Notre Dame ends spring with confidence
By DOUG GRIFFITHS
ISL Assistant Editor
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish don’t lack confidence, nor should they.
Coming off last year’s 12-1 season that included a trip to the BCS National Championship Game, Kelly entered spring drills wanting his team to develop an identity. It did just that, says the fourth-year Irish boss.
“I think it’s a very confident group of guys,” said Kelly following Saturday’s 84th Blue-Gold Game in Notre Dame Stadium. “I would say that the identity of this group right now is that they are a confident group.
“They have a lot of confidence in themselves. They believe that they are going to be successful.”
They’re not the only ones.
Some college football pundits think Notre Dame will again be among the elite.
SI.com ranks the Irish ninth nationally in its very early preseason poll, while ESPN.com has them ninth.
Perhaps those expectations are too lofty, but this is a Notre Dame team that returns some star power.
Nose guard Louis Nix and defensive end Stephon Tuitt are two of seven starters that return from one of the nation’s best defensive units in 2012. Of course the biggest loss on that side of the ball is All-American middle linebacker Manti Te’o, who will be a first-round pick in this week’s NFL Draft.
Quarterback Everett Golson and offensive tackle Zack Martin are the headliners returning on offense, a unit that has the team’s most question marks, since just four starters are back.
If the Irish are to return to the national championship game or a BCS bowl, Golson will be the key.
Kelly liked what he saw from his No. 1 quarterback this spring, saying he has the knowledge of the offense and the things he needs to run it efficiently. There are, however, things the sophomore-to-be (eligibility wise) needs to improve on.
“He’s got so much going on in his head, he wants to do too much,” Kelly explained.
On Saturday, for example, Golson wanting to do too much took him away from some progression reads Kelly noticed.
“We’ve got a lot to teach off, and it’s going to be very positive for Everett,” Kelly said.
Golson’s Blue-Gold Game numbers were average at best. He completed 6-of-13 passes for 98 yards and was intercepted once in the red zone.
“Today was kind of an off-day,” Golson admitted. “If you go back to our spring practices, we have been doing a great job all around the board, having new guys at different positions.
“I’m kind of disappointed that we had an off-day but our spring has been very, very good.”
Golson can relax somewhat knowing he won’t head into fall camp entrenched in a four-man race to be the team’s starting QB, which was the case last season.
With that said, Golson does know with the departures of All-American tight end Tyler Eifert and talented running backs Cierre Wood and Theo Riddick, he’ll be under the microscope even more in 2013 and should know he’s the best player on the Irish offense.
The most memorable moment of the Blue-Gold Game came when Nix was inserted at the quarterback spot as a result of Kelly losing a bet regarding academics. Nix won the bet and told his coach he wanted to score a touchdown in the spring game.
The 347-pound Nix took a shotgun snap and rumbled up the middle to the end zone on a two-point conversion.
No one wanted to get in Nix’s way as he had a huge hole in front of him.
“My intentions were to truck somebody,” Nix said. “I didn’t care about the touchdown too much. I just wanted to run somebody over and show coach I do it without fumbling the ball.”
Kelly said putting his big man in that situation was perfect for a spring game.
“He’s just a great personality and the guys got a kick out of it,” Kelly said. “I thought it was a great way to finish up the spring.”
Nix put the finishing touches on Notre Dame’s lone touchdown of the afternoon after backup quarterback Malik Zaire completed a 35-yard pass to C.J. Prosise for a score.
“We came out flat and didn’t play to the best of our ability,” Golson said.
Golson and the other QBs weren’t allowed to be hit. He and the other signal callers managed 300 yards of total offense and the defense was credited with 10 sacks.
What concerned Kelly most about his ineffective offense was its negative yardage plays.
“We had some third-and-20s and -30s, that can’t happen,” he said. “So I’m not happy about that. But by and large, a lot of them are correctible.”
Kelly also hopes the lackluster play on special teams can be corrected. That’s an area that had a lot of emphasis placed on it during the spring and he vows to put starters on those units in an effort to bolster them come this fall.
None of the coverage units were live during the spring game, but Kyle Brindza struggled in the punting department (who didn’t average more than 30 yards a punt) and fifth-year senior kicker Nick Tausch missed his first field goal try before connecting on three chip shots.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Kelly when asked about his specialists.
Kelly will meet with the team tonight and for the next two weeks the Irish will go to speed school to help them try to develop in that area. After that, it’s final exams and a rest period before seven-on-sevens begin in the middle of June. Fall camp starts in August and the Irish open the 2013 season by hosting Temple Aug. 31.
NOTRE DAME NUGGETS
– The Blue-Gold Game was a not your traditional one team (offense & defense) vs. the other. Instead, Kelly ran it like a controlled scrimmage where the Gold was the offense and the Blue was the defense. The Blue prevailed 54-43.
The offense could score via traditional means and through a point system, while the defense got on the scoreboard thanks to a special scoring system (i.e. four points for a stop before the 50-yard line, seven points for a turnover forced before the 50-yard line, and pass plays of 20 or more yards were good for two points for the offense). There were four 15-minute quarters, but the second half featured a running clock.
– The attendance at the Blue-Gold Game was announced at 31,652, making it the fifth-largest crowd in the event’s history and topping last year’s mark of 31,582.
– The Irish wore helmet stickers during the Blue-Gold Game to acknowledge the tragic events that occurred in Boston. Notre Dame had the stickers affixed to the back of its helmets. The stickers featured a green shamrock with a blue “B” trimmed in yellow.
Follow Doug Griffiths on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ISLgriffiths.
