Brian Kelly & Notre Dame's Thursday Practice Notebook
The 91st consecutive meeting between Notre Dame and Navy will not be played in ideal conditions this Saturday, but with both teams ranking among the top 6 nationally in rushing — the Midshipmen No. 1 at 369.8 and the Fighting Irish No. 6 at 303.2 — they are well suited to be successful on the ground in the latter part of November.
The forecast for the game includes 90-percent precipitation, and winds ranging from 20-to-25 miles per hour, although the temperature might not reach the 32 degrees freezing mark.
Whatever Mother Nature brings Saturday, head coach Brian Kelly said after Thursday’s practice inside Notre Dame Stadium that the Irish players are well acclimated.
“The weather was probably 39 degrees out there today, our guys are not affected by it,” he said. “The wind could be a factor, but they don’t punt the ball, [and] we don’t plan on punting it very often.
“So when you take the punting game out of it, you’re really talking about the field goal game. We saw that we shouldn’t kick field goals [against Navy] — that’s not a good thing playing Navy.”
Notre Dame had only six possessions against Navy last season — the fewest in an FBS game since Northern Illinois also had six in a 16-0 loss to Navy in 2008 — and scored three touchdowns and two field goals off them. Trailing 28-24 with 7:28 remaining, though, Kelly opted to kick a 31-yard field goal on fourth-and-four from the Navy 14 rather than go for it.
Alas, the Irish never got the ball back after the kickoff. On their previous go-ahead touchdown drive, the Midshipmen used nine minutes off the clock.
“Now you’re down to kickoffs, so that’s a manageable situation,” said Kelly of the role the wind will play this week. “… Whittling it down to where the wind could be a factor in the fourth quarter.”
In terms of putting the 41-8 loss at Miami behind them, Kelly was positive about the preparation of his No. 8-ranked Irish, but noted how with Navy’s triple-option no one can afford to take plays off.
“You can stay focused for Navy 10 plays, 12 plays, and if you don’t stay focused, they hit you with a big play because they’re so efficient in what they do,” he said.
Navy starting quarterback Zach Abey is ranked fifth nationally in rushing yards per game with a 150.3 average, but was sidelined in last week’s 43-40 win versus SMU with a shoulder injury. In his place, former slot back Malcolm Perry was inserted and romped for 282 yard while attempting only one pass. Perry is considered doubtful this week with a sprained ankle injury, but has not been officially ruled out. Abey or junior Garret Lewis, who threw two fourth-quarter touchdown passes in the 34-26 loss at Temple, could be the alternatives, although Navy understandably is keeping it close to the vest.
“It’s plug and play,” Kelly said. “They’re prepared for their quarterback going down.”
Last year Navy was 8-of-13 on third downs against Notre Dame (61.5 percent), and perhaps even more important, 4-of-5 on fourth downs, which kept the chains moving. This year the Midshipmen rank 8th nationally in third-down efficiency at 47.6 percent. Kelly stated that the Irish defense needs to be more assertive with its calls this year.
“Last year we were in a transition on defense and it was important for us to be fundamentally sound, and maybe there were some things we could have done to be a little more aggressive,” Kelly said. “I’m not saying we’re going to turn this thing into a blitz festival, but we’ve got to get off the field on third down and sometimes you have to prompt it with some different looks.
“They’ve seen everything. It’s not like Navy hasn’t seen every defensive structure known to football. It’s key for us to get off the field on third down.”
Several years ago the Irish used Stephon Tuitt in the middle to control the line of scrimmage versus Navy, and Kelly was asked whether junior Jerry Tillery might have a similar role at nose guard.
“He’s not the same player,” Kelly said. “Stephon was physically a different player, but what Jerry has is he’s hard to keep blocked. He’s got the ability to get off blocks and he’ll be difficult to handle in there. I think we’re physically stronger with Jonathan Bonner, and we’re going to be able to run a little more depth than we did last year inside.”
Irish Items
• Senior wide receiver Cam Smith was the lone Notre Dame player ruled out to play in the game, but he could be available at Stanford next weekend. Smith had a Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) treatment. He has not played since the Oct. 14 USC game and has eight catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.
• Walk-ons Robby Regan and Nolan Henry were the scout-team quarterbacks this week. The junior Regan, who starts on kickoff coverage, is a 216-pound linebacker who was a proficient high school option quarterback. Classmate Henry added a little more speed with his 195-pound frame.
• When asked about the development of younger players along the offensive line and linebacker, where seniors have seen the majority of action this year, Kelly said he’s been particularly pleased with the progress of sophomore left tackle Liam Eichenberg and freshman guard Josh Lugg.
Defensively, he noted that freshman Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah possesses “interesting traits” the staff will be eager to work with next spring.
• Kelly said that current sophomore safety Alohi Gilman, who is ineligible this season after transferring from Navy, was not tapped for any inside information or trade secrets.
“It would compromise the trust with the players he was with,” Kelly said. “We're glad he's not with their team anymore.”
Gilman recorded a team high 12 tackles in the win versus Notre Dame last season.
----
• Talk about it inside Rockne's Roundtable
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, Blue & Gold Illustrated.
• Follow us on Twitter: @BGINews, @BGI_LouSomogyi, @BGI_CoachD, @BGI_DMcKinney and @BGI_CoreyBodden.
• Like us on Facebook