UNDER THE DOME
by special teams captain Matthias Far-
ley, who vowed in the preseason that
the unit would be vastly improved and
help make a difference, and Kelly's
own statement back in August that he
had never done more preseason work
on special teams in his 25 seasons as a
head coach. Improved depth has aided
the cause as well.
Yet it all comes back to a simple
coaching cliché: You achieve what you
emphasize.
"It's just been a point of emphasis
of what we knew had to get better
for us to be the kind of football team
we wanted," Kelly said. "The whole
emphasis on how important special
teams has to be has been a message
that is starting to really sink deeper
into the program, and the guys now
take more ownership in making sure
that that occurs.
"I don't know if it's just happening
this year. I think it's just a residual of
the emphasis that we've been plac-
ing over it, and now we are starting
to see it come to fruition."
— Lou Somogyi
Junior tight end Durham Smythe's touchdown on a fake field goal in the 34‑27 win at Virginia
Sept. 12 was the first of three special teams touchdowns scored by Notre Dame in the first seven
games.
PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA
