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Three Notre Dame leftovers: Kelly stays upbeat with senior WRs after drops

A football bouncing off the turf after hitting a Notre Dame receiver’s hands was a common sight in the Irish’s win over Purdue last week.

Some of those were throws off fingertips that quarterback Jack Coan delivered a bit too high, too low or too wide. The most memorable ones, though, were catchable passes that simply weren’t caught.

Braden Lenzy battled the sun and dropped a would-be 39-yard touchdown. Kevin Austin Jr. couldn’t hang onto the ball on the way down from snagging a contested reception — one of his eight targets and two drops (per Pro Football Focus) on a catchless day. A high but plausibly catchable pass slipped through Joe Wilkins Jr.’s fingers on a slant.

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A tough day for that senior trio, all told. But not a costly one in the No. 12 Irish’s 27-13 victory. And one Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly thinks is an anomaly. He and the offensive staff see no use in being overbearing in coaching them.

“We send them confidence,” Kelly said. “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.’”

And they will presumably get more chances. Austin’s 22 targets are the most among all Notre Dame receivers and second on the team. Lenzy is third, with 14. Wilkins has just four, but among them is a 23-yard touchdown at Florida State.

Those three plus fifth-year senior Avery Davis have accounted for 520 of the 541 wide receiver snaps this year, a testament to the equity they have built up with the coaches since the start of the offseason. A bad day won’t erode it as long as the practice habits remain at satisfactory levels.

“The preparation is where I concern myself the most,” Kelly said. “If they’re not preparing the right way, I’m all over them and they can’t move. But they work their tails off, had a great week, just have to play better. They will.”

Kelly supports proposed change to 25-player initial counter rule

The Division I football oversight committee is considering a rule change that would allow college football teams to go over the yearly 25-player signing limit. The proposal would allow a team to gain an initial counter for every player who enters the transfer portal, up to seven transfers and 32 counters.

It’s in response to the one-time immediately eligible transfer rule that passed earlier this year and has led to more players entering the portal. Under current rules, a team can lose players to the portal, but if they have already signed 25 players, they’re unable to add replacements even if they’re under the 85-man scholarship limit.

“It’s compensatory picks, I guess,” Kelly said. “You lose somebody, you get somebody back.”

That current setup has led to many players entering the portal but not finding a new home because teams have reached their 25-man limit. It has also sparked concern among coaches that high school recruiting will suffer because teams will use more spots on transfers now that they’re immediately eligible.

Kelly is in favor the proposed change, he said, but does not think it would have a pronounced effect on Notre Dame’s roster management and recruiting.

That’s not because the Irish are immune to transfers — they had 12 players leave the program between the end of 2020 and 2021 fall camp.

But they’re less likely to add an influx of transfers to replace those who depart. Notre Dame has taken just two undergraduate transfers in Kelly’s 12-year tenure, and not because of the now-abolished sit-out rule. They have added multiple grad transfers each of the last two offseasons while staying within the 25-man limit. It would, though, help to have some extra space in case of emergency and not need to worry about the size of their high school recruiting class.

“I like the flexibility,” Kelly said. “I think it’s a balancing act the NCAA is looking at. I support the legislation. I don’t know that it will be that impactful for us.”

Hamilton earns several weekly awards

Kyle Hamilton’s statistical output against Purdue reflected his omnipresence in Notre Dame’s victory over the Boilermakers. The All-American junior safety had 10 tackles, two pass breakups and an interception that effectively sealed the win. The highlight of his day was a fourth-and-one tackle where he shot past a perimeter block and dropped Purdue wide receiver Milton Wright for no gain on a jet sweep.

The nation took notice. Hamilton has earned several individual weekly honors for his performance.

He was named the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week on Sunday. Pro Football Focus also named him its national Defensive Player of the Week. Hamilton earned an 86.6 overall PFF grade against Purdue, the best mark on the Irish’s defense that game. He had an 84.7 tackling and an 86.9 coverage grade. He allowed catches on three of six targets for 14 total yards.

Wednesday, Hamilton earned Bednarik Award Player of the Week honors.

Hamilton’s 10 tackles tied a single-game career high. In three games this season, he has 22 tackles (2.0 for loss), two passes broken up and a team-best three interceptions. He trails only junior linebacker JD Bertrand in tackles this year among Irish defenders.

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