TRANSCRIPT: Brian Kelly Turns To USC During Teleconference
Notre Dame Head Coach Brian Kelly spoke at his weekly teleconference today. He touched on possible redshirt candidates, including senior corner Donte Vaughn; what he sees in this USC team and more.
On Asmar Bilal’s development...
“He’s been really dedicated to the details of the position. Here’s a guy with really top-end athletic ability. Physically strong. Runs. Very bright. The area was the technical pieces of his position. Clark has worked really hard with him and equally, he’s committed himself to that end since the spring. I just give him so much credit.
"He’s put in the time and has seen improvement from week to week and I think that confidence continues to grow. The one thing he has done that has shown itself on field is he has been disciplined. The first thing is to be disciplined and both him and Drew have found that discipline."
On Jafar Armstrong’s injury and when he will be back...
"Tuesday would be the time for us. We’ll put him in a much more vigorous environment relative to his practicing. He did quite a bit last week. We’re confident we can put him in some scenarios and situations that will give us 100 percent certainty as to whether he will be able to contribute on Saturday. We believe he can based upon what we saw last week.
"We’ll put him in some very competitive situations this week, and that will begin on Tuesday."
On the status of wide receiver Lawrence Keys and defensive back Shaun Crawford...
"Lawrence checked in today and did 90 percent of his body weight on the (machine) which is an indication that he’s ready to be in a practice situation on Tuesday. Eighty percent is our number. He’s at 90 percent. We’ll begin practicing him Tuesday with the expectation of playing him on Saturday.
"Shaun Crawford will begin conditioning on Tuesday. Some agility and position work.
"No one from the game itself will be limited in practice on Tuesday."
On the Notre Dame offensive line this season...
"I think it’s been a combination. Over the last few weeks, we rushed for 230 this past weekend. We were effective vs. Virginia. We didn’t commit ourselves fully against Virginia because we weren’t sure what we had at the running back position but now that we’ve been able to count on Jahmir Smith back, obviously C’Bo Flemister. You saw Avery Davis involved in the game as well. I think that’s helped our overall running game.
"And I think the continuity of those five guys working together. You have a first-time center working there and I think his combinations with the right and left guard is coming together. It’s the maturation of a group of five guys with a new center. The running backs getting some continuity there.
"All those things coming together. Cole Kmet back in the lineup as a blocking tight end. Tommy Tremble being young but now starting to feel some confidence, I think it’s a little bit of all those things coming together."
On the blocked field goal and how Notre Dame special teams performed...
"Yeah, I thought they were solid in all areas. We expected it to be a tilted event in terms of what we were doing to go. We limited their kickoff situations. The kickoff return (coverage) was good. Our net punt was in the low 40s. We had two different punt returners out there. In all those areas we were really solid with a lot of young players that played for the first time.
"No glaring mistakes, but also we were able to learn a lot about young players by getting them first time experience. Harrison (Leonard) getting a chance to kick, all of those things were real positives for us."
On if having a balance between the run and pass game is something he's looking for...
"That’s what you’re looking for. Somewhere in 200 yards rushing and 300 yards passing is the perfect balance to your offense. But we were certainly superior in terms of our personnel.
"We aren’t going to get many of those opportunities. Whatever those numbers are, whether it’s 150 and 275, you’re looking for that kind of ratio-balance where you’ve established the run and have a big play opportunity in the passing game and we want to continue down that road."
On what the USC rivalry means to him and his team...
"It’s one that our players really circle each year. Each game we play has a rivalry to it whether it’s Navy or Stanford or Michigan. We play a lot of rivalry type games but USC certainly stands by itself as one that’s always had a great tradition to it.
"Our guys are excited about the game but know that at the end of the day it’s about two teams with great traditions that have to settle it on the field. Have to prepare the right way.
"They knew this was coming up but had to take care of business this last weekend. They came in for treatment today and all they could talk about was the opportunity to play USC so they’re excited."
On his early thoughts of USC...
"Explosive offensively, obviously. The ability to push the ball down the field. That’s first and foremost and probably the best defense we’ve faced from the Trojans maybe since I’ve been here. Very good upfront. Now in a 4-man front. They can bring pressure. It’ll be a great challenge for us."
On what does Jafar Armstrong bring when he comes back...
"Jafar brings an explosiveness to the offense that we’re waiting for. What we saw in camp and little last year is his ability to impact the offense and as a receiver and a runner. He has top-end speed, and he’s big and physical. He impacts in three ways. That’s something we feel will be a huge upgrade to our offense."
On if Kyren Williams is a redshirt candidate...
"Kyren Williams is at the threshold of games. As you saw we didn’t play him. That probably means we’d like to preserve his year and that's the direction we’re going right now."
On if the offense is playing too few snaps per game...
"I don’t know that pace is indicative [of the] total plays. We’re one of the top teams in the country in terms of explosive plays. I want to say we’re a top 5 team in the country. That’s more indicative. That impacts it. We haven’t had many long 90 yard drives. This offense has not operated that way this year. There are those that say 63 plays, is that what you want.
"No, what we’re doing is taking what the offense’s strengths are and so far this year we’ve been trying to gain balance in this offense through the running game. I think we’re striking one. But we’re also taking what our DNA is and it seems to be that this offense hits big plays."
On how Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah did at nickel against Bowling Green...
"There are certain things we’re going to ask him to do and one is playing man coverage. We feel comfortable with that, it’s just that some of the looks he got yesterday in bunches and shifting and movement—the fluidity of it is one he’ll have to consistently stay up on top of those things. There were mistakes made there.
"He’ll get cleaner looks against USC. We’re confident he can play some man. The next step in his evolution is to play some zone as well. Grading him out would be one that I think he did okay in his man responsibilities. I think the zone is going to continue to have to be worked on because we didn’t get a lot of work on Saturday for him."
On if he will play the same role lined up across from USC's Amon-Ra St. Brown...
"You’re not going to have him by himself. He’s going to get some help over the top. He’s not going to be asked to be by himself all over the field. He’s going to get some middle of the field safety help."
On the team's overall maturity against Bowling Green...
"I would say they were very mature in the way they prepared which I thought was a clear indication that they would readily put their name on the work that they were going to have shown everybody on Saturday.
"I think that’s the mark of someone that is mature that they’re going to put in the time and they’re not afraid to put their name on it and I think that’s what they did on Saturday."
On if senior cornerback Donte Vaughn is a redshirt candidate...
"That is something that we are considering, yes. As it sits right now he’s played in three games so we want to be strategic as we move forward in that fourth game. We think he brings a lot of value to our football team and we’re not going to play him unless we absolutely have to put him on the field. So we can have that potential conversation when we get to four games."
On TaRiq Bracy's workload going forward after playing a majority of the snaps on against Bowling Green...
"No. They’re going to play one game and get a week off. We feel like we’re in a pretty good position to play our guys. TaRiq Bracy played a little more.
"Troy came out in the second half. We feel really good going into this game that we can play a number of snaps, then we go into a bye week, then we’re into the back end of our schedule. There’s not any concern right now relative to the number of snaps their taking."
On his first USC memory growing up...
"John Robinson on the sideline and Ara Parseghian and from my perspective in Massachusetts, the pageantry of the game as it’s played on TV. It was one of those games you wanted to watch on TV because it was played up as such a big game. But those two iconic figures."
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