With a week off between Florida State and Navy, Brian Kelly and his coaching staff had an extra week of preparation for Ken Niumatalolo’s triple-option attack. Allowing his team to leave campus during the university’s fall break, Kelly afforded his players a chance to recharge their batteries after being on campus since June.
But back to work on Sunday, the objective was quickly clear: Stopping Keenan Reynolds and Navy.
To do that, Kelly’s defense will not only be taking on a talented quarterback, but a Navy offensive front that utilizes cut blocks in their triple-option scheme. A legal technique that nonetheless draws complaints because of the many injury risks involved, last season the Irish suffered key injuries to defenders Ishaq Williams, Sheldon Day and Kona Schwenke during the Navy game, just part of a two-deep that was absolutely ravaged by injury.
Asked about the technique and Navy’s use of blocking below-the-waist, Kelly very quickly ended any debate about where he stood on the issue and how he plans to address it this week.
“As it relates to the cut blocks, stop being crybabies, and go play the game,” Kelly said emphatically. “I don’t want to hear about cut blocks.Get in your stance, get off the ball and play the game. I don’t want to hear about it.
“It’s part of the game, and they’re legal, and you’ve got to get off the ball and go play. I told our guys this is a no‑cry zone this week. I don’t want to hear about it. Go play big games and go play the game the right way.”
With the front seven of the Irish coming off their most decisive performance of the season, there’ll be some challenges posed by the low blocks, but that’s to be expected by every team. And while it’s Brian VanGorder’s first game against an option defense, it’s Mike Elston’s fifth-straight year of coaching against Navy’s offensive line, meaning he’ll have his team well versed on battling blockers as his team takes on a unique challenge as it enters November.
That challenge has come with unforeseen difficulties. As it was pointed out to Kelly this morning by AP writer Tom Coyne, the Irish have not just struggled with Navy, but struggled to get past the Midshipmen, losing in the weeks after they played their service academy rival in two of four seasons under Kelly.
With nearly three weeks between the Seminoles and Arizona State, Kelly talked about balancing an entirely unique week with keeping his young defense up to speed, especially with a drastically different opponent on tap next week. Kelly has used a portion of 7-on-7 passing practice to keep his team ready for the Sun Devils, while still downloading the game plan for the Midshipmen.
“Now 95 percent of our practice is against Navy, but we know that we have to transition out, and we want to keep speed involved in our practice as well,” Kelly explained. “So I don’t want to say that we have an eye towards Arizona State, what we have is an eye towards is Navy 100 percent. But we also have to maintain our base calls, so our guys don’t lose that understanding, because we had a bye week and then you go into Navy. We don’t want them to forget what quarter coverage looks like.”
That’s the type of juggling every coaching staff needs to do, especially with a group of young defenders still learning to play together. But if you’re looking for some lessons coming out of North Carolina’s up-tempo attack, this could be Kelly and VanGorder’s way to make sure the Irish don’t have translation issues jumping back into Todd Graham’s offensive attack and repeat some of the struggles against the Tar Heels.
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With the College Football Playoff Selection Committee announcing their first rankings tonight, Kelly was asked if he planned on setting aside some time to see where the Irish were ranked.
He chuckled.
“It’s way too early for any of that stuff,” Kelly said. “I’ll be woking on Navy, figuring out a way to get some points and slow them down.”
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Kelly gave an update on the status of two of his safeties, and his comments on the potential return of both Austin Collinsworth and Eilar Hardy to the playing field was more optimistic than many expected.
In his last update on Collinsworth’s re-injured shoulder, Kelly gave the good news that surgery wasn’t necessarily needed. And now it sounds like the Irish team captain will work with the medical team to try and find a way to get back on the field to contribute.
“We got Collinsworth dressed yesterday. He’s in a harness,” Kelly explained. “He’s going to try to give it a shot and see what he can do. I don’t know if we’re going to have him activated for this weekend, but he was practicing yesterday. We’ll see what happens there.”
On the flip side of the injury, the Irish welcomed Hardy back to the practice field, the only one of the five suspended players to be given that opportunity. While a few reports hinted that Hardy would only be eligible to practice, Kelly talked about a still ongoing process for Hardy, with hopes that he might be able to contribute this season after all.
“We’re hopeful. There are things that have to occur for that to take place, and those are above certainly what I can control,” Kelly said. “But we’re of the mindset that we’d like to get him cleared, and that’s a process that is working through right now.”