Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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off his route by an Irish linebacker. "I was looking for George on the inside, but he got rerouted and I had to turn and throw," Golson said. "I was trying to get it there on time, but like I said it was just a little bit of miscommunication." Senior nose guard Kona Schwenke burst through the line of scrimmage two plays later and tackled junior running back Cam McDaniel (eight touches, 39 yards) in the end zone for a safety. Golson picked up 50 yards through the air on back-to-back completions to junior tight end Troy Niklas and junior wide receiver DaVaris Daniels after the safety. But the offense stalled again and settled for a field goal when the first half drew to a close. Schwenke was one of seven Irish defenders to register a sack in the game. Junior linebacker Ishaq Williams, sophomore defensive end Jarron Jones and fifth-year senior nose guard Tyler Stockton each tagged the quarterback (all were off-limits for full-contact play) two times apiece. Steady defensive pressure from the front line hamstrung the Irish offense into several third-and-long situations and forced punts throughout the game. The glimpse at Notre Dame's punting operation was another unwelcome reminder of 2012's sore spots. Junior Kyle Brindza averaged 30.1 yards per attempt in his first punting foray at the college level. The kicks that did reach a returner were handled poorly. Seniors TJ Jones and Austin Collinsworth both misjudged and bobbled fair catch attempts. Fifth-year senior Nick Tausch also missed the first of his four field goal at- tempts from 39 yards out. He later connected on kicks of 40, 31 and 36 yards. "It wasn't great. There were a lot of mistakes," Jones said about the game in general. "There's definitely a lot of film to watch to see where we need to go for next year and what errors we need to correct to be as good as last year. Up to this point, I think we executed a lot better than we did today. "I don't know what the difference was, whether it was the atmosphere or us having an off day as an offense, but we definitely didn't execute the way we have all spring." Kelly started the spring promising a renewed effort to solve the special teams woes his teams have had in the past few seasons. He chocked up the lack of visible progress to poor weather this spring. Notre Dame practiced inside during 11 of its 15 workouts in the past month because of rain, sleet, snow and unseasonably cold temperatures. "I'd like to leave the spring feeling a little bit better about it, but we've got a lot of work to do there," Kelly said. A subpar day of practice didn't derail the confidence that Kelly says currently defines his 2013 team. He said he was pleased with being able to give several young players — including four of the five early enrollees and a handful of new starters — a taste of the game-day atmosphere in Notre Dame Stadium. "I would say that the identity of this group right now is that they are a confident group," the coach said. "It's important to know that they have not slacked off from the little things. They have combined both those things, which gives me a comfort level that they understand what it takes to be successful." ✦