Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Preseason Payoff This August, Notre Dame head coach Brian Kelly acknowledged that the practice intensity and competitiveness were ratcheted up to a higher level when the Fighting Irish partook in much more physical 11-on-11 work be- tween the top units. Kelly believes his program has reaped rewards in mental and physical toughness during its 9-0 start, including outscoring opponents 80-26 in the fourth quarter and going 5-0 in games decided by seven or fewer points. "We ramped it up in the preseason camp, felt like we needed to spend more time going against each other and being more physical," he said. "Our practices were longer. We added more periods to our practice all in the hope to develop more physical and mental toughness … Now we're getting con- sistent performance, and I think some of this has to do with what we did in preseason." Now in November, there is some tapering back to two-hour sessions, and another 10 to 15 minutes will be taken out with daylight savings time. Be- cause of so many close games, including two that went into overtime, Kelly said a lot of his starters have had to play an inordinate amount of snaps. "We didn't have the luxury of some other programs in the first four games where they had some easy blowouts, where they didn't have to play in the second half," Kelly said. "… If you look at our snaps cumulative with our first-team guys versus some of the top teams in the country — or I think we all know Oregon — it's night and day." In other news: • Junior No. 2 offensive right tackle Tate Nichols has been ruled out the remainder of the season after injuring the posterior cruciate ligament in his knee. Reserve sophomore guard Nick Martin has been moved behind junior Christian Lombard at right tackle, while freshman Ronnie Stanley is listed behind senior Zack Martin at left tackle. • Kelly praised the elder Martin's consistency. "He's lapping the field," Kelly said of the three-year starting left tackle. "I think Coach [Harry Hiestand, offensive line] is grading him out in the 90s, where guys are grading out in the 60s and 70s." • Some of the flu bug that hit the program last October still lingered dur- Let our customer service department know your new address! Call us 1-800-421-7751 MOVING? ing preparation for the Boston College game, but Kelly said the situation was more stable and under better control than it was the previous two weeks.