Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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singularly who has brought his game to a new level ... this is a cu- mulative effect on him, as well," Kelly said. "TJ and I have had conver- sations along the way in between plays, on the sideline; he's devel- oping that mental and physical toughness, and he would tell you that. "But more impor- tantly, he's really fo- cused on his craft, and the skill of route run- ning; all of those little things that go into being a better football player." The 5-11, 190-pound but it was quiet. "This week is fall break, so there isn't anyone on campus," he said. "Previous weeks, there's definitely been a different buzz on cam- pus. It's more lively and it seems students and faculty are more into the season this year than they have been in the past." It surely would have would have praised his son for making such a critical play, it would have been accompa- nied by advice on how to do things even better, sharper and more effec- tively. That's how that conversation always went. However, Jones' incan- As much as Andre Jones, who is wel l versed in life and death, was second on the team in both receptions (19) and receiving yards (235) through six games, trailing senior running back Theo Riddick by just one catch and senior tight end Tyler Eifert by only 11 yards. Both Jones and Eifert had two touchdown recep- tions apiece to lead the team. The score against Stanford, which secured a 6-0 start and helped Notre Dame debut at No. 5 in the first BCS rankings, should have earned Jones plenty of praise around campus the week of the BYU, made his father proud, and the two, following tradition, would have discussed the game- winning play thor- oughly on their inten- tionally detoured ride home from the Atlanta airport. Jones — who, albeit descent smile is nearly back to its original watt- age. Winning football games doesn't fill that void, but it helps dull the slowly diminishing pain. For Jones and his team- mates, the sweat and ad- herence to Kelly's plan is paying off. "It is satisfying to an briefly, considered leav- ing school when his dad, former Irish line- backer and member of the 1988 national cham- pionship team Andre Jones, passed away suddenly in June 2011 because of a brain aneu- rysm — will never ex- perience that kind of re- union again. The sorrow from the untimely loss is still with the Roswell, Ga., native, who is navi- gating the final stages of a transition to manhood without the man who taught him everything. extent to see that the hard work we've been putting in over the past two years coming into this season is starting to all finally click to- gether," he said. "We just remain focused. "It's a lot of fun just to see the plan Coach Kelly talks about coming to fruition. All this hard work over the last two years, you kind of see it coming together now. We're coming together as a team on and off the field. We're becoming closer while also suc- ceeding." ✦