Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME tack gain 298 yards on the ground at 6.1 yards per carry. "I really like what he does in the run game — communicates very well with the offensive line, got his checks in," Kelly added about Zaire. "There are some things that he needs to work on, but it's probably me- chanical in throwing the football, being on balance a lot more, and then con- sistency in the passing game." Whether the compe- tition at quarterback — including current 6-5 freshman DeShone Kizer — will continue to re- main open in the spring, is open-ended at this point to Kelly. "It really just depends upon the factors of what improvements are made, what the attitude is," Kelly said. "There are some things that have to change at that position. So we're going to have to see how quickly they are, if we're on the right track, if we're making progress there. That could be an extension into the spring. "The best I can give you is there's a way I want that position to op- erate — and it's going to operate the way I want it to operate. If you oper- ate it the way I want it done, you'll be the start- ing quarterback at Notre Dame." ✦ NYLES MORGAN TACKLES TOUGH ROLE Lost in the rubble of Notre Dame's 49-14 loss at USC in the regular-season finale Nov. 29 was freshman Mike linebacker Nyles Morgan's second-half production. Suspended from action in the first half at USC because of a targeting infraction in the second half of the previous week's loss to Louisville, Morgan racked up 11 tackles (six solo) in the second half alone versus the Trojans. Granted, USC was mainly trying to run the clock with running plays after basically sealing the outcome in the first half, but Morgan has demonstrated a nose for the football. Despite not playing regularly on defense until the final month, Morgan posted 43 tackles to rank seventh on the team. Beyond the raw data, Morgan will have to adapt — like all defenders — to today's spread offense game that is played at an up-tempo pace. "We played teams that played us fast that messed with the numbers, and he's got to control that box," Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said of Morgan. "He was required to do a lot this year in a very short period of time. "All that knowledge is going to prove to be extremely beneficial to him. It didn't help us at the current situation and week to week, but all that experience that he gained is going to be beneficial for him as a football player and for us as a team." Another freshman inside linebacker, Greer Martini, also recorded 26 tackles in relatively brief stints. However, it's not just about numbers in their job description, but also helping set a defense correctly against veteran, crafty quarterbacks who can manipulate the defensive numbers and force moving play- ers around. That was senior Mike linebacker Joe Schmidt's forte prior to his season-ending injury versus Navy Nov. 1. "It puts a lot of that cerebral football knowledge on a young kid like Nyles or Grant, and that's a lot to ask for him, and it was a difficult chore," Kelly said. — Lou Somogyi