Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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and he's only been here, what, eight, 10 weeks. Where would we be with- out that young man? It's really pretty incredible." The same can be said about each of the eight freshmen that appeared on defense in the season's first three games. With defensive coordina- tor Brian VanGorder 's sub packages, opportunities to play have already presented themselves for Tranquill, cornerback Nick Watkins, lineback- ers Nyles Morgan, Greer Martini and Kolin Hill, and defensive linemen Andrew Trumbetti, Daniel Cage and Grant Blankenship. "We knew that we were going to have to count on some freshmen. Who they were we weren't totally clear on, but we did know that we were going to have to count on freshmen," Kelly said. "I don't know that we knew what the names were. There are two people that we need to look at. "[Strength and conditioning coach] Paul Longo and what he does to pre- pare those guys in a very short pe- riod of time, physically, and [defensive coordinator] Brian VanGorder. Those two guys in particular deserve a lot of credit. Paul gets them physically ready, and Brian gets them mentally ready to compete at a very early age." The preseason expectation was that Notre Dame would have a learning curve on defense while the offense carried the team. While the offense scored at least 30 points in each of the first three games, the defense also rose to the occasion by allowing just 10.3 points per contest. "You get what you demand," he said. "First of all, they know that they've been called upon, and they