Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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two] was huge," senior defensive back Matthias Farley said. "Elijah, I'm sure you've all heard it said time and time again, is incredibly talented. It's un- believable. The big thing with him is he's just gained a whole bunch of con- fidence. "When you put that talent with con- fidence, it's a lethal combination, it's hard to stop. You get him believing in himself and you get everybody believ- ing and trusting him as well. It really makes a huge difference." Redfield, a former five-star prospect from Mission Viejo, Calif., first cracked the starting lineup in Notre Dame's Pinstripe Bowl victory over Rutgers at the end of last season. During fall camp, he played alongside the vocal Collinsworth, so he was rarely called upon to communicate. Once the cap- tain went down, that all changed. "I don't feel like I'm a quiet indi- vidual … Shumate a little bit more," Redfield said. "But yeah, we definitely weren't communicating as much as we needed to on the field and both of us stepped up communication-wise, which is what the whole defense needed on a play-to-play basis. "It's just getting the play from me to Elijah to the corners to the linebackers — and in some cases to the [defensive] line as well. It's getting it to everyone as fast as we can, as smoothly as we can." Despite preventing Michigan from scoring a touchdown at Notre Dame Stadium for the second straight game, Kelly, defensive coordinator Brian Van- Gorder and the rest of the defensive staff identified 34 mental errors in the victory. "It wasn't just one player," Kelly said. "The defensive linemen, linebackers, across the board, we were able to make up for them because we have some skill players at different positions that can make up for some of those mental errors with their skill. "You can't get a better teaching envi- ronment than that. You've shut out an opponent, and there are all these errors that need to get cleaned up. It's a pretty good teaching environment right now." As for the positives, few would know better than fifth-year senior cornerback Cody Riggs, who started 26 games at Florida before signing up to play his final season in South Bend. He said the growth by Redfield and Shumate has manifested itself in practice. "It was great to see all their work paid off," Riggs said. "They were more confident in their calls just from the preparation they put in. They were never second-guessing themselves, made sure they made the calls, and we were all engaged." After tasting some success, Shumate said he and the rest of the unit remain unsatisfied. "The coaches preach perfection," Shumate said. "I made a play on the ball [on the interception], [but] it doesn't matter. I should have been aligned dif- ferently. There's always something you can fix, even with the good. "We take [the shutout] and we're happy with it, but you've got to get bet- ter. We had 34 mental errors and we've got to communicate and get that right." While trying to get it right, Shumate and Redfield will continue to search for the balance between unbridled enthusi- asm and cerebral direction. ✦