Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Fighting Words Close-Knit Irish Clicking So Far By Wes Morgan It’s sometimes difficult to distinguish coach speak from reality, especially when the inner workings of a college football team are often closed to the public. Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly said early and often his team this season is exceedingly chummy compared to the previous 21 squads he’s overseen in his career, including his first two Irish outfits. The players have echoed that sentiment at every opportunity, and it’s beginning to show on the field that the ties that bind roughly 100 individual players and coaches are built on trust. That confidence in one another has been the driving force in the program’s first 3-0 start in a decade after last Saturday’s 20-3 victory on the road against No. 10 Michigan State. Junior wideout TJ Jones and senior slot receiver Robby Toma are no strangers to the Irish offense, but the previous two seasons were purely supporting roles behind former big-time playmaker Michael Floyd. They’re coming into their own these days, with Jones catching four passes for 59 yards and Toma adding a team-high five receptions for 58 yards against the Spartans. Even fifth-year receiver John Goodman, who seemingly hadn’t caught a touchdown pass since George W. Bush was president, made a one-handed snag while a Spartans defender held his right arm on a 36-yard pass from sophomore Everett Golson. They did all of that on a night when Notre Dame’s best receiving option, senior tight end Tyler Eifert, didn’t catch a single ball. After a two-game suspension for violating team rules, senior tailback Cierre Wood was given another shot in East Lansing. It didn’t start well (Wood lost a yard on his first carry), but it ended with shades of Wood circa 2011, when he rushed for more than 1,000 yards and nine touchdowns. He finished with 56 yards on 10 carries, trailed by sophomore George Atkinson III (45 yards on five carries) and senior starter Theo Riddick (33 yards on 12 carries). Even though each one is a competitor and wants to be the featured running back, they seemingly trust Kelly to make the crowded backfield work. “As a coach, it is your job to get your players that can help you win touches,” Kelly said. “We went back and really examined how we can manufacture touches for those guys. They all have got to get their share, because they’re all three very, very good football players. Cierre was huge for us late in the game.” “The offense isn’t set up for one person,” Goodman added. “It’s set up for everybody, and everybody has a role on every play.” As for Golson, it’s evident his teammates have ample faith in him. “That’s just the kind of player he is,” Goodman said. “Once he gets out of the pocket, he just looks around and can make any kind of play he can imagine. He has the arm to do it, too. That’s what he did.” The trip to East Lansing was supposed to tell us a lot about this year’s team and its identity. We had seen Notre Dame beat Navy in the season opener by land and top Purdue the following week by air. Then we watched Notre Dame record its first victory over a top‑10 foe since 2005. We’ve witnessed for years linebacker Manti Te’o racking up game highs in tackles, as he did against MSU with 12 stops, and seen up-and-comers such as junior nose guard Louis Nix and sophomore defensive end Stephon Tuitt begin to reach their potential. But now it’s clear the staff can count on guys like freshman defensive end Sheldon Day, who followed up a sack in the third quarter with a pass broken up on the next play, or freshman nickel Elijah Shumate, who batted away two crucial third-down passes. Notre Dame, which didn’t have a single turnover on offense, and badgered MSU quarterback Andrew Maxwell and stifled the run on defense, put together a complete effort in week three, looking more like a well-rounded team than at any other time in Kelly’s three-year tenure. “I’ve just felt like this group, since January, has totally committed themselves to wanting to win each and every week,” Kelly said. “It’s very, very important to them. “I don’t think it was all of the sudden this week that I saw it. It’s been coming. They’re so committed to the process. I know we talk about it all the time, but we’re right in the thick of the process of developing our football team. … You need one of those wins to break it open.” Without a host of household names, the door to a double-digit figure in the win column this season is certainly wide open. Assitant Editor Wes Morgan has been with Blue & Gold Illustrated since February 2011. He can be reached at morgan@blueandgold.com