Coach Kelly discusses Notre Dame's big rivalry game against Michigan

 

The Notre Dame football team will take on Michigan this weekend under the lights in Ann Arbor. The team has struggled to win night games this season, but Head Coach Brian Kelly has a strategy to turn that around.

The Wolverines boast a traditionally tough defense and the offense is starting to find a rhythm.

Head Coach Brian Kelly says he will have to adjust his defense in order to have success against Michigan.

"You've got to take away the high percentage 50/50 balls because of their size. So you're double zoning, playing some bail, doing some things where you're keeping the corners over the top with some helped underneath. You can't just line up in one coverage there because they're going to win some of those matchups. So giving the corners some help, varying some man and zone looks outside is very, very important, and certainly not giving Patterson the same looks every time. He's a smart quarterback. He can run if he doesn't like what he sees. What we did really well last year was put some pressure on the quarterback. I think we need to do that again," Coach Kelly said.

Notre Dame is 0-and-2 in the Big House in night games.

Coach Kelly knows Michigan’s defense will be tough and that they’ll need to establish a run game.

"There is going to be times we're going to have to run the football. There are other ways to win games as well. We're committed to finding ways to win first, but we also know that we have been most effective in winning games over the last few years finding a running game at some part of the game. Maybe it's not the first quarter. Maybe it's the second or the fourth, but we're going to have to carve out a run game at some time during the game. That's just being persistent. That's being patient. It's probably a little bit of those both. I think we have been that to allow a run came to find itself at some time during a game," Coach Kelly said.

Kelly also says running back Jafar Armstrong will play a significant role in this week’s game plan alongside Tony Jones.

You can watch the Notre Dame vs. Michigan game on ABC57.