Al Golden Talks Navy Surprises, Marist Liufau, Jordan Botelho

The end result of Notre Dame’s defensive effort against Navy last Saturday showed near perfection. Only a meaningless 31-yard field goal against Fighting Irish backups with 3:33 to play in the game separated defensive coordinator Al Golden’s unit from firing a shutout to open the season.

Golden’s defense played fast and physically for the majority of the day to produce the desired outcome. It looked like a perfect game plan drawn up by Notre Dame’s second-year coordinator but it didn’t start that way.

Navy’s first-year offensive coordinator Grant Chestnut, who had spent the previous eight seasons running Kennesaw State’s option attack, came out and threw things at Golden’s defense that he hadn’t shown at Kennesaw.

"First series,” Golden began. "First play of the game. Robust-T, Power-T, whatever you want to call it. Not scripted, not scouted. The second play, both fullbacks in the game. They're in the A gap, never seen that before. I’m 54, I've never seen that before.”

Navy fullback Daba Fofana pounded out 31 yards on Navy’s first three offensive plays as the Irish defense scrambled to find an answer to the previously unseen formation.

"Oh God, I was a sh—show,” Golden said. "How does that sound? I mean, what do you want me to do? I mean, I don’t even know what you want me to say. Again, credit to Navy, but it was just, as I said, it was crazy for a really, really long time. New formations, new little trinkets, shifting from unbalanced back to normal, jet motion. They did a great job.”

The 31 yards on those first three plays would be Navy’s biggest offensive sequence of the game. The drive, one of just three to make it into Irish territory, ended after seven plays when the Midshipmen turned the ball over on downs. That 31-yard total represented 24% of Navy’s 126 total rushing yards in the game. Golden and his staff came together quickly on the sideline to quash what they were seeing on the field for the first time.

"The staff was awesome,” Golden boasted. "Mick (Mike Mickens), C.O. (Chris O’Leary), Wash (Al Washington) and Max (Bullough), we had to come up with some ideas quick and settle it down — and we were able to do so — and get the guys to play fast. But it was remarkably challenging and wildly different than anything we prepared for.

"The first game’s hard,” Golden continued. "First games are hard. I like their offensive coordinator though. I know it was our night, but I really like what he's doing, his body of work at Kennesaw. I think he's a good one.”

On Marist Liufau

One of Notre Dame’s most critiqued and often criticized defensive players last season was Marist Liufau. The now fifth-year linebacker was Notre Dame’s third-leading tackler last season and led the defense in total snaps played but the production never seemed to match his extensive time on the field.

There were always questions about what Liufau could do better and how he could elevate his game, especially with talented younger linebackers waiting in the wings. It’s only one game down against a unique option offense but Liufau had what was probably the best game of his career last week with seven tackles and a forced fumble.

"I just think there were times last year during the season that we would be trying to protect him, because he was not fully healed, like he was not himself,” Golden said of Liufau. "I saw the young man the other night that everybody told me about when I got here. That's how I felt. I saw a knee-bender, I saw somebody with suddenness and lateral quickness, I saw ruggedness to take on blocks or knock ball carriers back, I saw him attack the ball. I'm excited about him. He's worked really, really hard from the injury to get to this point. So just blessings to him and excited about his future.”

On Jordan Botelho

High expectations have followed Jordan Botelho into his senior season after three up and down seasons to begin his career. Consistency and focus have been two of his own self-described issues in the past, but he said coming into the season that those days are in his past.

Botelho turned in a very good performance against Navy that doesn’t necessarily show up on the stat sheet due to the triple option attack. The defensive end only had three tackles, but more importantly he showed discipline as well as disruptiveness on the edge throughout the game. Botelho dominated the right tackle most of the night and forced an incomplete pass on a pressure once as well.

"You could argue that he's made the most progress of anybody,” Golden said of Botelho. "Maturity, unselfishness, buying into the system, Coach Freeman’s way of doing things. The kid’s been amazing. His strength gains, his size. I couldn't be more excited about him, and equally excited to see him back in our regular defense.”

Onward And Upward

The triple option is now in the past. The Irish won’t see it again until they play Navy again in 2024. That means it’s back to facing more standard college football offenses. So, how does what Notre Dame did defensively last week translate to facing more traditional attacks?

"That's a great question, because that's how we think,” Golden began. "So, No. 1, we attacked the ball, we did. I wish we had gotten one (takeaway). We really had an opportunity for two legit ones — one I thought we had. JD (Bertrand) and Jack (Kiser) have got to learn from that and just tap that (loose ball) back (into play). But I thought we attacked the ball. I thought we played with really good effort. We made plays in the alley. Our big guys turned and ran to the ball. Offside corners and safeties ran, so I thought we played with good effort.

"We won the situations,” Golden continued. "It's really hard to beat them on third down. They're always like 1, 2 or 3 in the nation [in third-down efficiency]. We did that. We won the red zone — no touchdowns. The backup situation we won, so that was good. Then I thought we tackled way better than we did last year. So, those four — that big four — that's what we’re bringing back with us. Everything else stays.”

Be sure to check out the Irish Breakdown message board, the Champions Lounge

Irish Breakdown Content

2023 Scholarship Chart
2023 Football Schedule

Notre Dame 2024 Scholarship Offers

2024 Commit Rankings - Offense
2024 Commit Rankings - Defense

2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Offense
2023 Recruiting Class Grades - Defense

———————

Become a premium Irish Breakdown member, which grants you access to all of our premium content and our premium message board! Click on the link below for more.

BECOME A MEMBER

Be sure to stay locked into Irish Breakdown all the time!

Join the Irish Breakdown community!
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown YouTube channel
Subscribe to the Irish Breakdown podcast on iTunes
Follow me on Twitter: @SeanStires
Like and follow Irish Breakdown on Facebook

Sign up for the FREE Irish Breakdown daily newsletter