Brian Kelly has thrown a monkey wrench into the works at Notre Dame by announcing ball control offense is no longer a priority.
Keeping the ball as long as possible on offense has been as Irish a ploy as the Notre Dame leprechaun.
Now it will be Cincinnati on the lake, not Notre Dame Du Lac, as quick strike offense becomes the cornerstone of the team that Kelly builds.
It is an extraordinary vote of confidence by Kelly in his new team. Notre Dame last year was one of the worst defenses in college football. This year three and out no problem?
Kelly thinks so.
Just get the ball back. "I think we all think in terms of a defense being aggressive, you have to have that mindset that from an offensive standpoint right away, before we even talk about the first X or O or the first play call, it's about having an aggressive mentality," he said. "It's not about anything else but scoring points."
So what about keeping the pressure of the defense that last season leaked more than the Titanic when it hit the iceberg?
Offensive coordinator Charley Molnar said, "The defense is going to do what the defense is going to do. If we score fast and it's three and out and then we get the ball, hopefully we can score fast again. That's the idea," he said.
In 2006, Notre Dame went 9-3 and were third in college football in terms of time of possession at 32:51. Last season, they held 12th position at 31:55.
Cincinnati was stone last in terms of time of possession last year yest scored 38 points a game. Molnar, though, said Kelly is not giving up on ground football.
"I would be disappointed if we go through this season without a 1,000-yard rusher at the running back position," Molnar said, who pointed to Kelly's ability to change things up.
"If we looked at where we were in 2006 to where we are in 2009, there were so many areas that are done in the same way yet there's so many new things. We're always evolving," he said. "We're always trying to stay a step ahead of the opposition and really being in the forefront of new ideas in the spread offense."
"We know the nuts and bolts of this offense. We know the DNA of this offense. So we know right what to get to, the building blocks, what we need to teach first that everything else is going to build off of," Molnar said.
Keeping the ball as long as possible on offense has been as Irish a ploy as the Notre Dame leprechaun.
Now it will be Cincinnati on the lake, not Notre Dame Du Lac, as quick strike offense becomes the cornerstone of the team that Kelly builds.
It is an extraordinary vote of confidence by Kelly in his new team. Notre Dame last year was one of the worst defenses in college football. This year three and out no problem?
Kelly thinks so.
Just get the ball back. "I think we all think in terms of a defense being aggressive, you have to have that mindset that from an offensive standpoint right away, before we even talk about the first X or O or the first play call, it's about having an aggressive mentality," he said. "It's not about anything else but scoring points."
So what about keeping the pressure of the defense that last season leaked more than the Titanic when it hit the iceberg?
Offensive coordinator Charley Molnar said, "The defense is going to do what the defense is going to do. If we score fast and it's three and out and then we get the ball, hopefully we can score fast again. That's the idea," he said.
In 2006, Notre Dame went 9-3 and were third in college football in terms of time of possession at 32:51. Last season, they held 12th position at 31:55.
Cincinnati was stone last in terms of time of possession last year yest scored 38 points a game. Molnar, though, said Kelly is not giving up on ground football.
"I would be disappointed if we go through this season without a 1,000-yard rusher at the running back position," Molnar said, who pointed to Kelly's ability to change things up.
"If we looked at where we were in 2006 to where we are in 2009, there were so many areas that are done in the same way yet there's so many new things. We're always evolving," he said. "We're always trying to stay a step ahead of the opposition and really being in the forefront of new ideas in the spread offense."
"We know the nuts and bolts of this offense. We know the DNA of this offense. So we know right what to get to, the building blocks, what we need to teach first that everything else is going to build off of," Molnar said.
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