Notre Dame Notebook: Al Golden On Facing Ohio State, Irish Secondary, Getting Healthy

After Al Golden left the AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals to join Marcus Freeman’s first Notre Dame staff, the first game he coached in was against Ohio State. After six years in the NFL, it was the first college game Golden had coached since he was the Miami Hurricanes head coach in 2015. It was also the first time he had coached a game as a defensive coordinator since he was at Virginia 17 years earlier.

Golden’s Irish defense more than held its own against the heavily favored Buckeyes in Columbus. They held eventual No. 2 overall draft pick CJ Stroud to a modest 24 for 34 passing day for 223 yards. The most glaring (and costly) moment of the game came with :17 seconds to play in the third quarter when Golden called a zero blitz by both safeties that didn’t get home, allowing Stroud to hit Xavier Johnson for an easy touchdown that gave OSU the lead and eventual win.

Golden and his defense are in a different place more than a year later as he prepares to face the Buckeyes in Notre Dame’s fifth game of the season and not the season opener.

"I think we have a good idea of who needs to do what, what roles need to be executed and what we're playing versus 11 personnel, what we're going to play versus 12,” Golden explained this week. "We have a new look in a lot of different areas. We're not built the same as we were. Game one? I don't even think we were the same game eight, game nine as we were in game one a year ago. So, the things that we needed we evolved to during the year, and many of them have been built upon in the offseason. So, I think we're in a better position in terms of who we are and what we need to do.”

A Confident Irish Secondary

Notre Dame’s secondary is in a much different place more than a year later as well. A youngsters like Jaden Mickey and Benjamin Morrison as well as veterans like Cam Hart and Clarence Lewis faced Ohio State’s talented receivers like future first round pick Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Marvin Harrison, Jr and Emeka Egbuka in that game, they didn’t see a better group the rest of the season and only got better as a result. Harrison and Egbuka are back for the Buckeyes, while Hart and Morrison lead an Irish secondary that has the best pass efficiency defense in the nation.

"They're all more experienced,” Golden said of his secondary. "They really like football. I'm going to be honest with you, I've said it to you guys before (cornerbacks coach Mike Mickens’] office is next to mine. Those guys, they want to talk ball. They want to talk personnel. They want to know what routes this guy is doing. What routes are that guy doing? Is there a tell if he's somewhere on the field? I just think they're football kids. They love the game. They love to compete. They bring it every day in practice, and they enjoy it. So, another great challenge this week. It is what it is.”

Advanced Scout Team

The Irish aren’t just going with a standard scout team approach this week. They could easily use faster non-starters like Braylon James and speedy walk-on Jordan Faison, who impressed during training camp, to simulate Buckeye receivers this week. Instead, Irish starting defenders are getting more work against their offensive counterparts.

"We roll a bunch of guys through there, and then Coach (Freeman) does an awesome job of letting us go good-on good,” Golden said. "So, we get some periods against our upper-echelon guys, too.”

Gabriel Rubio Progressing

Defensive tackle Gabriel Rubio hasn’t played since the season opener against Navy. He has been out after having a “minor” procedure. Rubio has been back at practice this week and hopes to be available on Saturday.

"We're trying to manage his workload,” Golden remarked. "Like this was really his first day back. He looked fine, but not, not the workload of some of the other guys. We’ve got to bring him along. He is a competitor. He's tough and, hopefully, he doesn't have any setbacks here this week, But really good start (Tuesday).

"We'll see where that goes,” Golden continued. "We just don't want any setbacks with any of those guys, and they obviously will make us stronger if we can get all three of those guys to the game.”

Bringing Back Bertrand And Brown

Captain linebacker JD Bertrand (concussion) and safety DJ Brown (hamstring) both missed last week’s game against Central Michigan. They are both among the team’s top tacklers with 13 and 9, respectively, this season. Both are on track to return this week.

"Very calming,” Golden said of getting the duo back on the field this week. "Obviously, it's going to be a juiced-up atmosphere. It's really important that we just stay in the moment and keep it small, keep our communication small. Do a great job of articulating it to each other. Be demonstrative if we're changing a call, and that's where those guys come in. They are really, really intelligent, can think on their feet, can solve problems. So, it's a blessing that they're back.”

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