Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/434567
UNDER THE DOME "We wanted to be challenged again. There's no sense going into this bowl game situation and feeling like you're not going to be challenged. I feel like there are matchups there that don't give you the same kind of challenge. This is one that we wanted. They're a formidable opponent, a very good SEC team." — Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly on facing LSU "LSU and Notre Dame are instantly recognizable, marquee names that, between them, spent 24 weeks ranked in the AP poll. They also combined to go 2-6 in November, with three of those losses coming by at least 17 points. … "So far, LSU is roughly an eight-point favorite, give or take a point, and as long as it's mathematically possible, [Tigers head coach] Les Miles will be perfectly content to win this one with eight points total." — Grantland.com's Matt Hinton in discussing each bowl matchup and naming the Music City Bowl the 'Most Marketable Matchup That's Actually Kind of Terrible' TWEET OF THE MONTH @acollinsworth28: "Surgery on Friday. I'm proud that I can look at myself in the mirror, and know I gave everything I had to this program and my teammates." — Notre Dame fifth-year senior safety and captain Austin Collinsworth Dec. 10, two days before his surgery on his shoulder he dislocated once more against USC Nov. 29 Injured Return By the time redshirt junior quarterback Cody Kessler and the USC offense finished mauling Notre Dame to the tune of a 49-14 blowout Nov. 29, the Irish defense could barely get 11 healthy players on to the field, let alone fill a full two-deep. Head coach Brian Kelly expects some of the walking wounded to return in time to help slow LSU in the Music City Bowl Dec. 30, though undoubtedly he'd prefer to have more, including — if not especially — in practices. "Even if we've got to line up some offensive linemen and put them in defensive lineman roles, we're going to do whatever is necessary to physically prepare our football team for a very physical football team in LSU," Kelly said. Freshman defensive lineman Daniel Cage (sprained knee) did not play against Louisville Nov. 22, but Notre Dame needed as many snaps as Cage could give against USC after losing junior Jarron Jones for the season with a Lisfranc (mid-foot ligament) injury. "Cage battled the best he could," Kelly said. "He was limited, but we really didn't have much choice. We had to put a young kid in there … I'm proud of the way he actually answered the bell. He was largely ineffective, however." Kelly expects Cage to be in "pretty good health." Adding to the defensive line's woes, freshman Jay Hayes sprained his ankle against USC, but he did begin practicing with the team in preparation for the bowl. In addition to the likely returns of both Cage and Hayes, Kelly is "hopeful" junior defensive lineman Sheldon Day (strained MCL) can return against LSU. Freshman linebacker Greer Martini and sophomore defensive lineman Jacob Matuska each suffered minor injuries against the Trojans. A quad issue kept Martini off the field, but he was reported to be fully