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Transcript: Brian Kelly Reflects On Duke Win, Prepares For Navy

After a 38-7 over Duke, Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly spoke to the media and touched on injuries to defense end Julian Okwara, linebacker Jack Lamb and receivers Braden Lenzy and Joe Wilkins; how the team will prepare for Navy, what they did to run the ball so effectively against Duke and more.

Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly calling timeout against Duke (Ken Martin)
Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly calling timeout against Duke (Ken Martin)
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On if quarterback Ian Book needed this game to bounce back after previous struggles:

Kelly: "I think certainly there was room for him to continue to grow and to continue to play at a higher level. 'Get-well' seems a little bit over the top for me, but I think Ian showed himself and his grit in the game against Virginia Tech and leading our football team back. There were other areas that he wanted to improve in and that was his pocket presence, his decisiveness, obviously delivering the ball on time with accuracy and he certainly did that.

“I just think that this is a young man that started slow and is kind of gaining a foothold as our team now goes through the month of November So, get-well game, I don't know that I buy into that, but I think a quarterback that has gained a lot of confidence overtaking the team under his arm against Virginia Tech and now playing very well against Duke."

On having Ian Book run the ball more against Duke after asking Brandon Wimbush to stay in the pocket in 2018:

Kelly: "We just felt like Duke plays a lot of man to man coverage and has a very stingy defensive line and one of the things tactically to attack them is the run the quarterback. So, that was part of the game plan. I thought it was executed very well and Ian is a very capable runner.

"Does that mean he's gonna run each week? Probably not. When we feel like he can be an impact in a game running the football as part of a menu, we certainly can do that. It just worked well with the kind of defense that we were seeing last night and he was able to certainly impact the game."

On what it takes to prepare for the upcoming matchup against No. 21 Navy:

Kelly: "Well, it's a year-round study. Our coaches are always looking at Navy, always have within what we recruit. We always recruit somebody that can play in the quarterback position that can run the triple option. They're always staying up on that in individual drills. We stay kind of on top of it all year round because it's very difficult to prepare for this team with three days of practice.

"We try to use a little bit of it in the spring, a little bit of preseason camp because they are so difficult to defend."

On the injuries to receivers Braden Lenzy and Joe Wilkins:

Kelly: "They were evaluated today. I think they're doing much better. I think we'll see where they are after they weight train tomorrow. If they're feeling good, they'll be cleared for practice on Tuesday and then we'll take it from there. We're expecting that we'll get something out of them. At what level? We won't know really until Tuesday.

On their their injuries:

Kelly: "Lenzy's had some fatigue issues. We wanted to protect him. I think Joe's been much more of a hamstring issue, a lingering hamstring that we wanted to get right. Again, both of these instances, guys that just needed some protection relative to the rigors of the season. I think they're closer to being where we need them. But like I said, it will really determine how they are able to practice on Tuesday."

On how the team decided to give Jahmir Smith and C’bo Flemister more carries against Duke:

Kelly: "Lance kind of makes those decisions, our running back coach, and has a really good feel for the guys during the game in terms of the kind of runs that we're looking for, how the game shaping up, the kind of runs that are going to be available to us.

“He kind of goes with the guys that he feels as though have either played well in particular carries and keeps them in the game or he has a hunch that these are the guys that we want to go with. We've got a number of guys that are all capable and he goes with the guy that he feels best suits where we are in the game."

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On the injury to rotational linebacker Jack Lamb:

Kelly: "Jack's out for the year. It's really a torn muscle in the glute, hip, kind of upper buttocks area. I don't have this specific terminology for you, but he will be he'll be out for the year."

On the injury to senior defensive end and captain Julian Okwara:

Kelly: "Julian Okwara, unfortunately, has a fracture and he will not be back this year. We feel terrible for him. He will have a procedure done here once we figure out all the specifics, but it is a fibula fracture that he suffered when he was pass-rushing.

"So those are that's the update on those two guys in particular."

On if freshman Isaiah Foskey will help fill in for the Okwara injury:

Kelly: "We've already used him three games. We want to be judicious with him. We have to decide when to use that fourth game. We like him. He was part of our nickel package. He's a backup in our nickel, so we had to use them when Julian went down. We'll make a decision as a staff as to whether we will need him this weekend and maybe decide to save that for other Boston College or Stanford."

On how the new starters on the right side of Notre Dame’s offensive line performed against Duke:

Kelly: "I thought they battled. I thought Lugg was solid. Did some really good things. He made maybe one mistake in the run game in a third-down situation, but other than that was really solid. Trevor battled. He had a tough matchup. He had a big fella on him, but he battled all night. I think we got what we expected.

"Two guys that are — one in particular that he's got great size and he used his size to his advantage last night and that's Josh Lugg. I think, all in all, we're really happy with his way. And then Trevor is going to give you everything he's got. Sometimes it doesn't look as pretty as you want it to, but he's pretty effective."

On who is the scout team quarterback to help the team prepare for Navy:

Kelly: "We've got Cole Capen, who has played option quarterback. He was our quarterback last year. We used Lawrence Keys a little bit. We always have somebody. Kendall Abdur-Rahman, he will go in there, he was a quarterback in high school. We always have a plan to get some speed at that position as well. Then somebody that's really efficient with the football to run out the triple effectively, so the ball is not on the ground. We got a pretty good plan moving forward. Now we've got to execute."

On using Lawrence Keys or Kendall Abdur-Rahman in scout team for Navy was ever discussed:

Kelly: "If they are on scout team and we're redshirting them, then we have that conversation. Let them know when we get to triple-option that they're going to be helping us out. Lawrence last year. Now Lawrence is obviously with us, so he won't be that guy. It'll be Rahman. We have that conversation, so they have an idea that they're going to be prepared for that week."

On what he’s seen from Navy so far this season:

Kelly: "Extremely efficient offensively again, but I think they've matched it with really, I don't want to say great defensive play, but really aggressive, timely, defensive play in a sense that they're coming up with big plays, turnovers, aggressive defense, setting up their offense in a manner that hasn't happened in a while. Just been really impressed with their defensive structure. It has changed dramatically from what we've seen in the past.

“From an offensive standpoint, a big fullback who's very difficult to handle and Perry is healthy and he was banged up a lot last year, so healthy quarterback big fullback, it has the makings of a very difficult offense to defend. Coming off of a subpar season last year, you knew that Ken Niumatalolo was going to have this team primed and ready and you could see that they're playing with a great deal of confidence."

On what they’ve done to have so much recent success against mobile quarterbacks:

Kelly: "I think first and foremost is taking away some of their easy throws, some of the easy throws that allow them to have the luxury to run the ball when they want to. You might think it's the run game, but I think it's some of the easy throws that allow the running quarterbacks to stay on schedule. Offensively, we've done a really good job of taking away some of those throws and then consequently, we're able to get them in positions that are very predictable.

“When you do that, then obviously you can dictate the line of scrimmage. Our defensive line has been really good at controlling the line of scrimmage as well. Factors in this, obviously take away some of the comfort throws and then at the end of the day you have to match up and we've done a really good job of matching up our D-Line against offensive lines."

On what they did to have so much success against Duke’s run game:

Kelly: "It was a very active defense. A fast flow defense You're trying to get them to overreact a little bit, get some angles on them and they were very aggressive, fast-flowing, week off, bye week, very anxious to get to the football. We were able to get them on edges and over block a little bit and it helped us out.

“Then running the quarterback, when you play a lot of man, we were able to run some people off and get the quarterback in some favorable positions. I think taking advantage of a little bit of their aggressiveness and playing a lot of man to man coverage allowed us to carve out a running game."

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