Notre Dame coach Kelly: Jet lag no excuse during prep for Purdue
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Correspondent
Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly isn’t big on excuses so it’s no surprise he wants to hear nothing about his team’s long trip home from Ireland Saturday and the short turnaround to get ready for visiting Purdue a week later.
The Irish left Dublin immediately following their 50-10 walloping of Navy and were back on their campus by 12:30 a.m. Sunday.
Today Notre Dame had a two-hour practice.
I think everybody has talked about how our team will bounce back from the trip to Ireland, said Kelly, whose team cracked The Associated Press’ top-25 this week at No. 22. No excuses. We feel great.
This week Kelly and his coaching staff are preparing for a Purdue team that’s coming off a 7-6 2011 season, which included a win over Western Michigan in the Little Caesars Bowl.
The Boilermakers began this season with a 48-6 win over FCS foe Eastern Kentucky Saturday.
We respect Purdue, Kelly said. We know them as somebody that’s going to play great football against us.
When scouting the Boilermakers, Kelly is quick to note how strong their defensive line is, calling it very stealth.”
Obviously (Kawann) Short and (Bruce) Gaston are two very, very good defensive linemen, as good as we are going to see during the year.
Looking For No. 2
Forget any thought of a quarterback controversy with the Irish. Kelly’s No. 1 guy is sophomore Everett Golson.
In his first collegiate start, Golson, completed 12 of 18 passes for 144 yards and a touchdown. Kelly liked Golson’s poise, how he ran the offense and his decision making, minus his one interception.
There’s so many things he has to improve on, said Kelly when asked about Golson, but they are items we feel really confident that he already has a good grasp on and will continue to evolve and then there are things that we have to continue to work on with him on a day to day basis.
This is a process for Everett. This will be a continuation week to week of growing as a quarterback.
I guess what I like the most in the big picture sense was his comfortable place on the field, Kelly added. He did not seem overwhelmed at any time.
The real topic of discussion in South Bend this week is who would get the call if Golson gets dinged up. Andrew Hendrix was inserted in the third quarter of the Navy game, but that’s because Tommy Rees was serving a one-game suspension.
However, now that Rees, who started 11 of 12 games last season and ranks 10th all-time on Notre Dame’s career passing yardage list with just under 4,000 yards, is back, the depth chart is still uncertain behind Golson.
Tommy probably needs the most work at this time, Kelly said. Both those guys will share reps.
Looking The Part
Manti Te’o was a consensus All-American entering the season and sure looked every bit the part against Navy, recovering a fumble and intercepting a pass.
We never take him off the field, said Kelly referring to having Te’o play an important role in pass coverage as well as being a standout run stopper. He got his (turnovers) and he’s going to get more.
Pinkett Sidelined
Former Irish running back Allen Pinkett will remain silent for the Purdue game.
Pinkett, the color commentator on Notre Dame radio broadcasts, is serving a three-game suspension without pay for remarks he made on a Chicago sports talk radio show prior to the season opener.
Pinkett said to have a successful team you have to have a few bad citizens.
Pinkett will return for the Michigan game Sept. 22.
Say It Ain’t So Joe
Former Notre Dame great Joe Montana raised some eyebrows with comments he recently made during a live chat on ESPN.com.
In answering a question on Golson and whether Montana thought he had the skills to take the Irish to a BCS game, Montana said: Kelly can’t figure out what he wants. Every one of his QBs that he has, he claims is his next star, but he doesn’t last long with him. He’s (Golson) probably the least talented thrower that they have, so manybe they’re looking to run the ball with him.
When Kelly was asked about Montana’s comments, he said, Joe Montana is an icon and he’s entitled to his opinion about our football team. I think that’s all I’ll say about that.
