Brian Kelly's Sunday Notre Dame Notebook
Head coach Brian Kelly’s teleconference Sunday afternoon cut to the chase regarding Notre Dame’s health status entering next Saturday’s showdown at 8-0 Miami, whose 13-game winning streak is the longest in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Brandon Wimbush — Bruised his left hand on a play that occurred shortly before halftime after the quarterback's 28-yard run to the Wake Forest one-yard line.He still excelled with it in the second half
“Ice pack on it. He's good to go,” Kelly summarized.
Josh Adams — After carrying five times for 22 yards, the Heisman Trophy candidate sat the rest of the contest, with Kelly explaining afterwards that the junior running back just wasn’t feeling right. He elaborated on Sunday.
“I want to make sure that everybody is clear on this, because I saw reports out there that he was in a concussion protocol,” Kelly said. “He was never — I repeat — never in the concussion protocol. He felt great today. He'll continue to practice and be ready for Miami.”
The decision to not reinsert him against Wake Forest was precautionary.
“When somebody doesn't feel quite right, whether it's concussion or otherwise, we're going to make sure we do the right thing for the student-athlete first,” Kelly said “… Our medical staff will make those decisions. The head coach and assistant coaches are out of that decision-making process.”
Khalid Kareem — Sophomore defensive end whose snap count has consistently been expanding as the season progresses had a hyperextension of his knee in the second half.
“He's a little sore, but he won't be limited this week,” Kelly said.
Alize Mack — Junior tight end was sidelined against Wake Forest after incurring a concussion the previous week versus North Carolina State. He has gone through the protocol, and the most recent report was encouraging.
“Will lift with the team and will be practicing on Tuesday,” said Kelly.
Dexter Williams — Junior running back is not bothered as much anymore by what was a lingering ankle sprain, but he does have a quad contusion that the coach stated leaves his status in uncertainty from week to week.
“It's an old injury that has been one that has popped up here and there,” Kelly said. “As you saw in his long run [a 32-yard scamper in the third quarter with the Irish ahead 34-10], it affected him …It's a day-to-day thing. We'll just have to see how he responds on Tuesday."
Nick Watkins — Tendinitis hampered the senior cornerback against Wake Forest, which is why sophomore Troy Pride Jr. saw much more action, especially the second half.
“Anybody that has tendinitis, it's something that flares up from time to time,” Kelly said. “This is not going to inhibit him from playing at a high level. That was more of a coach's decision to play Troy a little bit more in the game. Nick is fine. We have a great deal of confidence in Nick. It was a situation where Nick and Troy were kind of splitting that position.”
Wake-Up Call
Oftentimes when there is an extra week of preparation for an opponent, a coaching staff might begin to out-think itself or overanalyze.
That might have been the case with Notre Dame’s defense against Wake Forest while yielding 37 points, 239 yards rushing and 587 yards total offense. First-year Irish defensive coordinator Mike Elko, who built a strong reputation with the Demon Deacons from 2014-16, has been the mastermind to Notre Dame being the last team in the FBS to not allow more than 20 points in a game.
Against Wake Forest, though, the Irish maybe didn’t quite dance with what brought them to a level that surprisingly had made them the nation’s No. 10-ranked scoring defense with a 16.1 average.
“Maybe got too cute in terms of what we were trying to accomplish,” Kelly admitted. “Maybe trying to cover up some things that we thought they knew about us, didn't do what we normally do. We'll take some of the blame for that in terms of coaching. I think that's part of it.”
After Notre Dame moved ahead 41-16 with 2:04 left in the third quarter, Wake Forest embarked on 75-, 70- and 90-yard touchdown drives.
“We didn't handle ourselves in a manner to close out the game the way we have all year,” Kelly said. “So a little bit of coaching there, a little bit of having a killer instinct on defense — and Wake Forest executing extremely well.”
Miami Preview
With Notre Dame ranked No. 3 and 8-0 Miami boasting the nation’s longest winning streak, it was inevitable that the storyline about the rivalry and enmity between the two schools from 1987-90 would be broached.
When asked where he was and what he was doing when Notre Dame defeated No. 1 Miami in the epic 31-30 win in 1988 that propelled the school’s most recent national title in football, Kelly tried to keep it relatively low key.
“I was a graduate assistant at Grand Valley State,” he replied. “Really was more worried about cutting up film and getting my job done than watching what was happening between Notre Dame and Miami. Most of our guys, they know the history of the rivalry certainly. It really doesn't impact what they do in terms of their preparation.”
He did say it’s been a long time coming for both schools to return to the stature they currently possess.
“You would think sooner or later they're going to meet again with something that's on the line,” Kelly said. “We're excited that we're back in that position for our university. Other than that, we don't spend much time thinking about the past.”
The Miami team that Notre Dame defeated 30-27 last year (the last time the Hurricanes lost) is not the same, and neither are the Irish. It’s also not the same situation like the last time Notre Dame played at the Miami Gardens venue — the 42-14 loss to Alabama in the Jan. 7, 2013 BCS Championship when the Crimson Tide was up 35-0 halfway through the third quarter.
Two of the huge differences are the showdown occurs in the regular season and there is typical preparation time rather than more than a month. The stage will not be as overwhelming.
"It's certainly a big game, but we've had big games before,” Kelly said. “Our team is built differently. I like the way this team is built for big games in terms of our physicality and our ability to take the ball away defensively. Kind of feel better about going into this game than maybe the national championship game.”
Kelly was in only his third season back then, too.
“When you're here longer, you get a better sense of your place, your place in history as it relates to the tradition of Notre Dame football,” he said. “Not living up to the standards of Notre Dame last year, you focused a lot more on wanting to make sure that you do so. That gives you a better perspective on the successes of Notre Dame football.
“…When it starts to reach the level it has for me, you become a lot more aware of the history, the tradition, the success, the rivalries from that perspective than maybe in your first two years. You've got your head down [then], you're really grinding.”
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