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Brian Kelly Sunday Notebook: Improving Pass Game Is A Goal

Equanimeous St. Brown has caught only three passes for 19 yards the past two weeks.
Equanimeous St. Brown has caught only three passes for 19 yards the past two weeks. (Photo by Bill Panzica)

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On Saturday, the central topic of Notre Dame’s 49-20 victory at Boston College was a ground attack that rampaged for 515 yards, the most in an Irish game since 1969. Plus, for only the sixth recorded time in NCAA history, two players from the same team rushed for more than 200 yards.

On Sunday afternoon, though, the attention during head coach Brian Kelly’s teleconference turned to Notre Dame’s passing attack that struggled, finishing in double-digit passing yardage (96) for only the second time in his eight seasons. The first was in Hurricane Matthew last year when DeShone Kizer was 9 of 26 for 54 yards in the 10-3 loss at North Carolina State.

As explosive as junior Brandon Wimbush was with his legs at Boston College with a school record 207 yards rushing by a quarterback, his passing was erratic — 11 of 24 for 96 yards and an interception.

Other than a perfectly placed 33-yard corner route to fifth-year senior tight end Durham Smythe and using junior tight end Alize Mack (five catches, 43 yards) on mainly dump-off, safety valve tosses, the passing game was ineffective — although pass protection received high marks from Kelly.

“Our quarterback had time,” he said. “We've got to coach it better, we've got to catch better, and we've got to be more accurate. All those three things have to come together this week because we're going to have to be more efficient in the passing game.

“We don't have to throw for 300 yards, but we've got to hit receivers. Receivers have got to make some tough catches, and we've got to put Brandon in a position where we're featuring the things that he does well.”

That doesn’t mean going to more of a power-I, option attack, a la the Lou Holtz/Tony Rice days in 1988-89 when the Irish won a school record 23 consecutive games. Nevertheless, the current Irish offense has option principles implemented for Wimbush that have been run.

“We'll continue to do that,” Kelly said. “I thought he had some great reads in the option, got the ball out on the perimeter, and I think that's what makes him very difficult to defend.”

Regarding the receiving corps, there were numerous news items:

• The two graduate transfers who began the season as starters — Cameron Smith and Freddy Canteen — are currently out of commission. Canteen (one catch, seven yards) is out for the remainder of the year because of a torn labrum, and he will underdog surgery on Tuesday.

Per Kelly, Smith (seven catches, 54 yards) rolled an ankle badly during the week of practice for Boston College, which is why he didn’t play, and his availability in the near future is uncertain.

• After snaring only two passes for 16 yards a week earlier in the loss to Georgia, junior Equanimeous St. Brown — a potential All-American candidate in the preseason after catching 58 passes last season that averaged 16.6 yards — had just one reception for three yards versus the Eagles. He broke open several times but was overshot most often, with one resulting in an interception.

• At Boston College, the only other wideout to catch a pass was sophomore Chase Claypool — two for eight yards — while getting a starting role in place of Smith at the X (field side).

“We may move him inside a little bit to the Z (slot), but he's big, he's physical, he's got speed,” Kelly said. “We just think that he needs to continue to grow at that position. He blocked very well for us. He was assignment correct. We saw him really grow in the areas that we wanted him to grow in, and I think in terms of all the receivers, they just have to make more plays for us, contested catches — and they will.

“Hasn't got off to the kind of start we want, but it's a long season, and I have a great deal of confidence in them.”

• Kelly confirmed that the plan is to redshirt sophomore Javon McKinley, the highest-rated receiver recruit on the roster, after a year of eligibility was burned on him last year. He played only half the season, almost exclusively on special teams, before a broken fibula sidelined him in November.

“I don't want to accelerate them through the program unless they are squared away in terms of all of your traits,” Kelly said. “Right now it looks like that's leaning towards the potential for a redshirt year.”

• Sophomore Kevin Stepherson, whose 25 catches averaged 18.5 yards in 2016 and included five scores, reportedly was suspended for the first four games this season, which the University is neither confirming nor denying. Either way, his status this season remains murky.

Finding the right sync between new starter Wimbush and the receivers has been part of the problem.

“He’s seeing it maybe a little late, and then communicating it a little bit late, so I think the processing has just got to be a little bit quicker, which effectively moves everybody in unison,” Kelly said. "He's seeing it — but it's a little bit late, and consequently that's a little bit of his passing game, too, which forces him to rush things and overthrow a little bit — more recognition.”

Wimbush has excelled with the corner route, finding St. Brown on the first play of the season for 33 yards and doing the same with Smythe at BC.

“It came out of his hand beautifully,” Kelly said. “He was positioned great in the pocket … When he sees things and he's confident and he knows them, he's synced up and he syncs up our offense wonderfully. We've just got to get him to that, and when we do, I think we've got great balance.”

With a hostile environment awaiting in Spartan Stadium next Saturday night, the development might need to be accelerated, although living by the “be quick, but don’t hurry” mantra of John Wooden is recommended.

“We'll do our best to turn up the intensity here in practice, but again, he's going to have to be emotionally in the right place,” Kelly said of Wimbush. “He's got the skills and the strategy necessary to keep those distractions out, and we're pretty confident he'll be able to do that.”

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