Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com SEPT. 25, 2021 13 UNDER THE DOME THEY SAID IT THEY SAID IT "Jordan is a guy that can help us. He brings pass-rush ability. We're a little thin there. That will be welcomed to our unit." — Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on sophomore viper JORDAN BOTELHO'S return to the lineup prior to the Purdue game "Notre Dame's hire of defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman, while justifiably celebrated, carried some level of mystery. The Irish had great results with de- fensive coordinator Mike Elko in 2017, and then with Elko's protégé, Clark Lea, the past three seasons. While Freeman arrived with strong credentials, his main co- ordinator experience came alongside Cincinnati's Luke Fickell, a head coach with significant influence over the defense. The Notre Dame job marked Freeman's chance to be a truly independent play caller. "Through two games, Notre Dame's defense hasn't really stood out in any area. The Irish are allowing nearly 5.0 yards per rush, 42 percent on third-down conversions and a lot of big plays. Both Florida State and Toledo recorded a pass and a run of 60 yards or longer against Notre Dame. "'They're maybe trying to do too much defensively,' said an FBS offensive assistant who watched the To- ledo game. 'They've got the athletes. They just need to put them in different positions. Marcus is a good de- fensive coordinator, but he doesn't have the answers that Luke Fickell had.'" — ESPN.com's Adam Rittenberg "What if that Sunday night Notre Dame-Florida State thriller was mostly just a clash of two mediocre teams? The Irish followed up six days later with a last-minute escape against Toledo in a game only Peacock subscribers could see. Their running game struggled yet again. But hey, at least the Irish are 2-0. The Noles are now 0-2 after somehow allowing a 59-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the game and losing to Jacksonville State. That FCS team lost its opener 31-0 to UAB. The Blazers lost to Georgia on Saturday 56-7. I don't know if that bodes worse for Florida State or Notre Dame." — Andy Staples of The Athletic "This is no way to keep living, Notre Dame. A week after getting taken to overtime by Florida State the Irish had to score a TD with less than two minutes left to beat Toledo. Notre Dame RB Kyren Williams fumbled with 3:26 left and that led to a go-ahead TD for the Rockets. Notre Dame didn't take long to get back into the lead, however, and escaped with a 32-29 win after Jack Coan's go-ahead TD pass to Michael Mayer. With Purdue, Wisconsin and Cincinnati looming on the schedule over the next three weeks, Notre Dame needs to start playing better if it wants to keep winning." — Sam Cooper and Nick Bromberg of Yahoo! Sports on listing the Irish as a "loser" in Week 2 "Actually my second year, Randy Moss told me this, he came to training camp, he said when he ran his deep balls, a lot of receivers when they run their posts or their gos, they turn back and look at the quarter- back. You know the quarterback, he's probably already thrown the ball. So he told me look up when you turn around; don't look at the quarterback because the quarterback doesn't have the ball anyway. So that's helped me a lot, getting the ball located in the air quick, not turning around, looking at the quarterback, looking up for the ball. So that's helped me a lot and just running out of your break. Run three or four steps out of your break, then look up and try to find it." — Former Notre Dame and current Miami Dolphins wide receiver Will Fuller PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER OF THE WEEK "@NDBaseball @NDFootball the Bertrand brothers playing like champions today" — The official account of Fighting Irish athletics (@FightingIrish) Sept. 13, on graduate student baseball pitcher John Michael Bertrand and football junior linebacker JD Bertrand YOU DON'T WAIT FOR MAIL DELIVERY! HAVE TO The digital edition of Blue & Gold Illustrated is available Sundays at BlueGoldOnline.com The Blue & Gold Illustrated digital edition includes all the great content you find in your print edition, plus: ✦ Searchable archive ✦ Downloadable PDFs ✦ Available on computers and tablets Visit BlueGoldOnline.com for the latest issue every Sunday! It's already part of your subscription! PLUS: The Blue Gold Report Midweek Update! • Emailed Every Pre-Game Wednesday • Depth Charts And Rosters For Both Teams • Updated Statistics • Columns and Much More! • Can be viewed on your computer, phone or tablet, or printed out to read later. To receive notifications, please send your email address to: newsletter@blueandgold.com. Customer Service: 1-800-421-7751