Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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an X-ray," Kelly said. "It's an ankle right now. We just don't know what the severity is." In Schmidt's place, freshman line- backer Nyles Morgan saw his first meaningful action of the season. Though he made a few mistakes ex- pected of a rookie facing a unique offensive attack, Morgan largely im- pressed, finishing with four tackles including one for a two-yard loss. In order to keep the freshman from too much confusion, Kelly removed the defensive quarterbacking duties from the middle linebacker 's to-do list. "We went with one call the rest of the game," Kelly said. "That was it. One call. There was nothing. "Most of the adjustments were be- ing made up on the back end by the safeties … Nyles just needed to line up and kept things really basic." NEW STARTERS SHINE Head coach Brian Kelly had pre- dicted fifth-year senior defensive lineman Justin Utupo would see more snaps than usual against the Mid- shipmen, due to his ability to shed blocks yet still play physical. Kelly, however, refrained from revealing freshman linebacker Greer Martini would see an influx in playing time as well. Martini's start allowed sopho- more linebacker Jaylon Smith to move to outside linebacker, better utilizing Smith's athleticism against Navy's option attack. "I didn't want to really talk about Jaylon moving out, because I think tac- tically, that's a major shift from where he was," Kelly said. "Greer is a very smart kid, his attention to detail is re- ally good, and he's the only guy we had. We don't have anybody else." Martini eliminated much need for anybody else, leading Notre Dame with nine tackles. "He's young, and he works really hard," sophomore safety Max Red- field said. "He's a pretty good athlete. Obviously, the coaches recognize it. That's why they put him in for this game. He played pretty well for the most part." Utupo made the most of his first ca- reer start, as well, snagging a fourth- quarter interception to cap an impres- sive three-series sequence for the Irish defense. Junior defensive lineman Shel- don Day and sophomore linebacker James Onwualu sandwiched Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds as he threw an ill-advised pass. The lame duck toss fluttered directly toward Utupo, though the interception was far from a sure thing. "I'm like, 'First of all, wow. I caught it,'" said Utupo, who claimed the last time he ran with a football was as a senior in high school. "And now, 'Oh, I have to be an offensive player and try to score.'" ✦ PLAY CHART (NO. OF PLAYS) Yards NAVY ND (-) Yards 7 4 0-5 Yards 46 31 6-9 Yards 8 11 10-19 Yards 10 11 20-29 Yards 3 3 30-39 Yards 1 2 40-49 Yards 1 0 50 or more Yards 1 2