Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com OCT. 2, 2021 27 NOTRE DAME DEFENSE FLASHES ELITE POTENTIAL The noise was too much to ignore. It bellowed through the bowels of Soldier Field and into the Notre Dame postgame press conference media room, where head coach Brian Kelly was mo- ments away from merrily addressing reporters after the Irish's 41-13 victory over Wisconsin. But first, he had to enjoy the cacoph- ony a bit for himself. House of Pain's "Jump Around" blared from locker room speakers at full blast. Yep, the same song that has become synonymous with Wisconsin football. The same song that played from the stadium's stereo system an hour or so earlier while Wisconsin fans clad in red did as the tune's title im- plores energetically enough to slightly shake the press box. The Badgers' locker room was out of earshot from where the Irish held their makeshift pop concert, but it doesn't take being able to hear what the Badgers had going on to confidently say they weren't listening to the song — their song — again. If only for one day, that song belonged to Notre Dame. More specifically, the Notre Dame defense. The Irish played their best game of the season on that side of the ball. Most of the attention going into the game centered on the Wisconsin defense, with good reason. The Badgers, after all, held Notre Dame to fewer total yards (242) than they gained themselves (314). The Irish only mustered three rushing yards on 32 attempts. The Badgers' de- fense was as advertised. Situationally, though, Notre Dame was arguably superior. The Irish stopped Wisconsin on third down 13 times in 14 tries. They stuffed the Badgers on their only fourth-down attempt. They picked off four of red- shirt sophomore quarterback Graham Mertz's passes and returned two for touchdowns. They forced Mertz to fum- ble and recovered it to bring the turn- over total to five. They held a rushing attack that was averaging 266.0 yards per game to just 74. They just about did it all. "They prepared so well for this game," Kelly said. "And I'm not surprised by the win." One sequence of plays in particular caught Kelly's eye and embodied ev- erything Notre Dame accomplished defensively against Wisconsin. Junior cornerback Cam Hart was flagged for pass interference on a third-down play in the second quarter. Three plays later, on third-and-10, Hart jumped the same route he was penalized on and came away with his first career interception. "My coaches were like, 'They're go- ing to come back to it. Just be ready or be alert on a double move,'" Hart said. That's a microcosm of a resilience Notre Dame's defense has developed in the first month of the season. The Irish gave up 442 yards and 38 points against Florida State Sept. 5. Slowly and steadily, though, that unit has im- proved in both areas with each passing game. Toledo was held to 353 yards and 29 points. Purdue was held to 348 yards and 13 points. The Wisconsin statistics are well documented and fresh in the minds of observers. "We just needed to tap the brakes early on our defense," Kelly said. "It takes some time to get everything in, and there's layers to our defense." As those layers continue to manifest in the form of tackles for loss, forced fumbles and interceptions returned for touchdowns, Kelly believes the country is going to see what he knew all along Notre Dame's defense could be under first-year defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman. And the players believe it, too. "We're having fun out there and un- derstanding the importance of playing free and not really thinking that much," Hart said. "Playing with that energy and passion is the biggest thing for us." NOTRE DAME'S SCHEMATIC SWITCH SPARKS TYREE'S RETURN TOUCHDOWN Brian Polian decided it was time. No more automatic fair catches on kick returns. Time to let sophomore running back and returner Chris Tyree loose out there. And doing so would come with a shift in blocking scheme. Polian, Notre Dame's special teams coordinator, told head coach Brian Kelly at halftime of the Irish's 41-13 win over Wisconsin of his plans. Notre Dame led 10-3 after two quarters, but had gone three-and-out on three of its first six possessions. Its run game was expectedly WISCONSIN GAME NOTES BY PATRICK ENGEL AND TYLER HORKA Senior linebacker Bo Bauer and the Fighting Irish defense pressured Wisconsin quarterback Graham Mertz into five turnovers (four interceptions and one fumble). PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER