Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 10, 2020 9 UNDER THE DOME a game until Oct. 24 at Pittsburgh. It was ready to operate with as little time spent as necessary in Win- ston-Salem, N.C., and all following road cit- ies. The Irish might even travel the same day for night games on the road. For ear- lier games, they'll fly in Friday night, not Friday morning. "We'll do every- thing as if it's a home game for Friday," Kelly explained. "All meetings, practice, post-meetings usu- ally done in the ho- tel will be done here. We'll eat here, and we'll simply board the plane, fly, get in there in the evening, get off the plane and go to bed to lessen the contact in the hotel." Each player will have his own indi- vidual room in the hotel. "Wake up in the morning, throw on a Superman cape," Kelly said. The ultimate havoc scenario has al- ready popped up in college football this year when Flor- ida State announced Sept. 19 head coach Mike Norvell tested positive. He did not coach the Seminoles' Sept. 26 game at Mi- ami. If COVID-19 is- sues ever strike the Irish coaches' office … "We have a succes- sion plan in place for myself and each and every coach on the staff in terms of the responsibilities and the duties," Kelly said. "Mine are not singular in terms of one coach taking over. There are different responsibilities. I'm not going to get into who that person is at this time. … We have it detailed out across the board at all positions, from special teams down to wide receivers, includ- ing the head coach. … It could happen to anybody if you're not careful." ✦ Hammes Notre Dame Bookstore | NDBookstore.com We've got you covered Next Man Up If there's one through line in this 2020 college football season, it's clearing hurdles and dodg- ing obstacles that would threaten to bring down a team's season. There's an understanding no one is going to get through the three-month journey down a bumpy road without even a scratch, such as a postponed game or player absences. Some teams, though, can excel despite the latter — to a degree. No one can expect to survive and thrive with 20-plus players stuck in COVID-19 protocols, which is one reason Notre Dame didn't play at Wake Forest Sept. 26 as scheduled. But against South Florida, the lack of seven players deemed "unavailable" with no prior reported injuries and two starters out with injuries was undetectable to an observer not informed of the attrition. Notre Dame's starter at Buck linebacker (sophomore Jack Kiser) had five career games played, four snaps the week prior and was on the scout team 72 hours earlier. The Irish also started a true fresh- man at cornerback (Clarence Lewis) who played only special teams in the previous game. And it re- placed star sophomore safety Kyle Hamilton with talented but inconsistent junior Houston Griffith. The end result: a 52-0 shutout where USF gained one first down in the first half. It was a testament to development and preparedness. "You look at in terms of what you do in the offseason," Kelly said. "You come here with an ex- pectation to play. Our players come here with an expectation they'll compete. We make certain all of our players are prepared. Offseason, weight room, conditioning, we're understanding all those guys make sure their numbers might be called." The two players with the least experience and lower recruiting rankings stood out. Kiser earned the game ball by posting a team-best eight tackles, with two for a loss. Lewis broke up three passes. "We hold a standard and develop a standard that requires all those players to be alert, be ready," Kelly said. "There's no coasting. You don't take the year off and say, 'All right, I'm not going to play.'" — Patrick Engel