Quick-hitters: Brian Kelly on Wisconsin, tying Rockne, defense improvement
The Shamrock Series is back.
No. 12 Notre Dame (3-0) takes on No. 18 Wisconsin (1-1, 0-1 Big Ten) Saturday at Chicago's Soldier Field (noon ET, FOX) in the teams' first meeting since 1964. The game is Notre Dame's first in Chicago since a win over Miami in 2012.
The week leading into it began with Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly's usual Monday press conference and depth chart release.
Notre Dame listed sophomores Michael Carmody and Tosh Baker as co-starters at left tackle. Carmody left the Sept. 11 game vs. Toledo with an ankle sprain and did not play last week vs. Purdue. Baker started in his place. Kelly is hopeful Carmody will play Saturday.
Elsewhere, freshman linebacker Prince Kollie will be available after a two-week absence for undisclosed reasons. Running back C'Bo Flemister will not be available for the fourth straight game. His absence is also due to undisclosed reasons.
Here's a recap of some other topics Kelly addressed in his media session.
On Wisconsin’s identity
“A program that has consistently been among the very best in the country. [Head coach] Paul Chryst does an incredible job. Year in and year out, their identity is about being smart, physical, ball control. They had 95 snaps against Penn State [in Week 1] and controlled the football. And really, in a lot of ways, had that game in their control. They made some mistakes in the red zone.
"An outstanding football team. It’s a veteran football team, a veteran offensive line that returns. We talk about them controlling the line of scrimmage. In some instances, they resemble Navy in that they control the clock and force you to be so efficient on the offensive side.”
On the offensive line’s in-season progress
“There’s always the practice technique they could use, but I think we’re past that now. We’re into game situations where they need to gain those reps. That’s where Tosh is going to get better, where Zeke [Correll] is going to get better, where you’re going to get Joe Alt better. Carmody gets a handful of snaps and gets injured. Obviously, Blake [Fisher] gets injured as well.
“We’re transitioning on the offensive line, but we’re so excited about the young players and the veterans who are playing their butts off as we go through this transition on the offensive line. [Freshman guard] Rocco Spindler is making great progress. It’s one of those things where we have to be patient and work through the process. Some guys are holding down the fort for us as we grow up."
On freshman quarterback Tyler Buchner’s hamstring injury
“It was truly a tight hamstring. We didn’t have a pull, one that we felt was dangerous, but we’re going to be aggressive in the treatment of it. We’ll see how he responds today. I think we’ll have a good feel for him tomorrow. We expect him to play on Saturday.”
On the offensive line’s future
“We regard the four tackles, all the young tackles, as future starters for us in some capacity — talking about Tosh, Mike, Blake and Joe. We’re blessed we have four young players who can play at a high level.
"Each one is in a different stage in that development. They’re not all ready, but when they are, we’ll be back to talking about, ‘Man, that Notre Dame line, they’re as good as anybody in the country.”
On the defense’s play against Purdue
“They needed a little confidence boost. We tackled better. Our angles need to continue to get better. We got out-leveraged a couple times on some tackles. We’ll work on that again this week.
“A lot of times what happens in those circumstances is you try to do too much. [Defensive coordinator] Marcus [Freeman] really focused on the fundamentals. That’s really what we needed to do. We needed to be fundamentally better — gap discipline, getting the ball on the ground, on-body coverage — things we weren’t good at against Toledo, we were much better against Purdue and we’ll need to be better against Wisconsin.”
On needing big plays against Wisconsin
“We feel like we have some big-play guys who can make some plays. Did they make them Saturday? No, not to the level they’re capable of. You’re going to have those things happen, and we were still able to overcome them and make some big plays at other positions.
Part of this [Wisconsin] game is we’re going to have to make some big plays, no doubt. That and get off the field against a team that wants to control the ball. If you think of this as a Navy game, scoring touchdowns is at a premium.”
On the senior wide receivers’ bumpy game vs. Purdue
“We send them confidence. What do you say to a young man — he has made that catch 100 times? He feels worse than anybody else and there’s 75,000 people [in the stands]. Just say, ‘Hey, make a play for us next time you get a chance.’
“The preparation is where I concern myself the most. If they’re not preparing the right way, I’m all over them. They can’t move. But they work their tails off, had a great week, just have to play better. They will.”
On being one win away from passing Knute Rockne as the program’s all-time winningest coach
“I can tell you exactly where I sit in Notre Dame history: The coach that won more games that hasn’t won a national championship. We’ve played consistent football and brought Notre Dame football back to its relevance of competing for championships.
"Each year, you raise the bar and continue to build toward that goal of winning a national championship. We’ve steadily worked toward that consistency year in and year out. Other than that, everything is judged on winning a national championship. I have no problem with that. I knew that coming in.”
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