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Notre Dame Notebook: Virginia Tech's Bud Foster Vs. Michigan's Don Brown

It's hard for me (and other writers, I'm sure) to continuously speculate as to why Notre Dame bombed on national TV against Michigan last weekend.

That's why it's understandable that Brian Kelly is also fed up with being publically asked and ridiculed about this but, at the end of the day, fans want and, to some degree, deserve answers.

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Unfortunately, that probably won't happen unless Notre Dame really does bounce back this weekend and wins out the rest of the season. Then in the spring, maybe Kelly will feel chipper enough to shed some light as to what was the catalyst that led to the Michigan fiasco.

For now, we're just going to have to settle for simplistic responses like the ones he gave during his radio show on Thursday night.

"I have to remind everybody about you know what it takes to win," Kelly said. "It's hard. It's humbling. We had a bad day."

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How Similar is the Virginia Tech Defense to Michigan's

Thanks to Jack Nolan, a question from a media member made its way into the queue last night.

Kelly was asked about comparing the legacies and defensive style of coordinators Don Brown, of Michigan, and Bud Foster, of Virginia Tech.

"They're both committed to stopping the run," He said. "So first and foremost. If you talk about philosophies, they're both multiple in terms of their fronts and looks. They're going to be in three down and four down. They're man teams predominantly. They can play zone and they will play zone."

"But I think they both come from a similar philosophy, that they're not going to let teams run the ball up and down the field."

At first, this may sound alarming to Irish fans. Could Notre Dame be running into a situation where their quarterback and offensive line look lost all day against Virginia Tech?

Not likely.

Virginia Tech ranks 91st in team efficiency defense, which is way behind Michigan at No. 9. This is about where the Hokies were in 2018 when they gave up 45 points to an Ian Book led offense at home.

So while they're similar philosophically, they are in different stages of their careers and have significantly different personnel.

Tony Jones is a Game-Time Decision

After injuring his ribs against Michigan, running back Tony Jones Jr. is a game-time decision for Saturday, which means chances are slim he gets — if any — action versus Virginia Tech.

This means that if the Irish are going to have much success running the ball against the Hokies, a team Kelly said is committed to stopping the run, then Jafar Armstrong is going to have to step up for the first time since going down with an abdominal injury in week one at Louisville.

Per Kelly, he received plenty of focused attention in practice.

"He's ready to play a big role this weekend," Kelly said, "and he's got the volume to do that."

It's likely that redshirt freshman running backs Jahmir Smith and C'bo Flemister also get some run against Virginia Tech.

Which begs the question: how much of the load is Armstrong going to be able to handle?

Managing Freshman Playing Time

Brian Kelly is known to dismiss praise of star freshman safety Kyle Hamilton, who blew up during fall camp due to a plethora of media-witnessed interceptions. He does this because he doesn't want expectations young player to grow too quickly.

Once again, Kelly might have done this again last night. When asked about what makes Hamilton standout, Kelly brought up his athleticism and size for the safety position, while also making it clear that even the freshman phenom struggles like everyone else his age.

"He's a unique talent from that standpoint, but he's a lot like the other freshmen," Kelly said. "He's hit the [freshman] wall a little bit."

When the team was in the auditorium for a meeting the other day, Hamilton was amazed that they still have almost half the season left and a bowl game.

"He looked up at the schedule and goes, 'Wow, we have six more games, coach?'" Kelly said.

But outside of Hamilton and defensive tackle Jacob Lacey, no other freshman are guaranteed to exceed the four-game redshirt rule.

Kelly said that discussions with a player as to whether or not they'll redshirt begin almost as soon as they get on campus.

"What we try to do early in the season is we try to have those discussions with the players that we're looking at plan early on," Kelly said. "So if we're playing you in game one, there's a sense that may be able to contribute the entire year."

Several players, such as freshman running back Kyren Williams are already at the four-game mark. It will be interesting to see if Notre Dame needs to call on them at any point for the rest of the season.

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