Quick-hitters: Brian Kelly on Cincinnati, DL depth, quarterbacks
Cincinnati sits as the only ranked team on Notre Dame’s schedule.
The No. 7 Bearcats (3-0) visit Notre Dame Stadium Saturday (2:30 p.m., NBC) to play the No. 9 Irish (4-0) in a top-10 matchup. They’re coming off a bye week that followed a 38-24 win at Indiana Sept. 18. They have also defeated Miami (Ohio) and FCS opponent Murray State.
“They’re deserving of where they’re ranked,” Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said. “This is clearly, from our perspective, the best team we’ve played up to this point.”
Notre Dame’s quarterback situation heading into the game isn't yet clear. Starter Jack Coan left last week’s 41-13 win over Wisconsin with an ankle injury. Freshman Tyler Buchner, who played in spurts the prior two games, was held out due to a hamstring issue. Sophomore Drew Pyne came on in relief of Coan.
Tuesday’s practice will provide more clarity, Kelly said.
“If Jack is healthy, Jack will be our starter,” Kelly said. “Tyler felt really good yesterday in treatment. He declared himself feeling good, so that’s good for us. That allows us to get him back into the mix. We’ll see when we get on the field tomorrow.
“If [Jack] looks good, he will be our starter and Tyler Buchner will play like we had before this last game. If he can’t, Drew is ready to go.”
Here are some other topics Kelly addressed in his 20-minute media session Monday afternoon.
On Cincinnati quarterback Desmond Ridder
“He’s a playmaker. He reminds me of the kid we went against, [Bryce] Perkins, at Virginia a couple years back. He’s very athletic, can make plays with his feet. Deceptively accurate, strong arm, talented. He’s a really good quarterback and has a lot of experience.”
On Cincinnati’s defense
“They return a lot of veterans to a defense that has a new coordinator, but a very similar scheme to what they’ve been running. A lot of good depth from a defensive structure.
“On the back end, probably as talented as we’ll see. They’ll challenge every throw. You’re going to get an assortment of different coverages. I really like [Coby] Bryant at corner to the field and [Ahmad] Gardner to the boundary. Gardner is long, athletic, likes to press. Two really good corners.”
On coaching former Notre Dame assistant and Cincinnati offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock
“I think he has done an incredible job at Cincinnati and maintained a high level of offense. If you look at where they are, Mike has been part of that ascent. They’ve played really good defense and Marcus Freeman has been lauded for that, but Mike has done an incredible job on the offensive side of the ball and maintaining that over a long period of time.
"I have a ton of respect for Mike. We’re great friends, we stay in contact, but great competitors too. He wants to beat us and I want to beat him. He wouldn’t want it any other way.”
On Notre Dame’s defensive line depth
“We knew what we had with Howard Cross III. He was very difficult to block Saturday. They had an outstanding center and they had to double-team him all day. That freed up Jacob Lacey, who was difficult to block.
“Rylie Mills was outstanding. Justin Ademilola was really, really good. Alex Ehrensberger got some playing time. There’s a lot of depth there. They play smart, play to their traits and [Defensive line coach] Mike Elston does a good job keeping those guys ready to play."
On cornerback Clarence Lewis moving from the field to the boundary
“We wanted to get him into the boundary. We just like his physicality. Not that Cam [Hart] is not physical, but we just felt like Cam could do some of the things we saw Saturday — he’s fluid, he’s fast, his transition is great. He slid under a couple of those routes.
“I think we found the right fit in terms of where they are. Clarence is a guy who’s built more for that boundary position.”
On the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty he got vs. Wisconsin when objecting to a hit on safety Kyle Hamilton during a punt
“We had it pretty clear. When two guys take a run at someone, I guess it’s not targeting. If you try to stop somebody from going in the end zone, I guess that’s targeting. We just don’t have it right yet, and your eyes should tell you what’s going on. Sometimes we hide behind the rule book.
"It wasn’t officiated in the manner I thought it should have been. They thought because I went three feet on the field, I should get a flag for them not officiating it correctly.”
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