On several occasions, Irish players were not in position when Texas snapped the ball and the result was positive Longhorn yardage.
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“We just don’t understand why it wasn’t reviewed by the Big 12”, Kelly said in a teleconference Monday . “You being the player that you are, you’re going to make something good happen instead of trying to manufacture something”. If we’re not playing cover three well we’re not coaching well enough, so we’ve got to do those things better. According to Kelly, however, the problems in the secondary start with the need for better coaching.
“[I’m] certainly proud of the resiliency and the effort that was displayed on Sunday night”, Kelly said.
Notre Dame had a potential game-tying 36-yard field goal blocked on the next play.
Notre Dame quarterback DeShone Kizer rallied the Irish from a 31-14 deficit in the third quarter and finished with 215 yards passing and five touchdowns. “We played with three guys in the back end of our defense that hadn’t played, actually four hadn’t played much at all”. “There’s no real timeline when you start to expect somebody to clear”.
“We evaluate from week to week”.
Pressed further on whether he planned to keep the “OR” between the two on the depth chart, Kelly said: “We plan on having two really good quarterbacks the rest of the year”.
“We’ll be back up here, probably tomorrow, watching film on UTEP and getting ready for the next game”, junior linebacker Naashon Hughes said on Sunday. “So anything that we do from a defensive standpoint has my signature on it”.
Notre Dame suffered injuries to two notable players in the game: senior receiver Torii Hunter Jr. and Sebastian.
Those were the words of then-quarterback Vince Young after the Texas Longhorns’ last national championship. Tarean Folston ran for 88 yards on 18 attempts, including a 54-yard burst that set up the Irish’s first touchdown. It wasn’t against Texas.
While some of Notre Dame’s preseason concerns showed up, there were also expected strengths that let the Irish down at times. Not matter what they say, the Irish aren’t going to treat Nevada like those other two teams; and (2) The Wolf Pack has played at Texas A&M (in 2015) and Florida State and UCLA (in 2013) in recent seasons, so the big stage shouldn’t be an issue. Kizer led all six scoring drives and accounted for 292 yards of offense, while Zaire completed 2 of 5 passes for 23 yards and netted zero rushing yards.
“I haven’t sat down and talked with either one of them, so before we do that we don’t have any plans to make any decisions”, Kelly said.
And just what did they know? You have to grow from game to game, and you have to get better from game to game. Notre Dame – Michigan State’s next opponent after a bye week – will face Nevada on Saturday in South Bend, Ind. The repeated passes to the flat to Aaron Jones had the defense off guard, when Cole Freytag broke for the end zone on a 46-yard pass from quarterback Zack Greenlee. The play wasn’t flagged for a targeting penalty in the moment, nor after officials saw the replay, which is now possible under new rules.
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The recognition from the Big 12 continues a huge week for the Texas program. But once Notre Dame took the lead, they went back to the three-man front. We just want to win games.
