Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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THE FIFTH QUARTER LOU SOMOGYI the actual strength of the personnel. Meanwhile, the defense became the linchpin. During the 4-0 finish that season, the defense yielded only 39 points and three touchdowns, one on a two-yard drive at USC while end- ing an eight-year losing streak to the Trojans, and the other two in the bowl when the game was already out of reach for Miami in a 33-17 defeat. Thirty-nine points yielded over four games. This from a coach who won three of his final four games at Cin- cinnati by scores of 47-45, 49-36 and 45-44. Moreover, the recruiting empha- sis and buzz centered on building a championship "SEC-caliber" defense. Defense had become a rumor at Notre Ame (No "D") over the past decade, if not longer, but Kelly's modus ope- randi from the outset was to make that side of the ball the centerpiece of the program. These days, seeing the Irish in the top 10 nationally in most de- fensive categories, most notably No. 2 in scoring defense after seven games, almost seemed surreal. "The focus will continue, each and every year, to be on the defense, first and foremost," Kelly said. "And then it will be about players, not plays, on the offensive side of the ball. "It's a modification of understand- the recruiting cache they did not at previous stops. Yet, new inquiries now remain. When will he truly "unleash" the fast-tempo, no-huddle offense — a la Oregon — upon which he built his reputation? According to offensive coordinator Chuck Martin, who origi- nally coached for Kelly at Division II Grand Valley State, Kelly was much more "defensive" than past percep- tions. "Coach Kelly has never been like Or- egon where they just go up-tempo no matter what," Martin said. "He went up-tempo when it gave his team the best chance to win — like at Cincin- nati, where he needed to win shoot- outs — and in other games he didn't go up-tempo at all. "The skill set at Oregon really suits what they do. For us, it's still manag- ing our skill set and our depth … it's finding the right balance." Coaches are often judged by game- day adjustments, but Kelly in his first three seasons has been more involved in a "program adjustment." "We'll continue to recruit guys that ing [that] at Notre Dame the job is if you want to win a national champi- onship, you start with defense and then let your offense evolve around the personnel that you have on hand, and, moving forward, that you're re- cruiting." At Notre Dame, Kelly and Co. have can play a fast tempo, and that can play in a spread, but we're also going to recruit guys that can run the foot- ball, if we need to, 50 times a game," he said. "The offense will revolve around the strengths of the personnel that we have, but the defense and the philosophy won't change." Get used to it … for now. ✦ Senior Editor Lou Somogyi has been at Blue & Gold Illustrated since July 1985. He can be reached at lsomogyi@blueandgold.com