Advertisement
football Edit

Notre Dame Planning To Work On Physical Therapy

Perhaps in the coming days and weeks some pertinent big-picture Notre Dame football items will be answered as they arise.

Will the coaching staff continue to stay the course with senior Ian Book, who has a fifth year of eligibility in 2020, or will sophomore Phil Jurkovec, who arrived with more accolades and potentially a higher ceiling, be integrated into the lineup?

Get a FREE 60-day trial using promo code Irish60

Advertisement
Michigan imposed a physicality in its 45-14 win that Notre Dame could not match.
Michigan imposed a physicality in its 45-14 win that Notre Dame could not match. (Photo by Lon Horwedel)

Can running back Jafar Armstrong be effective this year, or did the abdominal surgery in September take something away that he can't regain this fall?

Why did junior receiver Michael Young decide he wants to transfer right in the heart of the season when Notre Dame had been, at the time, still in playoff contention?

What happened to the defense where its four esteemed captains — ends Julian Okwara and Khalid Kareem, and safeties Alohi Gilman and Jalen Elliott — have not been as effective as projected?

For now, though, while beginning preparations for a 5-2 Virginia Tech that has won three straight and is coming off a bye, there is one centralized priority this week that will dictate the fortunes of the rest of this season: Physicality

During Michigan’s 45-14 victory over the Irish on Saturday night, the Wolverines didn’t even seem interested in passing the ball in the rain and wind, completing only 3 of 8 passes for 30 yards through the first three quarters, and at one point running 18 straight plays that weren’t a pass. Michigan out-rushed Notre Dame by an embarrassing 303-47.

“More than anything else is controlling the line of scrimmage," said Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly in his Sunday teleconference on what he wants to see improved. “It's about the physicality that we have to get back. We've had it. We did not have it in this game and for us to improve our lot, as it relates to winning football games, we have to be able to bring a physicality to our play — and we'll be working on that this week."

In its previous contest, Notre Dame itself romped for 308 yards in a 30-27 win versus USC, which is in the driver’s seat to win the Pac-12 South. The Irish also demonstrated a physicality during a 23-17 loss at then No. 3 Georgia and a 35-20 win versus Virginia.

“Physicality is a mindset and our players have had it before,” Kelly said. "They know what it's like. We've got to get back to that identity. We'll meet with our team here tomorrow and we'll begin working on getting them back to truly who they are as a football team, because they weren't that team last night.”


The big-picture questions, including whether Notre Dame can now get to a Big Six bowl, are impertinent to an operation that until last night trailed only Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Oklahoma the past two-and-a-half years in winning percentage among the 65 Power 5 Conference schools.

"This is a team that has a lot of pride, won a lot of football games,” Kelly said. “…So, how do you really want to be defined? By the play that you had that people saw on national television? There's a lot that these young men want to put forth this weekend.

“Short term goals are really what is most important right now … It won't be on playoffs and not being in the playoffs, and bowl games and things like that. That's not really high motivating factors.

"What's a high motivating factor is playing football the right way.”

PERSONNEL ITEMS

• Running back Tony Jones Jr., who had eight carries for 14 yards before suffering a rib injury, checked out “clean” with his X-ray on Sunday.

“He's got sore ribs, so obviously we will be careful with him this week, but we expect that he would be able to play this weekend,” Kelly said.

• Senior right guard Tommy Kraemer will have an MRI on his knee later, but early signs point more to a sprain than any tears.

Kraemer headed back to his Cincinnati hometown after the game to attend a funeral of a family member, and he was able to leave without any major assistance.

• Kelly said he’s not sure what has prompted Young to likely enter the transfer portal, but he still intends to meet with him soon.

“Our feelings are that we think Notre Dame is a great place, but if Michael decides that he wants to move on, that's what the transfer portal is for,” Kelly said. “He gets that opportunity and that option to pursue other opportunities, so the rest is just really speculation on my part.”

----

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_MikeSinger, @CoachDeDario and @AndrewMentock.

• Like us on Facebook.

Advertisement