Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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fan forum on your part, and most have been asked. But it's Brian Kelly's press conference and he can answer however he wants — including "coachspeak" — whether we like the answer or not (similar to the White House, regardless which party is in office). There were three third-and-one situations against Michigan State in which three different backs (Cam McDaniel, George Atkinson III and Tarean Folston) did not get the needed yardage behind the offensive line. If that continues to be a pattern, it will be alarming. Kelly is not shy about pulling a signal- caller — i.e., Dayne Crist versus South Florida in 2011, and Everett Golson against Purdue and Michigan in 2012 — but there is also such a thing as "quarterback equity." Tommy Rees nine times has rallied the team in the fourth quarter or had the game on the line, and executed well: USC in 2010, Michigan and Pitt in 2011, Purdue, Michigan, Stanford and BYU last year, and Purdue and Michigan State this year. As a coach, you're going to invest with the proven player over a completely unproven commodity, especially in close situations. From The WebSite Our message board community has grown weary of Brian Kelly's statement that "eight men in a box" simply negates the ability to run. Here are some samples. Ebeamish: Whether the defenders are in some box or not is somewhat irrelevant. However, when we go into our "one" run formation, everybody on defense (so far) has been able to guess run and be correct 90-plus percent of the time. To me, "in the box" includes all of the creeping defenders and the hard pinching ends that are selling out to the between the tackles run with no repercussions … These linebackers and corners may not be in the box when the ball is snapped, but they are there within a fraction of a second after the ball is snapped. Nobody's line can block efficiently for this particular scenario — it has to change systemically. Jiggafini19: I applauded Kelly for changing things up in terms of his philosophy from when he first arrived. I think it took him a season to realize he wasn't at Cincinnati anymore and he adapted to the big stage. After this year's Michigan game, I saw and heard some things that were way too similar to what I saw and heard after the Tulsa game in 2010. I hope he stays the course rather than regress. You need to self-audit, not just in your professional life, but every day as a human being. Irish13: It's my opinion that when Everett Golson was off the team, it changed dramatically the 2013 preparations. It became extremely important that Tommy Rees have great pass protection. Therefore, practice time emphasized pass protection versus run blocking. BK couldn't take a risk of a Rees injury. Results: three sacks through four games. This is not by accident it's by design, backed with a ton of practice reps — and our running has unfortunately suffered. Golson's bad judgment has had repercussions. I think Kelly has performed very well given his resources and practice time constraints. Want to stay up-to-date with all the Irish news? Like Us On Facebook:www.facebook.com/blueandgoldillustrated Follow Us On Twitter: www.twitter.com/BGInews