Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/204831
murphy's Law dan murphy B Irish Defense Survives On Life Support rian Kelly has a bone to pick with those of you who believe coaching college football isn't rocket science. The Irish coach turned to NASA, or at least Hollywood's version of it, for some inspiration in piecing together a bruised and battered defense this week. Kelly summoned visions of a scene from "Apollo 13" when pocket-protected engineers dumped a few cardboard boxes of random odds and ends found in a spaceship on to a table and from them pieced together a carbon dioxide filter for the astronauts floating in place. What Notre Dame's defense did against Navy and the dreaded triple option, Kelly said, was not much different. "That's what we did this week. We threw it all on the table, and we figured out how to get it done," he said. "We didn't complain about it. It's part of the game. Injuries happen. You've just got to find a way to get it done, and they did. We'll find a way to get it done." With an assortment of spare parts, Notre Dame's defense managed to string together the stops it needed to beat the Midshipmen in a 38-34 shootout in South Bend. The MacGyver-like efforts of the group came to a peak on Navy's final possession. On fourth-and-four and just more than a minute remaining, Notre Dame's defensive line was manned by fifth-year reserve Tyler Stockton at nose guard The tandem of junior safety Eilar Hardy (16) and freshman outside linebacker Jaylon Smith (9) teamed up for a crucial stop on Navy's final play against a patchwork Irish defense. photo by Bill Panzica and senior special teams mainstay Justin Utupo. Junior safety Eilar Hardy, in the busiest game of his career, snuffed a reverse attempt and stretched out the play long enough for freshman linebacker