Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME cused through a game and avoid those scenarios. "So hopefully we can be consistent in this ball- game, and we need to be." Ohio State presented a difficult challenge for a defense that finished the regular season ranked 56th nationally in passing yards per attempt (6.9), 78th in rushing yards allowed per attempt (4.5), 102nd in opponent red zone touchdown percent- age (67.6) and 113th in turnovers forced (13). "We're not overly big. I think that's the type of culture that we're building," VanGorder said. "It starts with mental and physical toughness. We always want that to be part of our thought, respective to Notre Dame defense, so it's a great challenge. "But that's football. Put it on the ground and roll the man and belly play through there with an outstanding offensive line. That's what they're capable of doing, so it's a great challenge." VanGorder admitted that he expected the de- fense to be further along after his second season, but again pointed to bouts of inconsistency that plagued the Irish in almost every game in 2015. He also said it was "fair" to consider the back end of the defense the weakness of the unit. Head coach Brian Kelly, who brought VanGorder to Notre Dame after the pair worked together at Grand Valley State University early in their respec- tive careers, dodged questions of VanGorder's job performance earlier in December. "I think we always judge it by the whole," Kelly said. "We're a better football team than we were 25 games ago [when VanGorder arrived], and that's the most important thing. So my question — the question would be answered in that as a whole, as a football team, we're a better football team than we were 25 games ago." VanGorder, however, sees signs of improvement to go along with the frustrating lapses. "As we started even quality control after the regular season, we've made that a point to the players," he said. "There are marks of really, really good defense, and part of that is we haven't been real good in the red zone either. "From a situational standpoint, we haven't been a real good defense in the red zone — inconsistent down there, which is huge in a game. Even when you look at those kind of drives, you've got to be great situational. Again, those questions I still think lead to the same description of being incon- sistent through the year." — Andrew Owens Secondary Depth Tested Notre Dame's struggling secondary suffered a pair of losses in Arizona during the lead-up to the Fiesta Bowl contest versus Ohio State Jan. 1. Junior safety Max Redfield was sent home for a violation of team rules and junior cornerback Devin Butler suffered a broken left foot at practice three days before the game. Butler was slated to start for Irish in place of senior cornerback KeiVarae Russell, who suffered a broken tibia Nov. 21. Butler started in the 38-36 loss at Stanford Nov. 28. Sophomore Nick Watkins was expected to get the start versus the Buckeyes. Redfield and fifth-year senior safety Matthias Farley each started at times this season. Redfield being sent home is another chapter in what has been a mostly disappointing career through three years for the former five-star recruit. — Andrew Owens REDFIELD BUTLER