SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame’s defense thought it prepared for every possibility Navy’s offense could use in the season opener last weekend.
Then the Midshipmen introduced a new wrinkle on the very first play.
“We hadn’t practiced anything with two fullbacks on the field, and first play they come out with two fullbacks on the field,” said graduate senior linebacker Jack Kiser. “So that was a little adjustment we had to do.
“Everything we were doing was based off mainly the slotbacks, knowing who they were and matching up on them. Then they come out with two fullbacks. It’s one of those things where it was like, all right, adjust.
“We were able to fix it on the field. We’re going to treat that guy as a slotback, and we’re moving forward.”
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Notre Dame passed the early test after ceding some yardage on the first three drives of the game. Navy totaled 111 yards on those first three drives in the first and second quarters. It finished the game with 169 in a 42-3 loss to Notre Dame in Dublin, Ireland.
The adjustments demanded a lot of on-field communication among Notre Dame’s linebackers. Defensive coordinator Al Golden even called it "a shit show" with all the changes being made on the fly. They decided to count one of the fullbacks as a slotback, which required them all to be on the same page when it came to identifying the slotback.
“When you have a veteran defense like we do — we have a lot of old guys who have played a lot of ball — you just have that confidence to speak up and solve problems on the grass,” Kiser said. “That’s something coach Golden harps on. The best players are able to solve problems on the grass. Fix things when things aren’t exactly what you would expect. That’s what the best defensive players do. They are able to react to what the offense shows them and execute and make plays.”
Kiser had five tackles in the first quarter alone. All eight of his team-high tackles came in the first half. When Navy tried to throw Notre Dame for a loop, Kiser was able to find his way to the football.
He helped end Navy’s first drive by pressuring quarterback Tai Lavatai on a fourth-and-3 pass attempt that could have been completed if Navy’s receivers didn’t collide with each other. But Kiser forced the throw to be lofted with his pressure which changed the timing of the pass.
“We knew in that fringe area they like to take shots,” Kiser said.
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Kiser nearly secured Notre Dame’s first forced turnover of the season when he pounced on a ball fellow linebacker Marist Liufau knocked loose from slotback Eli Heidenreich. But Kiser was ruled out of bounds while trying to recover the fumble.
The sidelines at Aviva Stadium were pretty faint due to a pregame rain, but Kiser brushed that off as an excuse. He should have recognized that he didn’t need to be the one to recover the football if he was so close to going out of bounds.
“If you look at it on film, it’s all Notre Dame players [in the area],” Kiser said. “So I could have easily batted it back in and we could have recovered it. That’s really the coaching point. When you’re that tight on the sideline, don’t take the chance. Help someone else make the play.
“But, no, in the game, the ball comes out, the player I am, I’m going to do everything to get on the ball. I just happened to be a little close. I think my foot went out, and that was it.”
With Tennessee State awaiting Notre Dame for the Irish home opener on Saturday (3:30 p.m. EDT on NBC), Notre Dame completed Tuesday its first full pads practice in nearly a week. The practice, which is referred to as Bloody Tuesday within the program, was exciting one for the defense particularly. Not only was there physicality, but it no longer had to worry about defending the triple option.
“Schematically, now we’re going against pass concepts and manipulating fronts and what not,” Kiser said. “But in terms of just the physicality, you have to come in with the same mindset. With Navy, you know it’s going to be a tough game. There’s going to be a lot of hitting in tight quarters.
“Against any team on any Saturday, its college football, there’s going to be big hits. You have to come in and be ready to have heavy hands and deliver the blow.”
This Saturday will provide the first look at how Notre Dame chooses to operate with its base defense and nickel packages. Against Navy, Notre Dame’s three primary linebackers were among the top four in defensive snaps with Liufau leading the way at 45, JD Bertrand at 41 and Kiser at 34. Even sophomore linebacker Jaylen Sneed played 27 snaps.
The 6-foot-2, 232-pound Kiser spent the offseason and preseason trying to prove two things: his starting rover position could stay on the field more and he could play an inside linebacker role when asked.
“The big thing is trying to show how valuable of a player I am when I’m on the field, what type of plays I can make,” Kiser said. “Hopefully that shows that the rover can be out there.”
But when teams run a lot of 11 personnel (one running back and one tight end with three receivers), the Irish are likely to rely on a nickelback rather than a rover. That’s why Kiser spent time bulking up in the offseason and learning how to play more in between the tackles.
“That was the big mission and objective of this offseason,” Kiser said. “One, growing my frame, putting weight on and getting stronger. But then, two, getting more comfortable with the reads in the box, setting the front, making the adjustments, getting the boys up front to trust me. That was big.
“When you’re playing in the box, you’re running that front seven. That was big for me to show I can do that. I have the versatility to go outside, inside, wherever it takes. This spring, I took a huge step. This fall camp, obviously, I took another step again.”
To play more at will linebacker, Kiser will have to take snaps away from the 6-2, 239-pound Liufau, who led the Irish in defensive snaps last season. Liufau was named Notre Dame’s defensive player of the game against Navy. Golden will be tasked with finding ways to use them in combination with Bertrand and Sneed.
If there’s a niche for any of them, they need to make the most of their opportunities.
“I’m just going to be Jack Kiser,” Kiser said. “That means I’m going to go out there and do the best and try to execute every single call, make plays and be myself.
“… I’m going to go out there and try to show as much versatility as I can do. If that means playing rover, playing mike, playing will, I wanted to be able to do it all. That way I can show that I belong on the field.”
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