in the schedule where we can flip them back-and-forth depending on what the situations are from week-to-week.”

For Kelly, Love’s versatility to play either spot helped when making the switch.

“That’s kind of the unique thing about him,” Kelly explained. “We’ve run some different combination coverages with him too. We just like to put a little more on his plate. Not that Nick couldn’t handle it; we just think he’s much more suited to play some different coverages. In particular, some more combination coverages and man coverages as well.”

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