Notre Dame Practice Report: Oct. 27 (Pt. 1)

Even though the Irish will be playing indoors this weekend in the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, Tuesday's practice was held outdoors at the LaBar Practice Complex. The temperatures were in the low 50s and a steady drizzle hit about midway through the media's viewing portion. The Irish were in the usual Tuesday attire of full pads.

General Observations

QB Jimmy Clausen began with the group today for warm ups instead of on the stationary bike, but he jogged straight forward through all of the drills.

WR Duval Kamara jogged straight forward while the team did warm ups that required them to move backwards or laterally. But he looked very healthy in the QB/WR drills later in practice.

RB Robert Hughes took a nice hit on the goal line against Boston College, but as Charlie Weis said at the Tuesday presser, he was suited up and ready to go.

OG Andrew Nuss was in sweats this past Saturday at the game and didn't participate on the special teams units. He was fully dressed today, but took Clausen's place on the stationary bike while the team went through warm ups.

WR Michael Floyd looked great going through the QB/WR drills. He ran his routes well and didn’t miss a beat catching the ball.

RB Armando Allen and WR Robby Parris were absent from practice.

Charlie Weis mentioned at the presser that today's practice was going to start off more up-tempo. He delivered the message to the different position groups as he made the way through the stretch lines.

“Be ready to go O-Line,” the Irish head coach told the offensive linemen. “Be ready to go right away. Take over the line of scrimmage.”

Randy Hart also had a similar message for the defensive linemen.

“Got to be ready to work,” the DL coach said to his players.

Weis broke the team huddle with “Win!”

Defensive Observations

The defense started with pursuit drills.

The first-team base package was Kapron Lewis-Moore, Ethan Johnson, Ian Williams and Kerry Neal as the defensive linemen, Harrison Smith, Brian Smith and Manti Te’o as linebackers and Gary Gray, Robert Blanton, Sergio Brown and Kyle McCarthy in the secondary.

Note: DE John Ryan and CB Darrin Walls were missing during the media’s viewing time. H. Smith shifted to the strongside linebacker (SAM) and Brown replaced his spot at strong safety against Boston College and they’re showing the same lineup for Washington State.

The second-team base package was Steve Filer, Sean Cwynar, Hafis Williams and Morrice Richardson on the defensive line, Scott Smith, Toryan Smith and David Posluszny as the backers, Raeshon McNeil, Leonard Gordon, Jamoris Slaughter and Ray Herring as the defensive backs.

Note: Filer has only been seen getting action at defensive end in the nickel package, so there could be consideration as a full-time DE. Slaughter began cross-training during the Boston College week and earned reps this past Saturday. With Brown working with the first unit, Herring is now part of the second unit. Gordon lined up at cornerback with Slaughter now at safety and Walls missing from practice.

The first-team nickel package was Darius Fleming, Lewis-Moore, Johnson and Neal as the defensive linemen, B. Smith and Te’o as the linebackers, H. Smith as the nickel and Gray, Blanton, K. McCarthy and Brown in the secondary.

Note: Brown usually lines up as the nickel, but H. Smith shifts from SAM to the nickel and stays on the field with Brown at strong safety.

The second-team nickel package was Richardson, I. Williams, Cwynar and Filer on the defensive line, T. Smith and Posluszny as the backers, Zeke Motta as the nickel and McNeil, Gordon, Slaughter and Herring as the defensive backs.

Note: McNeil normally fills the nickel spot with the second team, but Motta took his place with McNeil at cornerback.

The first-team dime package was Fleming, Johnson and Neal as the defensive linemen, B. Smith and Te’o as the linebackers, H. Smith as the nickel, Motta as the dime and Gray, Blanton, K. McCarthy and Brown in the secondary.

For the second-team dime package, McNeil was the nickel, Herring was the dime and Gordon, E.J. Banks, Slaughter and Dan McCarthy were the defensive backs.

The defensive line started with an angle tackle drill.

Johnson uses a good, wide base when making contact to keep his leverage.

Lewis-Moore hits with the three points (face, hands and chest) well on contact and there’s a noticeable increase in strength.

H. Williams came out too soft and heard about it from Hart.

“Marshmallow,” the DL coach said to No. 79 on his second rep.

Richardson made contact too high, but he came out of his two-point stance like a dart.

The defensive ends had to defend a block and then fit in on the tackle.

Neal came out of his stance well, led with his face and hands, grabbed cloth, got off of the block and made the play. There’s an obvious increase in technique when it comes to stopping the run for the junior defensive end.

Emeka Nwankwo didn’t lead with his hands enough and allowed the offensive lineman to get into his body.

The defensive tackles defended two cut blocks before fitting in on a ball carrier.

I. Williams moves well laterally and he stays low to keep the blockers off of his legs. He displayed a vast improvement getting off of blocks and making plays against Boston College.

Cwynar was called back to the line because he needed to take a quicker first step, and he executed the drill more efficiently on the second rep.

Check back tomorrow for Part 2 of the report on the offense and a Washington State game prediction.