Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/83553
✦ QUOTING KELLY "We are excited about the matchup with Michigan. As is the case with each game that we play, it's a red-letter game on everybody's schedule and certainly a game that we are looking forward to, as well." focusing on building the defense: "I said it in my open- ing press conference when I took the job here, that if we wanted to compete nationally, we had to have a defense that could control the different teams that we play on a week-to-week basis. "I don't think there's more of a diverse group of op- ponents that any team in the country plays. When you play in a conference, you get a great understanding of who you're playing. We're playing option teams; we're playing power teams; we're playing spread teams. "Getting our defense up to that level through recruit- On coming here with a reputation for offense, but ing, through player development, through scheme, has been job one." ferent plans in how you're successful. And I knew when I took the job here at Notre Dame, the blueprint for suc- cess here was different than other stops that I had along the way. I just think that every opportunity presents dif- ferent challenges. This one was to get our defense right." On relying more on the defense: "I think there's dif- "I think we all know that he's very skilled, but he's also very smart. He just doesn't have a lot of experience. Translating that classroom knowledge on to the football field is the process that we're in. And sometimes he's a little bit late in those reactions. Sometimes he's too much pre-snap [reading the defense]. Other times we feel like he does some things that you can't teach. So it's an evolutionary process of just getting more and more opportunities to play this game. "What we have asked him to do is throw away the football [when there is not a play to be made]. … Our On sophomore quarterback Everett Golson's play: With the Irish coaching staff playing to his strengths, junior wide receiver TJ Jones is off to a good start in 2012. He is currently tied for the team lead in receptions (nine) and receiving touchdowns (one), and is third in receiving yards (103). PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA completion percentage has probably taken a hit, but our ability to succeed at the end of the day and win games has not. And that's why I think he continues to evolve. He knows now that if he wants to stay in the starting lineup, he has to take care of the football." calls and the use of wristbands: "We definitely saw improvement from Purdue to Michigan State. And again, we don't want to give him a ton of things. If Tommy [Rees] is out there, you know there's a lot of different checks and a lot of different things going on. "We don't ask [Golson] to do all those things, either. On seeing Golson improve on his pre-snap reads, He's capable of doing what we ask him to do, but he doesn't have all the experience that Tommy has yet. He can do some things that Tommy couldn't do, either, so it's kind of that trade off that we are in right now." On veteran receivers Robby Toma and John Good- man both emerging as big-play threats and reliable ✦ PAGE 10 players: "They are becoming much more reliable, much more consistent on a day-to-day basis. And that credit goes to them. They have really taken to the understand- ing that they have got to be consistent in practice, be- cause we have got some competition." game for him, and we targeted him on those play calls. We wanted the ball in his hands, and I think one thing that Coach [Chuck] Martin has done a great job of is when we are moving personnel in, we are connecting with the right guys in the right situations. "The personnel changes that you've seen so much of, On junior wideout TJ Jones: "For TJ, that was a big a lot of that has contributed to these guys [being success- ful], knowing when they are going to get the football and what their play call is. "He's been a great catcher of the ball and in getting yards after the catch. If you look at last year, he did a great job against Purdue on a drive route. We are really trying to go to his strengths." ✦