Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/165246
✦ quoting kelly "It's going to take four quarters. The numbers have suggested that a number of these games have only been decided by just a few points. It's going to require that fast start, but it's also going to require four quarters in this kind of matchup." On whether preparing for All-American left tackle Taylor Lewan is different than facing Irish junior tackle Zack Martin in practice: "No, I don't think so. Certainly, we're not going to be able to duplicate what he does during the week relative to the demo squad. We just know that we're going to have to do a great job when you have him on the edge; they're going to try to run to his side. "You know they want to get the ball outside your defense. So we have to be really good on the edge. We have to do a great job of keeping the ball inside our defense. Whoever is there has got to do a great job of making sure that they can control the edge of the defense. "Sometimes you have to scheme it to make sure that we do that. He's that kind of player." On senior nose guard Louis Nix III's ability to fight off double teams against Temple: "As a whole on the defensive line, we would probably say we want to be a little bit more disciplined. We want to play with better technique on a snap-to-snap basis. "The effort was there. Louis was on the field a lot, a lot more than he was last year. He was on the field for a lot of third-down snaps. We asked him to do a lot more than he did last year. "We've had great meetings the last couple of days. We learned a lot, and our players were able to really take a lot from the game. We're going to see some things on Saturday that they can really build off of." On senior wide receiver TJ Jones' improved motivation the past two years: "He hasn't missed one practice. The want and desire to be the best are there every single day. His want to be on special teams and return Senior wide receiver TJ Jones, who was expected to be Notre Dame's go-to guy in 2013, started the season with a career-high 138 yards on six receptions against Temple. photo by bill panzica punts, you can see that there's a passion to wanting to be the very, very best. "As to why it wasn't there, young guys are still figuring it out, but he clearly wants to be the best and I think leave a legacy here at Notre Dame. He got off to a pretty good start on Saturday." On junior tight end Troy Niklas' progression as a blocker: "What I like about what he did was he wasn't in line, so he wasn't attached. He was in space. His progression for us was that his awareness in space blocking is a lot different than when you're in line. "I want to be careful how I say this, but you can maul a little bit when you're in line there. You can get hands on, and as long as you're not outside the framework of the body, you might be able to kind of tug in there a little bit. "In space you have to be very careful. You have to have great hand placement, and I thought he did a very good job of utilizing his feet, his hands and his body. That's a ✦ Page 11 big step for a big kid like that — to be effective in space. He did a very nice job." On sophomore wide receiver Chris Brown's improvement into an every-down player: "It's confidence at that position for him, that when he's called upon that he's going to make a play and come up big for us. "More than anything else, when your number is called, you'd better make a play because there's another guy waiting for your chance. With the group of receivers that we have out there, they're all fighting for the next snap and the next play. It's pretty hot competition right now." On the importance of getting off to a fast start at Michigan: "It's going to take four quarters. The numbers have suggested that a number of these games have only been decided by just a few points. It's going to require that fast start, and it's also going to require four quarters in this kind of matchup." ✦