Head Coach Brian Kelly starts his 8th season on the Notre Dame sideline with arguably the most pressure he’s had on him. Not since Lou Holtz stalked the sideline has the Irish seen the success that Kelly has brought.
Unfortunately for Kelly, last season was his worst. The 4-8 Irish had home losses to Michigan St., Duke, Stanford and Virginia Tech. They also lost a neutral site game to Navy. All was part of a rough season for the Irish. In an interview with Pete Thamel, Kelly expressed disappointment with last season’s performance yet optimism for the upcoming season.
“There’s a renewed focus on process over production for Notre Dame football. And the point to my team is that we’re building those total preparation traits in you every day now—physical, technical, tactical and mental. Everyone knows that we went 4-8 last season, but I have a great deal of optimism that things will be drastically different this year. There’s been a focus on total preparation, and we’re not there yet.”
That optimism must be on full display on Saturday when the Irish face off against Temple. Notre Dame started last season with a somewhat stunning loss to Texas and the freshman QB. The defense was shredded to the tune of 50 points and though that included 2 OT, it was still a performance that would be a sign to come throughout the entire season.
Kelly welcomes six new coaches to his staff: Chip Long (OC), Mike Elko (DC), Biran Polian (ST), Del Alexander (wide receivers), Tom Rees (quarterbacks) and Clark Lea (Linebackers).
More importantly, Kelly will welcome his third starting quarterback in three seasons. With DeShone Kizer (NFL) and Malik Zaire (transfer to Florida) gone, in comes Brandon Wimbush. As a freshman Wimbush appeared in two games. The Junior saw no action last season.
He’ll be in charge on an Irish offense that should have a bruising running game. Josh Adams leads a corp of backs that has power and explosion. Adams is a capable every down back who is on the Doak Walker Watch List again this season. Junior Dexter Williams provides big play capability and the Irish will finally see Tony Jones Jr. on the field after not playing his freshman year.
Their success is incumbent was what should be a solid front five. The Irish return two preseason All-Americans in Mike McGlinchey (LT) and Quenton Nelson (LG). Center Sam Mustipher and right tackle Alex Bars provide the Irish with even more experience. Both started all 12 games last season.
This should allow Wimbush to be effective passing on early downs and play-action fakes. Wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown is poised for a breakout season. Brown caught 58 passes for 961 last season and has some trumpeting his potential to play on Sundays.
With the offense looking at a potential breakout year, it’s the defense that has most Irish fans worried. The problems on the defensive side of the ball was well documented last season. The Irish gave up more than 30 points in five games last season.
The defensive line will bring back some experience with Jerry Tillery leading the way. But the key will be the linebackers and the secondary. Nyles Morgan will lead the linebacker corp and his continued development will be key. He made 94 tackles last season including four double digit tackle games. The secondary is light on experience so expect teams to attack them early. Safety Devin Studstill has the most starts in the defensive backfield with 10. Corners Julian Love and Nick Watkins will need to have some big play capability if they want to improve on their interception total from last season.
The lack of experience means the front seven most be a force on their own until the secondary gels together or the Irish could be susceptible to the big plays that haunted them last season.
The first game of the season isn’t as easy as some think. The Temple Owls are coming off back to back 10 win season and are start to convince the traditional powers that their success is here to stay.
There has been a four way competition at quarterback for Temple but no matter who gets the start, they will have weapons to throw the ball to. Keith Kirkwood, Adonis Jennings and Ventell Bryant bring experience and big play capability to the Owls offense. Running back Ryquell Armstead is on the Doak Walker Award Watch List.
Despite Temple losing seven starters on defense, the secondary mainly stayed intact. Three starters return and is the class of the defensive unit. Against the Irish, Temple will need to suffocate the run game to get the offense off schedule. With Notre Dame starting an inexperienced quarterback in Wimbush, the Owls will certainly try to make him win the game.
If the Irish want to avoid the upset, a strong running game and turnovers forced will be the keys to victory.
