UNDER THE DOME NO RETURN
Special teams look toward better days ahead
BY LOU SOMOGYI
Kelly when he accepted the position in December 2009 was to build an "SEC- caliber" championship de- fense. That plan seems to be
T
he first priority of Notre Dame head coach Brian
INVESTMENTS … YET
coming to fruition. From 2003-09, the Irish never fin- ished higher than 42nd in scoring defense and were 63rd (25.92 points per game) the year before he arrived. During the 7-0 start this
year, Notre Dame's scoring defense ranked No. 2 (9.43), behind only Alabama. Next was to build an of-
fensive identity, which has mainly been "a work in progress," according to Kelly. On the bright side,
Sophomore George Atkinson III returned a pair of kickoffs for touchdowns in 2011, but he averaged just 19.4 yards on his first eight attempts through seven games this season.
PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA
