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Brian Kelly admits that Notre Dame wants to run the ball better, but refuses to second guess Saturday’s game plan.
— Irish Illustrated (@PeteSampson_) October 9, 2016
On one hand you kind of have to respect Kelly for not backing down from his decision making, but on the other hand you wish Kelly would just admit that his game plan was atrocious. The fact you kept going five wide in a hurricane and not concede that it was a bad idea makes Irish fans furious.
He says he wants Notre Dame to run the ball better, but to do that you actually have to run the ball and commit to it. On Saturday the Irish ran the ball 38 times, but they ran it so sporadically they couldn’t really get in a rhythm.
Brian Kelly calls some of the special teams breakdowns “unbelievable” and has difficult time reconciling the issues that have plagued ND.
— Irish Illustrated (@PeteSampson_) October 9, 2016
The special teams breakdowns have been unbelievable. The Irish have done plenty of good things, many of them have to do with C.J. Sanders, but in turn have done so many things to counteract all the good. Special teams are what ultimately doomed the Irish against NC State as the deciding score was a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown.
Brian Kelly acknowledges getting to six wins and a bowl game is big for a young team because of all the extra practices you get in December
— Angelo Di Carlo (@angdicarlowndu) October 9, 2016
I know fans probably don’t even care if the Irish make a bowl game at this point because it’ll most likely be some lower tier bowl against a lower tier opponent, but getting to a bowl game would be huge for this roster for two reasons. First, if they made a bowl game that would mean Notre Dame rips of a few wins in a row and would build momentum going into the offseason. The second reason is exactly what Kelly said and thats the extra practices. 15 or so extra practices would be huge for all the youngsters that are currently receiving playing time.
Does Brian Kelly believe his team is continuing to improve? "Oh, absolutely."
— Mike Vorel (@mikevorel) October 9, 2016
The weather and the coaching decisions played such an impact on Saturday that we couldn’t really tell if this team is continuing to improve or not. I will say that the defense looked a little better, but they really only had to worry about stopping NC State’s running game. The Irish will be tested this weekend as they play a well coached Stanford team.
Brian Kelly says they are a shotgun football team.
— Angelo Di Carlo (@angdicarlowndu) October 9, 2016
Okay thats great coach, but when you’re playing in a hurricane you NEED to adjust. You can’t keep doing the same thing if it’s not working. This just shows that Kelly is stubborn as can be and is unwilling to make the proper in game adjustments.