Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IN THE TRENCHES ANDREW OWENS that he is inexperienced. When an Owls punt sailed over his head, Bry- ant turned around and picked up the ball at the 1-yard line. He sprinted for a 12-yard gain — and nearly broke it for a substantial pickup — before Rice tackled him. "Greg Bryant is fearless and does not know what a fair catch is," Kelly quipped after the game. "So all those people wondering why he was catch- ing the ball, he came up with the, 'I can't hear you, my earplug is in.'" Late in the third quarter, Bryant mis- read what was supposed to be a hand- off from Golson in the backfield. The senior quarterback turned around and held the ball out for Bryant to take for a couple seconds, but the sophomore was on the wrong side. Fortunately for Notre Dame, Golson improvised and recorded one of his three rushing touchdowns on the day. "I'd rather not tell you who went the wrong way," Kelly said laughingly following the season-opening win. "We're going to say that's a trick play." A minor miscue peppered through- out a dominant victory is something Notre Dame will have to live with in 2014. Bryant's occasional mental error is more than made up for by his pow- erful running style and electric capa- bilities. The same goes with a receiving corps whose leading returner — not in- cluding senior DaVaris Daniels, whose status is currently in limbo due to the academic fraud investigation — is Chris Brown, who entered the season with 17 career catches to his name. Sophomore speedster Will Fuller slipped past the Rice secondary and adjusted to reel in an underthrown pass by Golson before breaking a tackle and strolling into the end zone for Notre Dame's second score. Gol- son said he preferred to underthrow than overthrow in that situation. Even quarterback and receiver are still feeling each other out and devel- oping a rapport. On defense, Notre Dame will depend on several freshmen and sophomores in defensive coordinator Brian Van- Gorder's scheme this year. Defensive linemen Andrew Trumbetti, Daniel Cage and Grant Blankenship, line- backer Nyles Morgan, and defensive backs Nick Watkins and Drue Tran- quill, all freshmen, plus sophomores like defensive lineman Isaac Rochell, linebacker Jaylon Smith, cornerback Cole Luke and more, will all be put to the test. It also makes you wonder just how good the 2015 Irish could be. Against Rice, Notre Dame can get away with a dropped touchdown, a miscommunication and an under- throw. This week against Michigan, it might not be able to do so and still win. It certainly will not be victorious at Florida State Oct. 18 with those type of mistakes. That's not to pick out a few nega- tives from a sparkling debut. In the opener, the Irish demonstrated why their 2014 version should be more suc- cessful — and certainly more exciting — than the 2013 group. ✦ Andrew Owens has been a writer for Blue & Gold Illustrated since August 2013. He can be reached at aowens@blueandgold.com