Notre Dame: Fixing defensive mistakes ‘an absolute must' for Georgia Tech

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Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said his team’s defensive struggles against Virginia were the product of “eye violations,” mostly by the Irish secondary.

If Max Redfield & Co. don’t fix those mistakes on Saturday against Georgia Tech, it could be a disastrous afternoon for Notre Dame’s defense.

Georgia Tech, of course, runs a completely different offense than Virginia. Paul Johnson’s powerful triple option attack is designed to carve up yards and hold possession, simultaneously lighting up the scoreboard and bleeding the clock. If any of the 11 defensive players are positioned incorrectly or make a bad read, Justin Thomas and the Yellow Jackets offense could cruise at Notre Dame Stadium.

“We didn't make enough plays on the back end (against Virginia), and a lot of it was that we were not fixated on our specific jobs,” Kelly said. “And that's something that is an absolute must this weekend against Georgia Tech.”

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Kelly allocated significant resources to trying to figure out how to stop the triple option this offseason. Longtime assistant Bob Elliott was moved from an on-field coaching role to an analyst position, with one of his tasks examining how Notre Dame’s defense could stop the antiquated-yet-effective triple option run by 2015 opponents Georgia Tech and Navy.

Brian VanGorder’s defense didn’t fair well against Navy’s triple option last year, with the Mids carving up 336 yards on 60 carries (5.6 YPC) in a 49-39 Irish win. The efforts to stop Georgia Tech’s triple option — which won the Yellow Jackets last year’s Orange Bowl over Mississippi State — are even more important now that Notre Dame has to start redshirt freshman DeShone Kizer with Malik Zaire out for the season. Winning a shootout may not be a viable plan on Saturday.

“Coach Elliot did a lot of that, talking to other teams and other coaches, and again just putting more information together and looking at the things that we do and what other schools do, and coming up with a plan,” Kelly said. “We are not trying to reinvent anything, but trying to really make certain that we are doing the right things and preparing our football team."

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