Why Notre Dame football coach Brian Kelly has much respect for Wisconsin
It's fitting Notre Dame's game against Wisconsin will be played at Soldier Field in Chicago. Beating the Badgers is going to be a bear for the Fighting Irish.
No. 12 Notre Dame (3-0) head coach Brian Kelly spent the first few minutes of his Monday afternoon press conference breaking down the Irish's next opponent, as per usual. He couldn't help but laud all things No. 18 Wisconsin (1-1).
He gave the Badgers credit for sticking to a hard-nosed identity instilled by head coach Paul Chryst. He praised the offensive line here and talked up the running backs there. He said sophomore quarterback Graham Mertz has "all the tools" and a talented group of tight ends and wide receivers surrounding him.
Nothing but respect for the No. 18 team in the country.
"Well-coached, smart, physical, disciplined," Kelly said. "All the things we all know about Wisconsin come to light every game you watch them."
And then Kelly dove into the vaunted Wisconsin defense, the nation's No. 2 unit.
The Badgers have allowed just 194.5 yards per game to Penn State (297) and Eastern Michigan (92). Kelly said Wisconsin has "as instinctive and disciplined" linebackers that are probably the best Notre Dame will face this season. He said the Irish are going to have to game plan around 6-4, 317-pound junior nose tackle Keeanu Benton, too.
Help with that game plan isn't going to come from graduate senior quarterback Jack Coan, by the way. Coan knows plenty about Wisconsin on both sides of the ball. He spent the previous four seasons in a Badgers uniform, playing in 25 games and starting in 18.
Kelly just isn't keen on gleaning information on Wisconsin's tendencies from Coan.
"You don't get too much intel from those things in terms of what he knows about Wisconsin," Kelly said. "I'm not a big believer in that. Like, 'Hey, do you know the signals?' You have to play the game."
Rather, Kelly and his coaching staff are going to devise a game plan on their own to defeat a Wisconsin team that, well, just isn't too easy to play against. The Badgers have dominated both of their games this season — even the 16-10 loss to now No. 6 Penn State.
Wisconsin ran a whopping 95 plays in the loss to the Nittany Lions. Penn State ran 51. Wisconsin ran 75 plays against Eastern Michigan. The Eagles ran 38. Possessing the football and controlling the pace of play is the name of Wisconsin's game. Notre Dame is tasked with taking the Badgers out of the comfort zone they find themselves in when that's occurring.
"If you think about this as a 'Navy game', scoring touchdowns is at a premium," Kelly said. "Kicking field goals is not going to get it done for you. Scoring touchdowns, being really efficient on the offensive side of the ball and when you get matchups, you better win those matchups."
Notre Dame has had its way with Navy anyway in the Kelly era, winning nine of 11 times. Wisconsin is not Navy. Chryst has recruited players at all positions who embody his philosophies. It's worked out quite well, and as Kelly said, that'll likely come to light on Saturday at Soldier Field — win or lose.
"He is who he is," Kelly said of Chryst. "They're smart. They're well-coached. They're physical at the point of attack. They play a style of football that hasn't changed since he coached at Pittsburgh (2012-14).
"Quite frankly, from my perspective, he's one of the best coaches in the country because he stays true to that. He's consistent. He doesn't waver from what he believes in and what's important to him. I applaud him for that. I have a lot of respect for him."
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