Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Even without the game-ending score in a 31-0 win, Notre Dame had plenty of reasons for optimism, and not just because its shutout of the Wolverines marked the first against the program in 365 games. It demonstrated that safety is perhaps not the liability initially ex- pected with Collinsworth out. "I would say a game like this settled me more," Redfield said. "Executing the way we should, feeling 100 percent confident, and confident in the defense during practice so that we can play as fast as we can on the weekend." Playing fast is only noticeable when the back of the defense is also commu- nicating. Head coach Brian Kelly called out the safeties following the 48-17 win over Rice when a couple breakdowns led to big plays for the Owls. During several periods of practice leading up to the Michigan game, the coaching staff told the defense it could only communicate with hand signals. "That helped a lot," Redfield said. "It helped that the coaches were basically driving in the idea of communication every day in practice. It was focused and emphasized all week in practice. We knew we needed to improve it, and then we did." A 31-0 win stood out as the fruits of their labor, and Kelly said their play made a vast difference. "They knew that it was their time to lead back there," Kelly said. "They were put in that position by virtue of an injury, and the circumstances, and they were not going to let their teammates down. It's a very close group of guys. "That, in itself, motivates this group to do things that [are] really outside their comfort zone. They're not great communicators as it is. They're very