Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Getting To Know … JUNIOR CORNERBACK COLE LUKE Nickname: "Some people call me 'Cool Hand Luke.'" Dorm: "Keenan Hall." Major: "IT management." Favorite TV show: "Entourage." Favorite place around South Bend to eat: "When I eat, I usually go to the most basic places. Outside of that, Portage Café is a breakfast joint that I really like." Favorite movie: "Has to be the Dark Knight trilogy. I'm definitely a fan of 'The Dark Knight' and 'The Dark Knight Rises.'" Toughest player you've played against: "I've played against so many good receivers. [Former USC wide receiver] Nelson Agholor would have to be it for me, though." Favorite pregame music: "Hip hop and rap. 'What A Time To Be Alive' with Drake and Future is one I've been listening to lately." Favorite part of playing for Notre Dame: "I get to play in front of a tremendous amount of fans, it's a great atmosphere and the fans are amazing. Obviously, I'm getting a great education as well." Brian Kelly Discusses Play Calling Throughout the fall, head coach Brian Kelly has refused to reveal Notre Dame's play caller, whether it be himself, associate head coach Mike Denbrock or of- fensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Mike Sanford. While Kelly has not been asked to give that answer for several weeks, he did explain Oct. 13 why he has been hesitant to provide that information. "It's just a very fluid situation, and we're all in- volved in play calling," Kelly said. "We all have input in what's going on. It all comes through me at the end of the day. Whether we win or lose, it's going to fall on my shoulders. So it's really no need to talk about an individual. It's a group effort." Asked whether the motivation was to prevent criti- cism from being directed toward any one person when things go wrong, Kelly answered that ultimately he bears that responsibility as head coach. "The buck stops with me eventually," he said. "And I know what we've got with Mike Denbrock and Mike Sanford. We've got a great situation, and we really don't need to change it right now." IRISH TO USE BYE WEEK AS A TIME FOR PLAYERS TO REST After a grueling seven-game start to the season that included an emotional three- week stretch at Clemson and against Navy and USC, Brian Kelly wanted to make sure his players can leave campus and spend some time at home during the bye week. "We're going to give them a break," he said. " They know what we need to do. We've got midterms [leading up to the USC game]. The guys have to be proac- tive in getting their work done. But their eye is towards Saturday night and getting their work done. They're in the training room." The plan was for the Irish to hold prac- tice on Tuesday, Oct. 20 before allow- ing the players to head home. They will return the following weekend and begin preparations for the Oct. 31 trip to Phila- delphia to face Temple.