Kelly says 0-2 Irish are not that bad
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame will try to avoid its first 0-3 start since 2007 by patching up the potholes in its defense and trying to reduce all those mistakes when the Irish have the football.
With No. 15 Michigan State coming to town Saturday, the Irish also want to reverse a trend of losing close games in the final moments — a pattern so far in coach Brian Kelly's second season in South Bend.
Notre Dame has lost to Michigan two years in a row on last-second touchdowns, had a chance to beat Tulsa last season before Tommy Rees threw a late end-zone interception and suffered a disheartening setback to the Spartans a year ago. That's when the Irish were beaten in overtime on a TD pass off a fake field goal.
Kelly insisted several times Tuesday that the Irish are headed in the right direction, despite the start. He said it's part of building a program.
"I like our players. I like where we're going. I know you've got to win; I get that," he said. "We should have obviously taken care of the football better, made a couple plays here or there, coached a little bit better. We're all disappointed. It's not acceptable to lose, especially at Notre Dame."
The Irish have averaged 510 yards of offense in losses to South Florida and Michigan and receiver Michael Floyd already has 25 catches. But all those numbers are diminished by 10 turnovers — five lost fumbles and five interceptions. Throw in 17 penalties, shaky punting and Notre Dame's efficiency has been short-circuited.
"I think if it was a mess the whole day, and you're just looking at it and going, 'Oh, my God, this thing is just out of control,'" Kelly said. "It's a play here, it's a play there that we can get back, so they can see the body of work is there, they just have to be more attentive to the little details.'
The defense that was supposed to be the team's strength also had its issues in Saturday night's crushing 35-31 loss at Michigan. The Wolverines scored 28 points in the fourth quarter, capped by an 80-yard drive with half a minute on the clock that included a 64-yard pass and Denard Robinson's TD toss with two seconds left.
Cornerback Gary Gray had a rough night and was burned several times by big pass plays, including the game winner.
" Oh, he's got to have a short memory at that position, you know, and certainly college football, NFL football, you're going to have a day like that," Kelly said. "It's unfortunate that people look at that one position because it's not just Gary Gray that we put this loss on. There's a lot of situations. If we don't turn the ball over, Gary Gray's name is not even brought up.
"Gary is going to be fine. He's a senior. He'll bounce back. He had a great game last year against Michigan State, and he's been really solid for us. So we need Gary Gray to come up and play good football this weekend against Michigan State."
Notre Dame will be facing a different type of quarterback but another top-notch one in Kirk Cousins, who connected on 23 of 33 passes for 245 yards and two TDS in MSU's 34-31 win in East Lansing a year ago.
The Irish will have to tighten up the defense or the fans at Notre Dame Stadium will really get restless after booing their team when it trailed 16-0 at the half against South Florida.
Notre Dame started 0-5 in 2007 under Charlie Weis and was also 0-3 in 2001 with Bob Davie as coach. Another loss and the Irish's chances of meeting their preseason goal of making a BCS bowl are pretty much dashed.
Kelly said he planned no drastic lineup changes and that struggling punter Ben Turk — averaging just under 34 yards per kick — was the best option the Irish have at this point.
The Irish lost backup tight end Mike Ragone, who will need surgery on a torn ACL for the second time in his career. Known mostly for his blocking ability, the 6-foot-4, 250-pound senior has one catch for 10 yards this season and 11 for his career for 109 yards.
Ragone missed the 2008 season after undergoing similar surgery.
"I'm pretty disappointed for him. He's been a warrior for us in a sense," Kelly said. "He's battled through a lot of injuries. He loves to play the game. He loves competition, and we're really going to miss him."
With Tyler Eifert the starter and an effective target for Rees, Kelly said tight ends Alex Welch (foot) and Jake Golic (broken arm) have been cleared to practice and play, so that will help the depth at the position.
Kelly also said linebacker Danny Spond's hamstring injury isn't as serious as first thought, but he will likely miss Saturday's game against Michigan State. Nose guard Sean Cwynar has improved after breaking a bone in his hand.