Blue and Gold Illustrated

Oct. 23, 2021

Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football

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4 OCT. 23, 2021 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED W hile much of Notre Dame Na- tion was taking its shots and laying blame at the feet of Irish head coach Brian Kelly during a start to this season that included near upsets to underwhelming opponents Florida State and Toledo, then a home loss to Cincinnati, NBC television host Jac Collinsworth was forming a different perspective. "I think the fact that they were un- defeated through four games, based on everything that they were going through, this was one of the best coaching jobs that I've seen in quite a while," said Collinsworth, a 2017 Notre Dame graduate, and NBC's host of its pregame, halftime and post- game shows during Irish telecasts. To his point, while opening their season Sept. 5 at Florida State in a tough road environment the Irish saw an 18-point fourth-quarter lead evaporate before Kelly re-gathered his group and escaped Tallahassee with a 41-38 overtime win. A week later against Toledo, Notre Dame was left for dead when it fell behind 29-24 with 1:35 remaining in the game, but pulled a Lazarus with a 75- yard touchdown drive to become 2-0 after an unlikely 32-29 win. Even in the 27-13 win against Purdue Sept. 18 — a victory that lifted the squad to 3-0 — the Irish led only 17-13 in the fourth quarter in a tighter game than what the final score indicates. And finally, the 41-13 win over Wis- consin at Soldier Field Sept. 25, may look like a blowout of the Badgers, but Notre Dame trailed 13-10 in the fourth quarter before scoring 31 unanswered points to improve to 4-0. Playing with a third-string quarter- back and a third-string left tackle against a stingy Wisconsin defense, Notre Dame moved to 4-0 and made Kelly the all-time winningest coach in program history. "Winning that game, knowing ev- erything they are battling through, and then hitting that school record, I just think it really meant something to Kelly," Collinsworth explained, "es- pecially knowing what a challenge it's been for him so far this season." Collinsworth discussed several topics with Blue & Gold Illustrated, includ- ing the incremental improvement of the Irish defense, the ongoing struggles along the offensive line and, of course, the quarterback carousel. And while Collinsworth believes that strong-armed graduate student Jack Coan and nimble freshman Tyler Buch- ner are both talented players, they lack the "it" factor that sophomore Drew Pyne demonstrated in his first two ap- pearances as a backup. "There has just been some energy about Drew Pyne's game when he comes onto the field," Collinsworth explained. "I don't know exactly what it is, but it's a swagger, whatever word you want to put to it — and it works." Collinsworth didn't leak any inside information about Notre Dame's un- settled quarterback situation, but he suggested that of the three QBs, Pyne provides the best blend of rush, pass, confidence and leadership. "His teammates believe in him. He loves the bright lights. He loves everybody look- ing at him," Collinsworth said. "And you have to have a little bit of that as a quar- terback, especially at Notre Dame." And working behind an offensive line that ranks near the bottom of the NCAA in both rushing offense and quarterback protection, being multi- dimensional at the position is para- mount to both statistical production and self-preservation. "It's really hard to find any consis- tency on offense when you don't have any consistency along the offensive line," Collinsworth said. "You're trying to figure out a new identity for the team on the fly, and that's a hard thing to do." Defensively, Collinsworth believes that first-year Irish defensive coor- dinator Marcus Freeman is delivering on everything he promised, even after some early struggles. Through its first two games, Notre Dame ranked 104th out of 130 FBS teams in rush defense. It has since moved into the top 50. Collinsworth is most taken by the dramatic change in defensive strategy from the "bend-don't-break, earn- every-inch" style under coordinator Clark Lea last season compared to the "fly-around, attack, turn-you-over" approach Freeman uses. "And they have done that at an in- credible clip," Collinsworth said. Notre Dame's nine interceptions through five games ranked third in the country, and its 12 total takeaways were tied for eighth nationally. Collinsworth isn't ready to anoint Kelly as national coach of the year, and he readily admits that this team has many flaws. Yet, he still appreciates the "duct tape" and "patchwork" job the Irish skipper managed through the first half of this season. "To me, this is a team that is going to continue to grow and improve," Col- linsworth said. "And it's a team that can compete with any opponent the rest of the way and still have a great season." ✦ Jac Collinsworth is optimistic about the Irish for several rea- sons, including the "it" factor that sophomore quarterback Drew Pyne (above) demonstrated in his first two appear- ances as a backup. PHOTO BY CHAD WEAVER NBC Host Says Notre Dame Is In Great Hands UPON FURTHER REVIEW TODD D. BURLAGE Todd D. Burlage has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 2005. He can be reached at tburlage@blueandgold.com

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